First the Lorax and I did the Charleston Paddlefest. That got him needed rough water exposure and training. I have spent the last year paddling rough water but work has kept my sweetie home and prevented him from getting experience that he needed to pass the ICE. So, we took care of that, and I even wrote about it.
My next step was to travel south to Southport NC, recent home of my coach, Brian. Now, Coach used to work with Mike, and of course has taken the ICE, so I knew he would be the best person to get me ready for the workshop and exam. I had one afternoon and two full days to spend in Southport and Coach was ready for me when I got there around 2 pm Monday, April 27th.
That afternoon we sat in the warm sunshine of the open garage "boat bay," working over the lists of required academics and strokes. Navigation, weather, communications, boat design, rescues, and more, were on the menu.
Coach had a plan. He usually does. We worked our way through the academics in the early mornings and late afternoons over those three days. We also went out to Boiling Spring Lakes on Tuesday and used the irrigation pond in Coach's community on Wednesday for stroke refinement. I nailed down my reentry and roll, worked on elements of the extended sweep roll, and just generally tuned my strokes and rescues up.
I left Southport Thursday morning after one last breakfast and consult with the coach and headed into my 6.5 hour drive. I arrived home fairly confident that I could nail down the L1/L2 portion of my ICE and that there was a chance I would be able to attain L3 Coastal. But I also decided during those three days that I would be perfectly satisfied with L2 and not have any regrets if I did not get the L3 level.
Although I went to Southport to train I spent a lot of time just breathing and being alive those three days. It remains a place I want to be, maybe even having replaced the Outer Banks at the top of that list.
Yes. It was the right choice.
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