Ironies of paddling, part two

Kayaking is a so-called "silent sport." It shares this status with bicycling, sailing, running and other pursuits that don't require a motor. As such, it's kind to the environment as well as healthy for the body. All good so far.

But in order to go kayaking, we pretty much have to drive our car. We can't throw our boat on our shoulders and hop on the train--especially when we travel with four sea kayaks and four whitewater boats. (We could, perhaps, rig up a bike trailer for short distances, but not for trips like the one just took.)

So the irony is this: All year long, we minimize our car usage. The kids walk or ride their bikes (or, in Jeremy's case, unicycle) to school. I take the train to work. We even pull a bike trailer to the store to buy groceries whenever the weather and our schedules permit. Until the summer, we are far below the 10,000-mile average most car drivers put on each year. Then paddling season arrives and we negate all our virtuous car avoidance.

At least we aren't polluting the water after we park.