Sunny beginner paddle on the Rotte River

Anton, Kim, Anais, and Francisco in the lock between the Kralingse Plas and the Rotte River

Today we have a guest post by friend and fellow Never Dry member, Nathalie! She writes about a beginner day trip on the Rotte River that I (Nena) organized for new members of the club. Edited and commented by Nena, with comment in brackets [].

Today I went on my first official kayak tour with Never Dry!! Destination: Café Oud Verlaat along the Rotte River. [Nathalie and I were joined by Marieke, Francisco, Berend, Kim, Anais, Anton, and Iede, a very energetic, happy, and enthusiastic group!]

The day began with a lot of rain and even some thunder, which made me unsure of whether we would make it to our destination (easily). I rode my bike to the club, arriving damp but excited to paddle and ready to prepare for the trip.

Trip preparation includes: 

• the scary ladder to reach your life jacket, [we really need to fix this system…]
• some hesitation about what to pack or what to wear, [layers, extra clothes, fuzzy hat!]
• finding a good boat, paddle and a fitting sprayskirt [always a challenge at Never Dry],
• adjusting your footpegs, 
• putting all the gear in drybags and 
• squeezing everything (including yourself hahaha) into your kayak. 

Adjusting footpegs and packing boats.

Actually getting into and out of your kayak, without capsizing, requires some experience. But I am proud to tell you I am already improving a lot on this skill!

Our first challenge was to pass the lock between the Kralingseplas and the canal that leads to the Rotte River. [I like that she calls this a “challenge,” as the real challenge is to portage the boats over the lock, if it’s not in operation… we got lucky, because the lock stops operating after November 1st!] We needed to rise two meters upwards! Nena told us we should not be too close to the lock doors (very valuable advice to prevent a dangerous situation). However, she also gave me some slightly less valuable advice to hold onto the wall… I can tell you: these walls are totally covered with algae and mud, so there is no chance to hold hold, but a lot of chance to become really dirty. [fair enough…} Luckily there is plenty of water available to rinse your hands.

Anais, Francisco, Marieke, and Nathalie in the lock.

After the lock, we could really start our tour! For me, everything looks totally different from the water. As soon as I am in my boat, it does not feel like I am so close to a city at all. [So, so true!] In the end the weather was great and sunny, so we really got lucky!

Anton, Francisco, Anais, Berend, Nathalie, and Kim paddling past the first windmill.

​I was chatting so much that I sometimes forgot to look around. However, I got some really useful kayaking tips from Berend! I still have a lot of room to improve. My first point of attention will be to move more with my upper body (making a D with your paddle and arms [as opposed to?]). Soon I was so focused on my technique that I started bumping into everything… ;).  

Passing windmill #2 as we approach Terbregge

​A big highlight was a beautiful house across the Rotte with number --- [Backstory: Henk and I put an offer on this house on Thursday! We will know some time next week if we get it…. Removing the actual number in case I actually end up buying the house!]. Can you image what it would be like to live along the Rotte River?! You can kayak as soon as you wake up!  And you can sit on your roof terrace and enjoy the view all entire day. 

Arriving at the cafe

​We arrived at the café much quicker than I expected. For about ten seconds, we were afraid it was closed, but luckily we were wrong! I was impressed by the big photographs (like A1 size) on the walls of all the employees. Can you image you have this huge picture of yourself at work? Not sure whether I should suggest this to my boss…. [Nathalie somehow forgot to mention the sleeping cat, whose portrait was also on the wall! It was adorable. Maybe she doesn’t like cats as much as I do.]

At Cafe Oud Verlaat. Photo by Anais.

Kim bundled up and smiling

After lunch I put some snacks in my life jacket (I learned it is not so easy to get them while paddling ;)) and I was ready to go! The way back actually went even quicker. Before I realized we had eaten the snacks, passed the other café, the two windmills, the beautiful house, we were back at the lock. I borrowed the straight and light paddle from Iede, which was weird and nice at the same time. Suddenly you don’t have to turn your paddle anymore, which is quite a challenge for your brain…

​After we cleaned and put away our gear at the club, I was really satisfied. I secretly hope this was not my last tour this year ;).
​​
[It’s fun to hear about a trip from another person’s perspective! I have a few things to add. First of all, everyone kicked ass today. We stayed together as a group and kept a pretty consistent pace over the course of the day, even though it was the longest distance that many had paddled before. Well, except that one time that I turned around and realized four paddlers were rafted up and eating chocolate. But I love a good raft-up (and chocolate), so my drive to keep paddling quickly waned. There was plenty of laughing and shouting (cough-Anais-cough) and smiling.]

Anais!

​[We spotted some people towing a sailboat by hand: 3 people sitting in the boat while one person walked along the sidewalk, dragging the boat with a long rope. They were going roughly ¼ our speed, so they must have had a longggg day.]

Anton paddling past the sailboat being towed by a boy walking on the adjacent sidewalk

[Experienced home buyers Iede, Berend, and Francisco all gave me a lot of tips today. After placing our first offer on a house last week, Henk and I found out today that we’re in the next round of bids together with two other “young couples”. I guess the photo of us kayaking on the Rotte River that I included in our bid (yes, I did that) was not enough to fully persuade the homeowner…]

This one's for the scrapbook, if we do get the apartment (see right-most house, top two floors!)

[On the way back we ran into Iede, who had come to meet us after finishing a maintenance job on Tom’s boat. It was nice to run into a friendly and familiar face on the river!]

Iede and Berend in the low afternoon sun.

[As we approached the city on the return trip, we were passing under a bridge when we heard a terrible sound: metal hitting metal and crumpling. I was certain I was about to watch a car come careening off the bridge onto my fellow paddlers below. Luckily, that did not happen. It turns out that a truck was trying to drive below the bridge, but did not have enough clearance, and ended up crunching the trailer!]

Nathalie approaching the Kralingse Plas and turning briefly to ask "wat zeg je?" ("what did you say?")

​[Back on the Kralingseplas, the sun was shining in it’s slanted-autumn way, and it was simply beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day on the water!]

Iede and Francisco returning to the Kralingse Plas

Date: Saturday, October 27th 2018
Duration: 5 hours (with a 1-hr cafe break)
Distance: 18 km (11 miles)
Weather: Initially cloudy/just after the rain and 7C, followed by shining sun and pretty clouds and a bit warmer. No wind.