I was really getting tired of not being able to pull off a smooth blended forward stroke into a hanging draw on my offside. Say that twice! (Sorry to the new folks, you won’t have to worry about this for little while.) Anyway, it seemed like every time I would go to turn my big Lendal Kinetic blade into position, the blade would catch and run like spawning salmon right under my boat. On the “On side” or my right side, I did not have that problem.

With our trip to Georgia coming up and a 4* Assessment (which I don’t plan to pass, mind you), I was getting panicked over this stupid single stroke. I could imagine the assessor saying. “Ok, great job navigating in these tides and thick fog but your hanging draw really sucks so go back to Wisconsin where you belong!!”. (and with perfect diction mind you) The fixation started when I was on the phone with Dale Williams working on my schedule, I made some quip about a crappy hanging draw and was met with few seconds of silence. Then ” you could do the 3*. . .” Arggg! I’m not going to go backwards over one stupid stroke!

Now to get back to this story, I was asking everyone for advice. The butcher, the green grocer, the baker, the guy at the liquor store, and they all had a suggestion. It was almost always that my Lendal Kinetic Blade was a bit like a wing paddle, and I was just asking the wrong thing of the blade. I needed a new blade! Ok, so I was going to have to run to Rutabaga and drop almost $300 for new “normal” blades.

At the last minute, I thought i’d I zip out a quick email to my friend across the sea and ask if she had an opinion. Her suggestion which started off like one of mine, “I’m no expert, but. . .”, was basically that my paddle shaft may be too long. Yeah, but isn’t that what the British always say? “Maybe just going from my 215cm to a 210 would help?”, she suggested. I couldn’t imagine that. 5cm killing my blade control? So standing in Rutabaga staring at the Lendal display I had to make a choice. Nice normal Nordkapp blades or a 5 cm shorter paddle shaft. Suddenly, I had visions of the Joker from the original Batman “Whodoyatrust????”.

So, the next evening, there I am on the lake. My shiny new 210 shaft holding my faithful old grey, chipped and epoxied Kinetic blades. . .The very first try and right out of the forward stoke, flip the blade, and there I go screaming off sideways with almost no drop in speed. I just bursted out in laughter. Come on, it can’t be that easy?!!! Can it?

Now in reality, I’m still fiddling to find that “sweet spot” right off on every go. But that will come. The shorter shaft is a god-send. Thanks, Justine!

I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave. – Shackleton

Ever since I first read some long lost paperback many years ago, I’ve been entranced with the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton who set sail from London for the Antarctic in 1914 in an attempt to be the first to cross the frozen continent from one side to the other. Only a couple years earlier Norwegian Explorer Roald Amunsen had achieved the south pole, Shackleton then felt crossing the continent was the next great expedition. It’s interesting that this famous adventure almost never took place. Before leaving Shackleton offered the services of his ship, “The Endurance” to the Royal Navy as Britain was at that time embroiled in WWI. However, the then Secretary of the admiralty, Winston Churchill replied with a simple one word telegram that said “Proceed”. From Portmouth they then set sail to Argentina. Then on October 26, 1914, the Endurance left Buenos Aries for the final leg of it’s ill fated journey with a crew of 26 and one Welsh stowaway. . .

On November 15, 1915 after being frozen in the pack ice for about a month, the Endurance sank to the bottom of the icy sea. The crew spent 23 weeks of camping on the open ice before the decision was made that they would take the 3 lifeboats they salvaged and try to reach an island along the artic Peninsula. Hopefully they would be more apt to find food as well as get off the dangerous & ever changing pack Ice. It took them 7 days in nasty seas to reach Elephant Island and only a short time for Shackleton to realize that they would never be found there.

In what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sea voyages of all times, Shackleton, Frank Worsley, and 5 crew members, set sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island some 800 miles away in a 23-foot lifeboat. This on the hope of finding help on a remote whaling station. Again they rode out some of the roughest seas the world has to offer and by a miracle of fate and navigation they landed 17 days later on the ice covered rocky shores of South Georgia Island.

You would think that would be enough. However, they landed on the opposite side of the island from where the whaling station would be. Feeling it was safer to hike than go back out into the sea, Shackleton and two officers marched directly across the mountainous, glacier covered Island. It was on May 20th, 1915 that they stumbled into the Stromness whaling station.

Quickly the other two men who were waiting on the other side of the island were rescued. However the rest of the crew on Elephant Island would have to wait. It took 5 attempts before Shackleton could finally charter a ship. It was not until the end of August before he finally was able to return to rescue the rest of his crew. All survived. The story of how they lived on Elephant Island in an upturned lifeboat is amazing and a great story in of itself. I think what has always drawn me in is the fact that there are photographs from this early expedition. You can see the faces. Also Shackleton’s incredible determination not just to survive himself, but absolute devotion to his team is a lesson for everyone. I remember once reading a phrase something to the effect of “if you don’t come home together, you don’t come home!”. It certainly applies here and can wrap up my incredibly long winded lead-in to the upcoming “Operation South Georgia” expedition.

Not surprisingly if you can sit around a table and talk of expeditions that just can’t be done you could expect Peter Bray to start working on the plan. Peter is the first person to ever paddle solo and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean. In fact there were not a lot of people then who had faith in his success. Personally, I’m happy he got to brag that one up a bit. He also was awarded a “Royal Humane Society” medal for the rescue of a crew member last summer when a boat they were on split in two during a storm.

This expedition portends to be a royal bastard and not for the weak hearted. The team which consists of Nigel Dennis, Hadas Feldman, Jeff Allen and Peter of course, hope to round South Georgia in over 400 miles of insane seas and ever changing weather. How insane? Well, in the past a team of Royal Marines, then a New Zealand team tried and failed. In fact, it’s never been done! Peter said in a BBC interview that “To climb Everest would be easier”. Yikes!

The Templar Films South Georgia Expedition is due to start on 12 November and their progress can be charted on the Nigel Dennis Sea Kayaks website or the Templar Films site. It’s also important to mention that the expedition is also to highlight the work of two UK charities, Children in Crisis and Ty Hafan, a children’s hospice near Cardiff, Wales.

To add to the excitement a new New Zealand (new new??) Team is already almost there having left the Falkland Islands just days ago. Their website post for October 10th opens with,“They say that, ‘in the 40′s there is no law, but in the 50′s there is no god”.

They’re about to find out if that’s true. . . – d

Friday afternoon I loaded up wood from our old dead elm tree to take out to the Devil’s Lake State Park group camp. Today everyone from the North East Sea Kayakers would be arriving for the weekend. Mary had to stay home having had a tooth pulled just a couple hours earlier. She was not going to get to show off her new rolling skills. A major disappointment for her. I arrived at the south shore parking just in just in time to see a flock of Current Designs boats landing on the grass beside a cacophony of multi-colored vehicles. In amongst the flock were hidden a bright red Greenlander & a brand new Black Beauty. Alex got his new rolling boat! Cool! It seemed like just a short time ago that he had ordered his Qajaq from Peter Strand.

If you’re fairly new to kayaking, I’m thinking now may be a good time to give you a little intro to Greenland Kayaking. Especially if I’m going to start spelling Kayak with a “Q”. Tough assignment. So, I’ll take a deep breath, roll up my sleaves, and get those typing fingers ready. Oh, and remember. . I’m no expert, so for what it’s worth;

When you hear things like “Qajaq”, or “Pondscum”, “masik, or “pawlatta” you’re slipping into the dark world of Greenlandic Kayaking. Often our first exposure to Greenland kayaking is that funky 2×4 looking thing you first see someone paddling with at a local lake. Right away you know that stick thing can’t be normal. (oh, now I get the Tom Waites thing) From that introduction your next impression may be one of weird rolls and odd wardrobes. Often those Greenland folks tend to remain sort of an enigma until something happens and you suddenly find yourself being drawn into the cult. Then you’ve had it. Only a de-programmer of extraordinary skill will ever save your soul.

Ok, well that’s a bit over the top. I hope so anyway. You see, all kayaks owe their existence more or less to the indigenous people of the artic. To some extent even if you paddle a small recreational kayak on your local lake you are paddling in the wake of ancient seal hunting cultures of the far north. (yes, that means north of Wisconsin) Today for better or worse, we tend to group them all together under the term “Greenland” when talking about kayaking. However traditional kayaking really encompasses many cultural, regional & historical variations. Traditional or “Greenland” kayaker’s are generally folks who have taken a special interest in reviving these ancient skills and it’s easy to see why.

As kayakers many of us cannot avoid the slippery slope. First you get on the water, then you need a longer boat, then you want to roll, then you want to roll 30 different ways. With so much emphasis on rolling in the sport, it’s not suprising that many kayakers eventually wander into the Greenland camp, if only for a visit. There are just so many cool rolls. Outside of Greenland kayaking your best “chix-on-dox” show-off skills are side-sculls and hat rolls. Nice to be sure. But within traditional rolls you have such fun things as “Spine Rolls”, “Storm Rolls”, “Reverse Sweep Rolls” and so many others. And let’s face it, we all want to look cool. .

But really it’s much more than that. Some people are taken with the history and cultural beauty. Knowing that not long ago kayaking skills had all but died in their native lands. For some of us we see that Greenland skills also take us up another notch as kayakers. learning new skills keeps kayaking exciting. It also can’t be over-stated that Greenland rolls do have a purpose. Much more than showy technique, put together they provide a pallet on which a truly “bombproof” roll can be built. It’s hard to imagine a situation where one of the Greenland rolls would not get you back up. Remember, originally these rolls were developed to keep hunters alive in some really god-awful situations and sea conditions. Even non-rolling types have found that just switching to a “GP” or Greenland Paddle has been a blessing as it causes much less physical stress to use, less wind resistance, and is so buoyant you can practically use it as additional floatation! Traditional kayaking has much to offer, even to recreational paddlers.

For some people traditional kayaking is almost akin to religion. I know this has slighted some. Certainly this ocassional “Puritanism” has caused some folks resentment and keeps them away from this important part of sea kayaking. I’ve heard some very mixed reactions roll around when a group guys in Tuiliks (the traditional paddling jacket of the Inuit) go paddling by. Yes, there are people who take a superior “Star-Bellied Sneech” approach to the whole thing for sure. But that’s true in anything humans come into contact with. Interestingly though, the most talented and most well known traditional kayakers are just the opposite and do a real service to the sport. Names like Cheri Perry, Greg Stamer, Turner Wilson, Freya Hoffmeister, Dennis Asmussen and others are always mentioned in the same breath with their patience, good humor and willingness to teach.

For my part, I’m happy to accept crumbs from the table of this great tradition. I’ve no want to go head-long down the traditional path, yet I know there is so much there to learn. So for now I paddle both with my Greenland paddle and my big Lendal blade depending on the day. One day I practice my C to C roll and another I’m working on my chest scull. To me it all seems to blend nicely. I’m happy not to be a “this” kayaker or “that” kayaker. I just want to be a competent sea kayaker. Yet, yesterday as I pulled the mini-cell Masik from out from the Keyhole cockpit of my Nigel Dennis Explorer and I looked over at Alex in full Greenlandic garb & new black boat, I couldn’t help but reflect back to a year ago when I was proud to have one solid roll and Alex was just becoming confident that he could roll his Sonoma. Must be something in the water. I doubt I’ll ever don a Tuilik or buy a rolling boat. . . But on the other hand, I’ve heard someone say that before. .

More To Learn;

1. QajaqUSA – Greenland Kayak Club – Everything you want to know about traditional kayaking
2. Tuilik (Read “THE TUILIK-THEN and NOW) - Tradtional Spray Skirt
3. Masik – A curved deck beam, often in the range of 6-7cm wide, that supports the front of the cockpit coaming.
4. Pond Scum – Waldon Pond Traditonal Kayak Club
5. Star Bellied Sneech – Dr. Susses Character.