The first time she hit me, she knocked me down.
Wouldn’t even let me get off the ground.
I tried to tell of the rules of Queensbury.
She said, “Boy, cuts no ice with me.” – kingston trio

There I was a quarter mile off shore laying over on this big-ass wave digging my paddle into the crest like an ice climber with a pickaxe hoping something would catch before I sailed off into a monstrous crevasse.

In this case I was quickly crashing down on a friend’s kayak that was getting frighteningly close, amazingly fast. No, I was not actually afraid I’d hit him. I was afraid I would have to lift my paddle and take a head long dive into 50 degree water to slow the boat and avoid hitting him. Luckily a bit of pressure built up between us and he began moving away as quickly as I was coming in. I really don’t mind cold water, but Lake Michigan cold seems brutally colder than pure ice in our little local lake.

As we paddled on across the turbulent fresh water sea we listened to a sad story unfolding on the VHF. Mingled in the jet engine crackle of the breaking waves, a one sided conversation entered the air in stutters and blurts. Some miles south of us a man had fallen from his 38 foot sailboat while trying to untangle rigging in the quickly rising winds. Monotone questions about floation and the color of clothing spurted from channel 16. As is often the case with VHF we could hear the Coast Guard, but the ship in peril was represented by silence. One could almost feel the dismay of the operator as he repeated what he was hearing. “No Floatation?”, “Black hat?”, he called back to nothingness. Then a general call “”PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN”, This is Coast Gaurd Station. . .” begain. Followed by a request to everyone in the vicinity to keep an eye out for a man overboard with a black hat & yellow jacket. We looked across the wind whipped waves out to the horizon where black water and grey sky mingled. We knew the outcome of this story. The calls “PAN-PAN”, “PAN-PAN”, continued as we worked our way up the coast. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized I’d been bracing a bit more than I needed too. You can’t help it, it effects you. I was releived to surf through the rocky shallows and slide onto Harrington beach just as the thunder began to echo across the open water.

As we go out on the water we accept a certain amount of risk. In our part of the world we know that hypothermia is a constant danger. We often paddle in cold water, cold air, rain & snow, wind & waves and sometimes all of the above. It’s very easy to get cold even if you never actually take a swim. The idea that “I’m not planning to go in the water” can seem really silly to a sea kayaker. Probobly in sea kayaking more than other water sports we start out with a premise; “I’m on my own a mile or more from shore, I need to be able to take care of myself (and one other person)”. Then we start asking ourselves, “what risks do I face, how do I deal with them”. If you ask yourself these kinds of questions you will begin to collect the knowledge and gear you need to survive. I’ve found you can often (but not always) tell the experience level of a seakayaker by the weight of their boat. Special Note: As you’re experience goes up, you will see less and less volunteers to help carry your boat!! I really thought I had the heaviest boat in the world until I helped a couple BCU assessors carry theirs. Now I laugh when someone complains that MY boat is heavy.

Beyond hypothermia there are many other risks to your safety out there and one I think is too often underplayed is lightning. I’ve heard some really amazing logic where lightning & kayaking is concerned. Let me state clearly here that your boat will not protect you from lighting. It would be cool if it did, but it doesn’t. Fiberglass and plastic do NOT have any special anti-lightning qualities. If anything your nice wet floating tube will make a really nice thorough cooker if you get struck. No basting required. According to NOAA the vast majority of lightning injuries and deaths on boats occur on small boats with NO cabin. For kayakers that means us. You can read more at http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/.

As instructors we all have some basic rules that we use with our classes or guided trips. The first thing we do is always check the days weather forecast before we go on the water. In addition most of us carry a VHF or weather radio so we can monitor conditions throughout the day. On bigger waters we will also check maritime forecasts which are readily available online these days. Even with that preperation there are occasions when a storm will sneak up on us no matter how cautious we are. If we do hear thunder when we’re out there, we get off the water right away. On the beach most of us then have some version of the “half hour” rule that we will follow. This basically says, “stay off the water for at least one half hour after you hear the last rumble of thunder”. So each time you hear thunder your stop watch starts over again until a silent half hour has past. Only then will we take a class back out.

If you’re new to kayaking words like “thunderstorms”, “winds”, “fog” & “water temperature” should get your attention. With experience you will learn to better assess and mitigate conditions. Early on it’s best to play it safe and see it all as a warning, opting to the side of caution. In time as you venture out into bigger waters where things like tide & topography will also come into play. In additon, weather events such as fog do not always behave on the ocean the way us mid-westeners would expect. And of course there is boat traffic and other man-made hazards you need to be aware of out there. There’s a lot to take in.

Kayaking is generally a very safe sport and there’s the rub. It’s so easy to just hop in a boat and paddle out. Problems often seem to sneak up on you from out of nowhere. I’ve lost count of how many tragic stories start out with something like, “We launched out of the bay on a beautiful warm summer day. . . “. Often when we examine the tragedies that have occurred in the sport we see a chain of events that went un-addressed leading up to the mishap. Many times simple actions such as wearing a PFD or a quick check of the weather beforehand would have averted the disaster all together. This is a message that we try so desperately to pass on to new folks in our clubs and classes.

Luckily for most of us we live through our occasional bouts of stupidity and experience teaches us make a art form of preparation and awareness. We learn to catch things early before they become a threat. Over time we learn the skills and carry gear to help us deal with the issues we did and didn’t expect. We learn to respect the whims of Aigaion and know when and when not to go on the water. After all, Kayaking is about fun and recreation. Knowlege and preperation will keep it that way. As my friend JB said not too long ago, “It’s better to be telling the story, than to be the story”. Be careful out there.

Have you ever slid your kayak up on a beach somewhere and wondered if you should just go another mile? Maybe just up around that head? Today I’m going to take you from my little beach and send you off to some others. . .

- d

Yesterday we took about 2 hours to play in 25-35 mph winds on Devil’s Lake. Gusts around 50mph. On a small lake like this you don’t really build much in the way of waves. But the wind rolling down the hills across the surface of the lake is atrocious.

In my place, in my place
Were lines that I couldn’t change
I was lost, oh yeah – coldplayAutumn slipped past beautiful without calling attention to herself. I missed it. I think she must have donned her best posh frock while we were away. Now she’s wearing rags you wouldn’t scrub the floor in. The season for me has come full circle and taken me from the now cold water of Devil’s lake and placed me back on the myriad trails that traverse this glacial landscape I live in. These trails are the friends who will join me each day and keep me focused until spring arrives again. Every tree is a running partner. Every hike ends with more clarity than it began. And with luck, a few hundred calories are left behind as well.

In summer it’s easy to begin most days with my Explorer waiting to greet me for a morning paddle. A quick five minute jaunt and we’re free to play together on our small lake. Now I have to gather up all the gear that is meant to keep me safe, warm and dry. I wrap myself up like a mummy and stuff myself into my boat as if loading a flintlock. Flexibility is gone. Rolling until my head is swirling is no longer the joy it was when the water was warm and held you immersed in her arms. Now the water greets you with the cold resentment of an ex-lover. No one wants to immerse themselves in that sort of cold!

A few days back I was hiking on the wet brown trails and took notice of the perfect stillness in the air. I was walking in a faded photograph and nothing moved. I felt offensively loud and cumbersome as I walked. I should not make so much noise. I sat on an old blackened stump along the trail and let the stillness fill back in around me. From the mute landscape came a flutter. I looked up to see a single red leaf shutter against a light breath of wind. Then all again was quiet. In my mind there was an impression, something sensual, but far out of focus. I wondered where that single breath had come from. How had it found that one tiny leaf just above my head? When would it return in strength to ravage to the tree line around me? I waited in a long silence. Grey clouds raced above a silhouette of barren branches. I waited. Time stretched in sheets until the sound of my own breathing called me away from my vacant thoughts. Then as is common with us humans, my mind slipped from meditation to boredom & distraction and soon I was again plodding along through the woods back to my car and home. How odd this life is. Is there deep meaning in the fluttering of a leaf? I can’t help but think about a scene from the Simpsons; “Maybe there is no moral.”, “Yeah, It’s just some stuff that happened.”

-d

i’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you
that i almost beleive that they’re real
i’ve been living so long with my pictures of you
that i almost believe that the pictures
are all i can feel – cureJB is probably expecting one of my “dark” posts today but he’s not going to get it (not yet anyway!). . .

I love taking pictures. I’m not a “Photographer”, I’ll leave that to the educated chaps. But I do make a bit of my living with the camera and have been lucky to do so. I really enjoy taking pictures while out on the water. It can be quite a challenge to get even fair shots depending on the conditions. It’s also wonderful to help others share their stories. I always feel good when I get those emails that say “Hey you’ve got a picture of me on your site, can I get a copy??”, then they go on to share their memories of the events and talk about who they showed the pictures to and such. You can’t feel better than that from my perspective. I also feel bad that I can’t put up the other 10,000 shots that don’t make the “cut” so to speak. What may not be great shot to me may be a great shot to the person that’s in it! It’s not often we have our own private kayak popporatzi, but we all know we’d like to have one once in awhile! So when I can I love to take on that roll. I’m happy to zoom around at events or on the water and “get the pictures”.

Even as early as this spring the biggest challenge I faced was not lighting, framing and all that Photo 101 stuff. It was paddling and staying vertical while playing with my cameras. As time goes on I’m getting a bit braver about getting the camera out in some conditions which is an interesting challenge without having or inventing some specialized gear. What I really want is a deck mounted tripod with a floating head that would keep the camera fairly steady in roll and chop. Christmas is around the corner you know!!

So along the way I’m starting to learn a few things that I thought I’d share;

- The person with the camera has to paddle a lot more than everyone else! Whine, whine, whine!!! You’re always running around for a shot. I first noticed this when we paddled with Justine C. in Michigan last spring and am starting to appreciate the kind of workout she was getting more and more! While you’re zipping around trying to set up a shot, everyone else is just paddling along comfortably. You on the other hand are sprinting to catch up after fiddling with gear, or you’re sprinting to get ahead so you’re not always taking pictures of peoples backs. Yeah, this is just part of the fun, but at the end of the day you’re just whacked!

- Sometimes while you’re putting this or that away, changing a battery or whatever, the whole group practically disappears over the horizon! So you’re fiddling around with crap all over your deck and on your own. You hope that if you don’t catch up in the next 20 minutes someone will come back to find you. (and drag you’re corpse back for the funeral)

- On land it’s easy to get the “action”. You can have your “big” camera, fast lenses and such at the ready. On water you’re often better off with the little Optio or whatever, but getting action or shooting in low light can be a real bugger. (yeah, I used the word “bugger”)

- A nice camera in a big bulky case is almost like not having a camera at all.

- It’s helpful to keep your boat pointing with the waves if you can. You do have to get used to having your bow or tail going quite vertical without bracing.

- A good reverse stroke in surf is a great skill to spend time on.

- It’s almost impossible to get the sense of wave heights in still photos. You think you have it, but when you see the result it almost never tells the tale. It helps to time the shot right as you slide down into a trough, but since your camera is up by you’re head the waves still look short. On occasion I can hold the camera down on the deck and “get lucky”. Most of the time a person sitting right on top of a nice 3+ wave will look in a photograph like they’re sitting on a placid lake. You have to get just the right angle. Arrrg! You’re best bet is putting the big waves between you and the subject, unless of course they disappear behind it!

- Water is always getting on the lens. You can’t always tell at the moment, but you know it when you get home. It’s probably a good idea to swipe the lens before every shot, but that’s sometimes hard to do.

- This time of year the lens tends to fog up as well. Leaving the camera on the deck is better than putting it in a pocket where it can warm up. The “spit trick” often causes other issues, mainly blurring the lens. Or maybe I just shouldn’t be eating cookies. . .

- The kayak photographer is often blind. When you’re busy taking pictures you’re basically without “sight”. Since you’re looking into the camera and focused on what you’re trying to do, framing the shot, keeping the camera steady, etc., you have to let your ears and body handle your personal self awareness and boat control. (or depend on the “Force”) I used to spend a lot of time just sitting in waves with my eyes closed to become more in tune with the liquid world. In time I learned stow my paddle and layback on my deck with my eyes closed in the waves. I’d just let my finger tips touch the water and let my mind drift. Balance with you’re eyes closed is a good thing If you’re going to be taking the pictures!

- You’re also coming up with some really bizarre single arm braces! I thought about sharing some of them here, but the risk of injury is just too high to give the loonies among us any ideas. Yeah, I’m one of the loonies too but I accept that.

- Tie down the camera. You may have to drop it to brace. See above!

– Like 84 Charlie MoPic, you’re never in the picture unless you drop the camera.That’s another great thing about kayaking. There’s always something new to learn! Oh, and if I disappear on the water. . . please come back and check once in awhile. Please.?

-d

Don’t you love junk mail?

So, I get up this morning to, “Hot exquisite, sexy, sassy female wants to meet you!” Obviously they don’t spend much time here or they would have added “Daft & Blind” as well.

Went paddling yesterday. Here are the pictures (Gallery called, “Fun with Dick & John”)