Sailors
Fighting in the dance hall.
Oh man!
Look at those cavemen go.
It’s the freakiest show.
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy.
Oh man!
Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show.
Is there life on Mars?
- bowie

When Cassini-Huygens sent back the first pictures of Saturn’s Moon, Titan, it was somewhat shocking.  There in grainy black and white images were mountains, coastlines, lakes, rivers and oceans. The first time humans had seen such “earth-like” features on another world. Of course Titan is not a vacation spot.  It’s average temperature is around -289F (-178c) and it’s lakes are filled with liquid hydrocarbons. Titan is not the next paddling Mecca.

However since my crazy brain can imagine any weird fantasy I want, I’m thinking maybe I could go back in time and paddle on Mars.  Yes, I’m building a time and space ship in my back shed as a winter project!  And yes, it does look a bit like the Tardis. . . so what?, It’s my fantasy.  Until the ship is ready I’ve been doing my research.  Evidence is continuing to build that a few million years ago Mars may have had liquid water on its surface.  Recently with that in mind, artist Kees Veenenbos imagined what the watery surface may have looked like.  Pretty much like the image above.  Getting there however is not quite as crazy as it sounds.

You’re actually looking at a slice of the Chilean coast in South America.  This part of our planet with its reddish landscape and dry salt flats is amazingly similar to that possible Martian past.  I’ve found myself staring at this coastline a lot recently. Something about paddling this coast line intrigues me.  Here you could imagine exploring that time in the history of our red sister planet.  When the last oceans of Mars were slowly disappearing into the ground or slipping away into space.   Along the Chilean coast  you could paddle almost 400 miles from Antofagasta to Arica with very little between but desolate Martian landscape. If someone was crazy enough they could add hundreds of miles more.  As it is the challenges would be enormous.  Just getting there would be a task. (There is an airport in Iquique) Then once on the water there would be no opportunities to resupply between the main towns and fresh water would be hard if not impossible to come by.  Dangerous winds filled with sand and salt could come out of nowhere, to scream down the barren mountains and turn the sea into a boiling caldron. At least the mild coastal climate would be on your side.  Then of course long periods of isolation whether physical or psychological can do funky things to your head.  Much of the time your VHF would be worthless. (Who’d be around to hear it?) You’d certainly want to do this trip with a partner or team of well chosen paddlers.  Still all that said, noting the risk there is something amazing there.  A science fiction thriller where you and your mates have landed deep in the history of a lonely red planet just in the moment when  the last of its life’s blood is slipping away.   No. It wouldn’t be Mars.  But it would probobly be as close as a sea kayaker is likely to get.

Veni, vidi, veci
Veni, vidi, veci
(The moon above was yellow)
Music all around her
In my arms I found her
(I was a lucky fellow)
- the gaylords

There is a nice video piece on Freya Hoffmeister on TV3 New Zealand.  You can read the article and watch the video here.  The guy in the clip above of course is Paul Caffyn who was the first to circumnavigate the South Island by sea kayak.  One little bit of interest is how the clips on the stern of her NDK Explorer broke on a hard landing recently.  In fact she lost a paddle that day as well.  You may remember I had a similar situation with my Rockpool when I was dropped on to a rock shelf.  Luckily I was able to fiddle a repair.  Freya’s answer was to just glass the stern right onto the center section. Of course it’s not often that those clips face these sorts of landings, (mine was akin to dropping off a truck) but it’s probobly worth looking at those clips a bit more.  For my part I will always carry spare latches & screws in any future long trips. Anyway, Go Freya!

By the way, my favorite take on the "Veni, Vidi, Veci" quote was from Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. . . "We came, We saw, We Kicked it’s As*!!!"

*video capture from News3 video.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

So when is a kayak not a kayak and “not a kayak” well, not a kayak?

Kayak.com announced they grabbed $196 million dollars in venture capital to acquire rival company SideStep.   By the way, Kayak.com is a travel site similar to Expedia and actually has very little to do with Kayaking, unless of course you use them to book your hotels and car rentals.  And no, they don’t offer discounts to kayakers.  Hmmmmm. . . .

Then there’s this; Remember that debate some time back about whether the “Crossing The Ditch” team was actually paddling a Kayak?  Interestingly another team will make trans-Tasman crossing this weekend.*  Steven Gates, Andrew Johnson, Kerry Tozer and Sally Macready are expected to arrive in Sidney Harbor this weekend.   They set off on November 29^th from Auckland New Zealand in their 11.1 meter “Rowboat”.   Fair play to these guys and congratulations seem in order.   Visit  their Website Here.

Propel, Propel, Propel your craft
Placidly down the liquid solution
Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically,
Existence is but an illusion.
- alternate version

Meanwhile James and Justin continue their journey in the other direction toward the coast of New Zealand (Under shark escort mind you) in their 9 meter kayak. According to “The Age”, they are not bothered by the other team crossing the Tasman first.  As Tom Mitchell was quoted,  "These boys are doing it, just the two of them, and it’s a kayak as opposed to a row boat."  (read article)

I think I’m happy to let Guinness sort that one out. For my part I’m impressed by both teams. What do you think?

* Correction – this post originally stated that the .*  Steven Gates team of rowers would be the first, however  “In 1977 Colin Quincey astonished the world when he rowed alone in his six-metre fibreglass dory Tasman Trespasser for 63 days 7 hours from New Zealand to Australia. He was the first (and so far only) person to have accomplished this feat. Quincey battled a bad back, setbacks by currents, screaming winds, sore fingers from bailing, sleepless nights and salt water irritations while completing his 2170 km arc across the top of the Tasman.” – Thanks Tim

* photos from team websites.

Taking it all into consideration
Love’s a game I never win.
I’ve been in very simil’r situations,
Again and again and again.
- macca

To keep your kayak involved in daily life year around in the frozen tundra you certainly have to be creative.  So yesterday we followed up a day of kayak sledding with a day at the pool.  Pool practice can get pretty boring as well if you don’t find new ways to play with your kayak.  Last week, inspired by forgetting my nose plugs I spent an evening practicing rolls while holding my nose.  What started off as a joke, became quite a challenge!  Yesterday after spending about 2 hours on pure rolling practice, Gryphon joined me for some on the deck fun.  We started off sitting together on the tail of the kayak. Slowly I moved from the tail up to the bow, sat cross-legged and worked on keeping my balance while he worked his way up to the cockpit and back. When you practice you can certainly set up a strict regimen and work through each skill hour by hour, but if you spend as much time in the water as I do it can get pretty damn boring over time.  Finding new silly ways to play not only help you build up your skills, but keep you at it as well. Now if you think I’m a bit over dressed that’s fine. . We’ll leave it to Freya to go to the other end of the spectrum.

 Attempting to hold a video camera while sledding in a kayak leaves few variables.   Dropping the camera, or careening out of control being the most likely options.

But no matter what weird things you try on a snow covered hill in December, there is one certainty.  If you want to try it again it means starting the long trek back up.

Well I woke up this morning
With the cold water
With the cold water
With the cold water
Woke up this morning
With the cold water
With the cold water
With the cold
- waits

Just a few days away from the first paddling event of 2008, the annual Fog Bowl held on Jan 1 of each year.  This event has grown quite a bit just in the past few years as more and more paddlers cross over into that "crazy" paddler catagory.  Thing is, paddling at Lake Columbia near Portage, Wisconsin in January is not really as crazy as it sounds at first.  Yeah,  it’s winter, but the lake is warm.  Lake Columbia is actually a cooling pond for the local power plant.  The water is generally around 55f where you launch, then if you paddle straight out toward the power plant the water will coninually get warmer.  Near the plant the water get’s into the 80’s.  If their is a good wind, the air will still be very cold matching the day’s temprature. However, if there is no wind the air right above the water (where you and your kayak or canoe will be) is quite a bit warmer.  Much of the time the lake is covered in a thick flog and can be dark and moody place to paddle.  Lake Columbia is small enough (just 2 miles long) that you should’nt get lost in the fog, but there are days when a compass still comes in handy.  At both the outflow and the intakes there is some current that you can play with as well.  The current is very light so it’s pefect for kayakers who have never played with current before.

Contrary to rumors there are NO piranhas in Lake Columbia.  However the DNR has said that there have been Pacu in the lake which are related and look similar. Thing is it’s just too tempting for local residents to dump tropical fish in the lake. Obviously it’s not legal. Still, you never quite know what you’ll find in the lake.

To Get to Lake Columbia from most places you just take Interstate 90/94 (from most places) and exit to Portage.  From Madison you can just take highway 51 north.  Just a couple miles south of portage you turn west on County Road J.  The entrance to the lake is just a mile or so down the road.  Click Here for a Google Map.  People usually start showing up around 9am or so, paddle for a couple hours and then head on over to a local pub to warm up.  Everyone who wants to come is certainly invited.

Picking your wardrobe can be tricky.  It’s not a bad idea to wear a drysuit if you have one.  Certainly the water is warm if you fall in or roll.  However, once you come back up it can get cold very fast.  I usually have worn a drysuit in the past and found that all in all that’s the best choice. However, I don’t want to discurage folks who don’t have one. Lake Columbia, especially this event is a good place to give winter paddling a go.  There are also plenty of people around to assist you if you need help. New paddlers however, should stay with a group and not wander off on their own.  At the minimum a wetsuit should be worn along with a warm paddling jacket, gloves and hat.  Layer up. The moist air and cold winds can get very uncomfortable very quickly if you are wet and not dressed well.

* 2nd image from the earth science image bank.

So here’s a quick look at 7am.  Here the poor kid has to wait until family shows up before he can open his presents.  He does of course get to dig through his stocking to tide him over. .   Now the waiting has begun. . .

My day begins as soon as I can get this bloody bottle of Stolis open!  Cheers!