Apricus : Warmed by the Sun

My husband and I love boating. We have played on boats for our entire married life. We have had little boats and bigger boats. We have had sailboats and motorboats. And we have had variations  on boats, such as kayaks, canoes and sailboards. We just love boats.  So imagine how I felt when I started to fear boating because of my Parkinson’s? Let me explain.

I noticed that when my body gets physically or mentally stressed, my tremors go into turbo mode. This has happened a couple times while we were on the water. One incident happened when my kayak flipped over because of large boat wakes. We were in shallow and warm water and luckily I am a good swimmer so I did not panic or worry that I was going to drown, but the reaction of my body took me totally by surprise. I was shaking from head to toe and I could not find any relief. Finally, I did deep breathing from my yoga practice and just tried to relax so I could get back in the kayak and go on paddling.  It scared me and even though my husband was right by side in his kayak, I felt very intimidated by the waves. I was not use to being afraid on the water. Then a similar situation occurred while kayaking with our grown kids. We were kayaking in a brisk current and my body was stressed from fatigue. My tremors went wild. I knew I would be alright, but I think the situation made my kids take pause.  They realized just how vulnerable their mom can be in certain settings. I could see they were concerned. I reassured them that I was fine, but I did decide to take a break from kayaking and instead enjoy the boat for awhile.

The boat we have is a beauty. Her name is Apricus which means warmed by the sun. It is just the right size, not too big, not too small. But what I like most is the stability it has. I can walk around the deck and feel secure. My sea legs are easy to find on Apricus. It also has a small cabin that is perfect when I need that little nap. It gives me a place to get a respite from a busy, sunny day and rest my shakey muscles. How fortunate we are to have such a gem of a boat that just fits our lifestyle so well and allows the first mate to continue boating even with the jiggles in her legs.

Ahoy Mattie!