Around 2022 or so I became responsible for driving a trailer full of kayaks and I had to learn a lot of things and apply them really fast. I had to learn how to drive a 12 passenger van with a fully loaded trailer attached AND how to reverse with it in tight spots. I had to learn how to load a trailer full of kayaks and secure them with ratchet straps. It was extremely stressful the first summer I did it because I made mistakes and sometimes those mistakes were on a highway with kayaks coming loose and there wasn't much I could do. Around that same time there was also a boy who would sign up for every kayaking trip and he also didn't always have a great idea of what he was doing. He would get his kayak stuck on every rock and if he wasn't way behind the group then he would often be loud and annoying and kinda put everyone else in a bad mood.
Anyway fast forward to now and in the past two days we (me and the boy) are like experts at all things kayak and trailers. We load the trailer together. There was something wrong with it yesterday and he immediately figured out what was wrong and started taking the hitch apart to figure out how it worked and I didn't even know that was a thing you could do. It was incredible. He's a strong paddler now and he's still kinda goofy but on the river he carries himself like a guy who knows what he's doing and looks out for other people. It's not a stretch to say that he's pretty cool now. As for me, there's this tricky turnaround at the boat ramp and in the past it's given me a lot of trouble and this morning I was whipping the van through it.
It's really cool to think about how me and this kid have grown and become pretty competent at this thing that we both had no business doing to begin with. I also knew this kid's older brother when the older brother was in 2nd grade and I was his afterschool teacher and now the older brother is going to be a senior in high school. Crazy.
I should think about this stuff more but I really only remember it when the summer is happening. It's really special.
2 comments:
Just to help you keep perspective, "driving a van of 12 passengers (presumably children) with a hitched trailer full of cargo attached on a highway for hours" sounds downright terrifying.
I don't like transporting my cats 15 minutes down the highway, 'other peoples children' is some insane levels of responsibility.
You really made it!
Yeah I remember saying out loud to anyone that would listen that if a kayak ever fell off the back I would just skip town and start a new life far far away. Yet here I am!
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