The previous summer season hadn’t been particularly generous to me when it came to kayaking, so this time we made a preemptive strike: we kicked off the season before it even started.
Over recent months, I spent quiet evenings studying maps and drafting trips both small and large. Rewa - “the meeting point” between the Puck Bay and the Gdańsk Bay - was near the top of that list. So, while most people were driving around with skis or snowboards on their roofs, we were up at dawn, cutting through the Tri-City with a five-meter-long sea kayak strapped overhead (the second one packed neatly into the trunk). Catching the bemused stares of passersby, we felt a bit like a walking billboard for global warming.
Rewa greeted us with an air temperature of 0.1°C, water hovering around 3-4°C, and absolute, mirror-flat calm.
Even though our appetite for a long paddle was huge, the extended winter break took its toll. We deliberately kept things mellow, sticking to gentle paddling and soaking in the early-morning concert of coastal birds out on the water. It was exactly what I needed, and exactly what I had missed.