Best ab workout ever....

Yesterday at the Phi Chi / AMSA Welcome Back BBQ, Kent and Chuck showed up with the AUC Kayak Team's surfskis for people to try out. I've been meaning to do it for a while, and finally got the chance yesterday. When you see people who know how to use them paddling, it looks very easy. However, as everyone who tried them found out, they are incredibly difficult. You basically sit on top of them, with just a small depression to sit into, and they're only about as wide as a normal sized person. They are very possible the most unstable craft that I have ever been in (or on). According to Kent (pictured above), who tried to teach me how to use it, I did very well for a guy on my first try. I was able to get into the boat (which is a lot like pulling yourself onto an unstable pool ledge) and sit up and paddle a little, as long as I kept my legs hanging over the sides of the boat. As soon as I tried to put my legs inside the boat on the rudder pedals, it was all over. For the rest of the people who were able to make it as far as I did, this was the common theme. I didn't see anyone (outside of Chuck and Kent) that could do it for more than 10 seconds, which is about how long I managed to stay upright once putting my feet in the boat.

Basically, the thing has no desire to stay upright once you sit in it. It barely stays upright with nobody in it, so once you get in there and raise the center of balance a little, you better be ready to work! It's a constant ab exercise, trying to keep the thing stable. We were not helped any by the fact that we were in Mullet Bay, and there were lots of waves from the Hurricane that recently passed. When I finally gave up, I barely thought I'd be able to make the short swim back to shore, and pretty much collapsed on the beach. However, it was a lot of fun and I'm definitely going to try and get back out and try again in calmer waters. Kent says that it takes a couple days of practice to get the hang of it. It seemed like everyone else also had a good time trying them out, so thanks to Ken and Chuck for bringing them out! If you're at AUC and want to try, just shoot them a message and I'm sure they'll be glad to take you out.

They're actually training for a race from St. Barths to St. Maarten (I think it's around 28km or so). Good luck to them, but I think I'll have to pass :) I could barely even paddle the thing from 30 feet out in the ocean back to the beach.