So. . . It’s Saturday and sleeting in central Wisconsin so I busied myself reworking my kayaking site KayakWisconsin.net. You should find it a bit more organized now. I also updated some pictures and added some desktop wallpapers.
Well, my boat is still in the shop so I don’t get to tell any amazingly cold paddling stories today. So if I’m going to keep this blog active I had better think of something. So with that in mind,
. . . All I want for Christmas
Since I like going out in nasty weather it becomes part of the task to get a grip on just HOW nasty it actually is. Besides checking the weather and Noaa Marine Forcast I spend some time just stareing out over the water to just get the “feel” of things. If it “just doesn’t feel right” I will stay off the water or at the least stay in and play in the surf. One of the best tips I received early on is to watch the horizon line. Often what’s happening in the surf zone is not telling the whole story. So with that in mind I have posted some “horizon” photos from some of this year’s excursions so if you have never looked at the horizon before you will quickly get a feel for it. Just go to http://www.kayakwisconsin.net/reading-horizon-line.html
Took advantage of the insane wind today to go out to Devil’s Lake and play a bit. Wind today is pretty consistant at about 30mph with gusts near 50. Temp was hovering at 33 f. Waves were around 1 to 2 foot white caps and very choppy. You certainly would’nt want to be in 4 to 6 or more in this wind. I really had to keep the paddle very low or risk losing it.
Today I was able to get out and paddle for a couple hours on Devils Lake (www.devilslakewisconsin.com) . The wind was out of the north between 20 & 30 mph and we had about 1ft chop. I had to paddle Mary’s boat today since mine is down at Rutabaga (www.rutabaga.com) having repairs done after last sundays adventure. It’s suprising how different another persons boat can be to paddle. We both have NDK explorers but mine is a 99 version and her’s is a 2002. Since her boat is lighter and the seat is a bit higher it feels much more “bouncy” than mine. Our plan is to cut the seat out of both boats and replace them with foam to lower the center of gravity a bit.
Greetings & Salutations!
I have been meaning to start this “blog” for sometime. My thought is that it will be a hybrid version of my paddling log as well as a place to keep in touch with some of the folks we have paddled with across the state and the country.
So now I have to hit that submit button and see if it all works.
- Derrick
