Passionate Heart


With a I


discovered sea kayaking when I was five months pregnant and not quite 29 years old. I


was watching a sunset at Flamingo Campground in the Florida Everglades. Te sun was framed by silhouetted palm trees and diving pelicans splashing into the bay with wings folded back. Ten I saw a sleek kayak glide peacefully into the scene. Tis first impression stayed in my mind, growing like a well-watered seed until, many years later, kayaking came to define my life. I waited one and a half years after


the birth of my daughter before taking my first kayak journey, a guided trip on Georgian Bay—I couldn’t leave a newborn and the demands of motherhood preceded all other notions. It took only a few strokes to realize that kayaking would become a significant part of my life. I felt I belonged on the water. From then on, I made short kayak


trips with guided groups to exotic places for a week once or twice a year.


44 ADVENTURE KAYAK | SPRING 2008


I paddled the barrier reef off the shore of Belize. I camped and kayaked along the Exumas, a chain of islands in the Bahamas. And I paddled among icebergs in east Greenland. Tese short breaks renewed my


spirit and whet my appetite. I studied maps and dreamed of far-away paddling destinations, but I had parental obligations and these dreams simmered in my active imagination. Eventually, I bought a used kayak


from a tour company and I paddled at Te Pinery, a provincial park on Lake Huron. Te Pinery had been my special place since early childhood, but now I enjoyed the dunes and beach from a new perspective. I was attuned to the subtle differences in the quality of light, in the clouds in the sky, in the changing of the seasons. On the water I felt alive. My senses


awakened to the rush of wind or the sting of icy water. I revelled in the songs of loons and the flight of bald eagles. My spirituality strengthened as I felt my small place in this complex


For years and years I devoured accounts oF other people’s personal trIumphs In adventure. FInally, In mId-lIFe, I chose to lIve true to my soul.


story and photos by Wendy Killoran


but beautiful world, connected to all that exists. Kayaking was my aqua therapy,


a means to wash away the stresses of daily life, to get away from the continuous demands that society places upon us, or that we allow society to place upon us. I built my confidence by paddling


in varied conditions in all seasons and in many places. I read about kayaking. I took courses and paddled with strong paddlers to strengthen my skills. As much as I enjoyed paddling with


others, I found it easiest to paddle on my own. It meant I could paddle wherever and whenever I wanted. I relied only on myself and felt a deeper sense of being on the water. My focus was on my surroundings, not on my partners. My days as an elementary school teacher working with 150 kids a day are busy enough that I fervently seek these moments of solitude. In 2003, in the Westfords of


Iceland, I met a remarkable woman.


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