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A short story on how I got a boat.

Neither my parents nor my childhood friends were into water sports, but a few of my dad's pals were. One day, they convinced him to go canoeing with them, and he took me along. We went on a slow, shallow river, but it wasn't smooth cruising. My dad and I are on the heavier end, so even if we took the same line as the others ahead of us, we scraped the bottom multiple times. Worse, our nonexistent experience provided a plethora of clumsy moments, culminating in a capsize after each pulled the paddle in some weird way. During our involuntary swim and subsequent recovery efforts, father's friends supported us by laughing their butts off. Dad took it personally, so you can guess how many times we canoed together afterwards. That's right, nada; the doors closed again. I didn't bother reopening them either; the trip didn't convince me that I was missing anything. Meanwhile, I explored mountains, where every new trip reinforced my affection for them.

When I lived in Scotland, I seized every chance to visit the mountains, even if it sometimes took over five hours to get there. On the other hand, I had the sea maybe five minutes away from my address, yet it took me a few years before I managed to swim in it. I might never have found the motivation to take the plunge if it weren't for the covid lockdown and a severe sunburn I got at the time. Since the restrictions meant I couldn't cool down in some mountain lake, into the sea I went. And what a great, refreshing thing it turned out to be!

Following my new pastime of sea swimming, I met others who were at home in the water. Their enthusiasm convinced me to give canoeing another try, which eventually happened in Slovakia, along with testing a kayak and SUP. It went without any drama, and I liked the kayak the best. Still, the country's tremendous mountains had a stronger pull, so that's where you'd have found me instead. Soon, though, I left for Brittany, and the locals' contagious love for the sea strengthened my fondness for water further. Finally, I moved to Flanders, where you have to look for mountains with a magnifying glass, and I suddenly had an urge to swim. Alas, I learned that Flanders deems open-water swimming illegal almost everywhere. However, while researching the rules and regulations, I discovered that one can enter the water much more freely if they have a boat. Strange, but okay. So, I started reading about boats.

First, I outlined what I'd use the boat for. I like it when the journey is the goal of a trip, and if possible, I prefer to return by a different route than the one I took to get there. This could be a problem with a heavy, bulky boat, as I'd need to carry it myself. However, I realized that one can buy foldable kayaks, and later I found the inflatable offers, which checked even more boxes. Researching kayaks reminded me of how I learned about sailboats; reading on stuff like how the shape and length of the boat's hull affect its tracking and stability was fascinating! However, I also learned that an inflatable kayak can cost several thousand euros. I shouldn't be surprised, considering that some people are willing to pay hundreds of thousands for a car or five digits for a bicycle, but I am not one of them. I ended up with a second-hand boat instead, for the price of less than two fines for unsupervised open-water swimming that one can get in Flanders. Right on, let's!

I chucked the boat on my bike's rack, and off I went to a boarding point on an easy-going river section. The day was sunny, and the path went by in a heartbeat. But when I got to the water and assembled the boat, let me tell you, I was nervous! So much so, it reminded me of times when I climbed things other than mountains...

Although it was the first time I went on a boat by myself, comparing the flat water to climbing tens, even hundreds of meters above the ground, may seem a bit ridiculous. Yet, that's how I felt. It may be the rewarding sensation from overcoming the uncertainty of stepping into the unknown. Or I might just be getting old and don't need much for a thrill. Whatever; it gets me the same grin.

Adventures live on; that is what counts.

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