Inflatable Kayak Blog

We have arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to visit family. After a long drive to get here we spent some time visiting and just before dark we decided to head out to our families cottage on Portage lake. The sun had already set but there was still enough light to get a short paddling trip in. We pumped up our inflatable kayak. It only takes about 8 to 10 minutes with our foot pump. My sister, Sue, has a hard shell kayak and she joined us on our ride. The evening was still quite warm which is surprising for an evening in the UP. The lake was as calm as I have ever seen it and the boats seemed cut through it without any effort. As we paddled along there were people sitting along the shore enjoying the evening around campfires and the setting sun cast a beautiful red reflection along the water in front of us. My sister headed back to shore ahead of us when some bats came swooping along the water. I need to mention she is deathly afraid of bats! So that ended the time out on the water for her. We weren’t ready to go back yet so we headed along the shore a little bit further. However, as we were headed back, it had gotten quite dark and I was getting concerned that we had stayed out too long. This will serve as a reminder that we need to be more aware of the time of day we set out to paddle and be more aware of what time the sun sets and when it will be dark, so we will not be out on the water after dark.