We went to the local sports and outdoor shop and bought an inflatable double man canoe. It was about 45,000 yen. We took it out of the box and went off to Izu to find a place to try it.
I would never have thought about getting a canoe if we didn't live near Izu. Its such a beautiful area, with fantastic beaches, rocky, craggy coastlines, islands galore and a mild climate with many bays which make for a good starting point to master the art of canoeing.
We decided to go to Tago beach for our first attempt. There's an interesting shaped rock there out in the bay which looks a bit like Godzilla, or a Krakens hand rising from the water.
We pumped the canoe up, which took all of 10 minutes. put the seats in, put the oars together, and we were off. Cautious at first, but getting braver, we ventured out to the interesting rock, the rocky islets nearby and the open sea with the larger waves, but we soon got cold feet, literally and headed back to the more quiet seclusion of the beach area.
Getting the canoe ready and paddling it around was a really easy thing to do, it turns out, and deflation was even easier. We will definitely be going again this year. Probably on the west coast again, as its quieter and has such an interesting coast.
Here are a few pictures, I didn't take many as I was nervous about dropping the camera in the sea. We definitely need to buy a Fitbit sometime.
