Kurt: This is very true. Tandems are about the worst introduction to paddling that anyone can have. Luckily my wife and I do have some paddling skills and we knew what we were getting into. She is a very steady paddler and we have no trouble staying in sync- which is crucial with our new boat as the cockpits are pretty close together. When she starts to paddle, I just slow my cadence to match her's and we're golden.

On our second trip out we came very close to a whale (less than 30 feet). My wife was not used to being that near such a large creature while in the kayak and on pretty open water so she started to panic - which is understandable as it started to had under us. I wanted to stick around for a better view but she really wanted to head closer to shore, which we did. I guess such accommodation/consideration is the key to successful 'tandeming'.

And, of course, my motto is "Any day on the water is a good day', so spending time with my wife on the ocean (even if in a tandem) beats being home working on the house!!

My wife does not roll but the plan is take it out with one of paddling buddies and see if we can do it. Should be good for a laugh.

Cheers,

Sean