Kylie awkwardly lifted the heavy outrigger canoe with the other girls, sure that she wasn’t making any difference to the payload and afraid it would drop on her at any moment and squash her feet.
“Come on Ladies, jump in,” Shooters said as soon as the canoe was in the water.
“Far out, it’s full on and I haven’t even got in the boat yet!” Kylie said out loud.
“I can’t see any boats around can-you?” Shooters joked.
“Hey that’s funny,” Kylie said.
“Righto everyone, a slow ten so Kylie and Jess can see how to paddle then we’ll get a bit faster. Paddles at the ready, Kylie, you’re alternate to Ella in front, alternate, not the same side, swap your paddle to your other arm? That’s it. Phew. That was hard. Okay paddles down. First things first, these canoes are VERY tippy with all you fresh blooded enthusiasts in them. I need to reaffirm how important it is not to shift your weight or lean over to the right hand side of the canoe at any time, or we will tip this thing over and could very well end up as shark shit. Do you understand? No waving, no leaning, no turning around to the person behind you and placing any extra weight on the right hand side of the canoe. Have I made myself clear?”
“YES,” the crew yelled out.
“Right, paddles ready, and Go! Ella, you’re calling the huts, change at eight. Jess, take note of how she is calling them, we’ll get you to take over next training session.”
“Okay Shooters,” Ella said.
“Okay Shooters,” Jess echoed.
“Good, now focus on the blade in front of you. In and out, in unison with their paddle, let the canoe glide through the water, strong strokes,” Shooters yelled up the canoe so that the person sitting in number one could hear her.
“Kylie turn to your left very slowly. Watch me, see how I’m paddling? See the angle of my shoulder and the way I’m twisting with my torso to reach further out? Put your knees apart and push out from the foot you have in front. Right hand on top of the paddle means you push off your right foot, left hand on top of the paddle means you push off with your left foot. Change your feet over as you change your hands over. Twist with your abs not your back. That’s very important you want to feel it with your stomach muscles, not your back muscles. You could cause yourself an injury that way. When you hear Ella say Hut, you do half a stroke on the side you are on then you quickly swap to the other side and finish that stroke mid way then start again. Got it?”
“Far out. No pressure!” Kylie said trying to remember it all.
“You’re alright. Just go easy to start with Ella,” Shooters said realising she had just bamboozled Kylie with too much information, all be it necessary.
“Okay that’s ten sets, paddles up, have a rest and a drink and a stretch if you like,” Shooters said.
“Am I supposed to be fatigued already?” Kylie asked. “Coz I was buggared after doing the stretches!”
The girl sitting in front of her, Jenna, answered, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I felt flogged the first training session I ever did.”
“How long ago was that?” Kylie asked.
“Two weeks,” Jenna replied.
“Awesome, so it didn’t stop you from coming back!”
“Nah, we haven’t even competed yet. Can’t quit before then!” Jenna said.
“Yeah, I’m not a quitter. I’m shit at heaps of things but I’m not a quitter!” Kylie said.
“Righto, enough resting. If you can talk, I’m not working you hard enough. Ella, faster pace this time mate, we’ll head towards the yacht bay out the front of the Casino then you can have another rest, maybe,” Shooters said.
Kylie looked up, and it looked a long way away. “Oh man!” she said unexcited about the pain she could feel already.
The training session went for over an hour. By the time they paddled back into the beach at The Strand, the girls were ready to go home. Kylie was speechless and in need of a deep tissue massage.
After they had lifted the canoe back up the beach and put the paddles away Shooters asked Kylie, “What do you think?”
“It’s full on. I didn’t realise how hard it would be.”
“It’ll get easier. You have nice long arms, and your stroke wasn’t too bad for a beginner. Have you paddled before?”
“Nope.” Kylie laughed, surprised at the compliment.
“Oh, well, do you think you’ll come back? You’ll get better each week and we look like having a new team soon if we get one more person. You’ll be able to compete as a beginner crew if you stick at it? That’s the fun part!” Shooters said.
Kylie wasn’t confident in her ability but she had also proclaimed to the group that she wasn’t a quitter.
“I’ll be back,” she told Shooters.
“Great. Bring a mate would ya!”
“I don’t have any, that’s why I’m here, to meet some new mates,” Kylie admitted sadly.
“Oh, seriously?” Shooters said.
“Yeah I just moved here. But I’ll ask around at work. No one was keen the first time I showed the flyer but I’ll ask again.”
“Good for you. You seem pretty easy to talk to, yell out to me if you are lonely, I’ll chat to any bastard!”
“Thanks Shooters, you sound like my soul mate!” Kylie said with a wave goodbye as they went their separate ways.
“Ba ha ha ha. See ya mate.” Shooters laughed as she walked off.
The next day when Kylie checked for mail at the Town office, she went to see Mila. After finding Mila’s desk empty, Kylie waited until she arrived back at the Port office before sending Mila a quick email to see if she had changed her mind about having a go at Outrigging. While Mila’s response wasn’t favourable, she did reply to Kylie within the same day. “Still thinking about it thanks Kylie. I’m seeing someone at the moment and he isn’t in town much so I want to be able to spend time with him when he is so will see how I go. Toodles. Mila.”
“Fair enough..... but I won’t give up on you!” Kylie replied. And she wasn’t lying. Kylie was a serial pest. All be it one with good intentions.
Meeting Maggie
Yet another long and lonely afternoon loomed ahead of Kylie. After another short day at work – nine hours filled with constant chatter and activity which had flown by in the blink of an eye – the clock had ticked over to five o’clock. The office quickly emptied and Kylie found herself alone. It was not an outrigging training day and she had nowhere to be and no one to do anything with. Jess and Kylie had been spending some time together and enjoyed catching up on the weekends but after 5 pm on non-outrigging weekdays, Kylie still felt very alone.
In contrast to the hours between nine and five, the hours after five o’clock from when she left work until she fell asleep seemed to drag on. On her sad days Kylie would drive home in silence and may not utter another word to anyone until arriving at work the following morning. To her, it seemed like she was destined to spend an eternity on planet null and void, population one, sole resident: herself. On leaving work, Kylie would drag her heels to the office exit, sigh, and with a heavy head and a sombre mouth, her limp hand would slap the office lights off. Taking a deep breath, she would pull and lock the door shut behind her, then, her