winds over 10 knots

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?
- gilmore

Yesterday we decided to spend the day on the opposite end of the spectrum and go to a small air show at our local airport. I think there is probably a natural affinity between small plane pilots and sea kayakers expressed in that dream of freedom and exploration. Another similarity is when the weather turns bad we all run for cover. The air show never actually made it off the ground as a line of severe thunderstorms rolled in. . . .

Often at these little shows there is not much to see. However, we did have the “Batcopter” from the original Batman Movie starring Adam West. The owner was quite proud to have the machine autographed by both Adam West and Julie Newmar. He mentioned what a nice woman she was. Yeah, I guessed that she must me. The Whirly-Bat was actually leased only for the movie. . the one which Julie Newmar missed, and was replaced in by Lee Meriwether.

So on Friday while working on some paddling video. . . wouldn’t you know these guys came roaring over the hills to spend some time buzzing around the lake practicing steep turns, formations and leaving smoke trails. Well, the video was right out but it was fun to watch the planes. One the other hand it’s a weird feeling to be laying on the back deck of your kayak as you hear the drone of fighters coming over the hills toward your location.  Let alone to see these vintage fighters appear over you’re head. . . for a moment you can’t help but feel the urge to run for cover.

. . . well, at least we got the planes on video!

stay focused

Sadly a woman died yesterday while practicing rolling.  Apparently she was an acomplished kayaker and roller and was just doing what we all do quite often, just rolling. She was practicing in a white water boat and according to one article, club members speculate she may have just tucked the sprayskirt’s grab loop in by mistake.  - Read More

gettin yer groove on. . .

Then turn around
Stick it out
Even white boys got to shout
Baby got back
- Sir Mix-A-Lot

As there are each year, multiple discussions of seat replacements and back rests are going on in the newsgroups and on the boards. I went through that experience a couple times myself. These days though I’m free of that stress. I’ve become a nudist. Yeah, the reality is that with most well designed kayak seats today and a bit of good posture a back rest is like your little toe, a lost remnant of evolution.

Really I sort of knew a couple years ago that back bands and back rests were generally more a hindrance than a help. It’s logical when you think about it. Good posture requires you to be upright in your seat. So unless your back band is pulled so taunt that it actually is over your seat pan, you’ll never actually touch it. The proviso of course is that the seat in your kayak has a nice lip on the back that provides the small bit of back support you actually need. Basically enough to keep you from slipping backwards when you press your feet against the peddles.

Right before I prepared for my big trip last year I found myself fiddling with the back-band in my Alaw Bach. For some reason I just couldn’t get it just the way I wanted. After spending more time than I want to admit to on that back band and never getting it to “feel” right I sort of sat there next to my kayak in frustration. Then while my eyes wandered over the seat of my kayak I suddenly had a vision. . . a vision of Homer Simpson wiggling away on his couch trying to mold the perfect ass-groove. Oh man, is this what I’m doing!?, I thought. Suddenly I could see all the hours I’d spent over many years fiddling with back-bands and foam backrests. I felt sort of silly. This had to be simpler. . and of course it is.

It all comes back to proper posture. We all have the tendency to lean a bit back, especially if you are built like me with a bit of extra pudge! However, the proper posture is of course sitting upright. Vertical. No leaning backwards or slumping shoulders. If anything you may tend to lean a bit forward as you reach for those strokes. Once you stop leaning back you’ll find you need very little support, just the tiniest bit, right at the lowest part of your back. Most seats will provide that. Most, maybe but not all. Of course to every rule there are exceptions!

Correcting your posture will also give you more power in your stroke. You will reach further ahead and dig deeper with your paddle. You will achieve better mobility and better torso rotation. Removing the back band also tends to help with rolling. You can twist around much easier and lean back much further. In addition you’ll find those recoveries to be a snap. No more crawling over or sitting on the back band.

In the end that day, I just removed the back band completely in my Alaw Bach. I paddled around Puerto Rico comfortably and have not replaced it since. Give it a try. Remember each person and each boat are different. However, in many cases just removing the back-band will feel like a bit of freedom. It’s worth a shot. After all, you can always put it right back on.

biting the hand

I could not believe this article in the Daily Post. Apparently this guy was paddling down the River Dee in north Wales and went past an outfitters called JJ Canoeing and Rafting.  Next thing he knew he was being arrested for “obtaining services dishonestly”. What services you ask?  Well, none exactly . . .

According to the Shrewsbury canoe club it seems that JJ’s feels people should pay to paddle past their shop.  Sort of like children who play toll bridge on a sidewalk.  Sounds like the paddler was a bit miffed. I think I would be too. . after I stopped laughing hysterically.  Some things after all are just too silly for words!! Now we all know that river access in the UK is a real battle and it’s going to be awhile before it’s resolved.  Some people come up with all sorts of ways to “claim” and profit from rivers. However, when an outfitter of all things, goes after a kayaker they have to understand that paddlers are going to talk.  It brings to mind the old addage about biting the hand that feeds you. .  I really hope there is more to the story and that the outfitter is not really trying to charge paddlers for going past their shop. Considering they advertise “team building”, one would expect them to to understand that “letter of the law”, much less trying to profit from it,  is not always in the best interest of the team. It’s certainly logical for a business to charge someone for using their facilities, or even their parking lot. . but to paddle past?  What do you think??

brace for it. . .

love is fine for all we know
For all we know, our love will grow
That’s what the man said
So won’t you listen to what the man said
He said. . .
-macca

So I’m just about to run out the door to wrap up a little bracing demo video. You’d think considering how often you do this as an instructor you could get it done in one take. Well, you can but just like any class you walk away thinking. . “I should have added this. .” or done that a bit cleaner or whatever. Video is a great tool to help you see your teaching method. I’d recommend to any instructor to set up a camera now and then and just teach to it.

130 miles is. . .

You better think (think) think about what you’re trying to do to me
Yeah, think (think, think), let your mind go, let yourself be free
Oh freedom (freedom), freedom (freedom), freedom, yeah freedom
Freedom (freedom), freedom (freedom), freedom, ooh freedom
Hey, think about it
You, think about it
-aretha franklin

So now that our time is coming into focus, you know. .”things to see, people to do. . .” Mr Blades and I could finally talk about pinning down our first day for the Door County Circumnavigation.  The one thing we know for sure is that we need to arrive back in Rowley’s Bay for the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium on Thursday , July 10th. Of course since it’s close to home, and I’ve become much less “plan” oriented. . . I really didn’t take into account that just 130 miles is STILL 130 MILES. Suddenly I’m playing with my calculator. . .

At 130 miles you need 4-5 days. At 4 days you have to make at least 32 miles (51km) per day. For an average pair of paddlers that comes down to 4, 8-9 hour days.  So to make it all work out we pretty much have to have 4 long days of good weather. 5 days takes the pressure off, and 6 days makes it leisurely. Of course it looks like we’ll have 4 days tops. Chances are we will have to make a decision about Washington Island on the Tip of Door Peninsula. If we’re doing well we go to Washington, if we need to make up time we’ll skip it.

The other thing we have to deal with of course is sleeping. Door County has a very mixed reaction to paddlers. In some areas it is very rural and laid back, in other areas the shoreline is built up with vacation homes and condos. Many of those folks are not all that pleased with kayakers. (Apparently we clog the intakes on their yachts!) Of course the plan is to commando camp along the way. Hell, it’s summer. . who needs a tent unless the weather goes bad?! However I also put out a few emails to local paddlers looking for tips and ideas about good places to snooze.

Some of the cliffs in Door

Then of course is the weather, the land and the “sea”. Winds tend to come in from the north west around here so we don’t usually have the kind of waves that build up on miles of open water. There are no tides to speak of. Still, weather happens. Most of Door County has nice sandy beaches or wooded shores, yet some areas are rocky and other areas are high white cliffs.

In the end even a short trip must be thought through with the same seriousness as a much longer trip. First you cover all your bases before you launch, then you get down to enjoying a few days on the water. And that’s the whole point.

swipe the water

Liquid dreams, my liquid dreams
Waterfall and streams, these liquid dreams
- boomtown rats

So Greg’s last note mentioned that he paddled late due to the lack of landing spots. Now for a slightly unbalanced kayaker type like myself, the lack of a good landing spot is the sort of thing that causes night terrors. As much as you’d like to believe it, the charts are not always correct and even what looks like a landing can turn out to be quite different when you are actually sitting 100 yards off shore looking in. Imagine you’ve been paddling all day against a bit of a wind. You’re feeling tired, hungry and a bit chilly. You’re thinking it’s about time to call it day. The down side is that the spot you planned to camp was not actually a beach but a low ledge. Not all that high, but high enough to make landing impractical. So now you find yourself just going mile by mile looking for some sort of beach or little notch to get into for the night. Looking down the shoreline you tell yourself that things will probably change once you get around that next headland.

Of course as you get around the headland what you see is nothing like you had hoped. In fact the low ledge has become a bit higher. The wind is picking up and there are little flashes of white twinkling across the surface of the sea. You realize you are again convincing yourself that that next head looks promising. Not that you’d really been paying attention, but as you take the next stroke forward you sense the world is beginning to lose some detail that tells you that up there behind the clouds the sun is on it’s downward path. You shake off a chill, swipe the water droplets off your chart and take another stroke. . .