Archive for July, 2008

Ok, so most of you know that although I have a handle on a good many traditional rolls, that freakin’ resting brace has been eluding me forever. To be fair it is a tricky maneuver. The trick as many of you know is to lay your body in the water while holding the kayak as far upright as you can effectively balancing the boat against your body so you don’t sink. Never being able to do it, I’ve gotten all sorts of advice; extend the paddle, arch your back, push on the hull with your feet, shove with your elbow, reach under the hull and pull the boat back. . . .

Well today I finally got close. Well, I did it. I’m not out at a right angle yet, but I am fully off the boat and balancing comfortably. Of course while lying there I realized I’d never actually tried it in my Alaw Bach yet. So I was thinking it must be the boat. Maybe. Then I realized I was not wearing a full PFD either, so I was without that extra flotation. In the end it’s all good. Now I can work on getting my body out further from the hull. But working on polishing is much better than just sinking repeatedly. (Can you see that monkey jumping off my back??!)

So what do you think about this. . . Someone has the new SPOT personal locater and they tell their family that they will check in every at such and such a time. Well, for whatever reason they don’t and the coast guard is called. Well, later they are found and are just fine. There are all sorts of reasons they may not check in. Of course, not checking in is NOT the same as hitting the emergency button. Apparently these situations are starting to pop up. Anyway, this discussion has been going on over at Paddlewise and there are some good points being made. The problem it seems to me, is that if you don’t check in, it would be remiss of your family not to call for help. On the other hand it opens the door for lots of false calls. Any thoughts?

“By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean.” – mark twain

“I’m trying my best!”. Yeah it’s sort of universally understood. “I’m trying my best!” is a phrase that almost always comes when someone is failing at something and someone else is getting impatient. Sometimes they really are trying their best, sometimes they’ve given up and “trying my best” is a last crest-fallen defense. Either way it certainly is a signal that something has to be re-thought.

I have to be honest. I come at this issue with an “up from the bootstraps” background. There were way too many times in my life were I had to find my own solutions. In the end no one can make you succeed at anything. They can train you, give you tips, offer a hand up, psychotropic drugs, or a bit of good advice but no one achieves without doing it themselves. The man behind the curtain knows that underneath all the frill of the modern world we are still 3 meals from anarchy and even in a crowd we are, each one of us, very much alone. If we are lucky we share moments of our time with others who take varying levels of interest in us. Yet if truth be told none can truly be expected to always seek out your best interests without running them through the filter of their own interests first. It’s ok. It’s real. Someone said once that true love is when two people’s self-interests collide. (And this coming from a hopeless romantic!!)

The thing about trying it seems to me is that to succeed has to be organic. We can pass a test on information we’ll never remember and that is trying, however the lessons we learn without trying are the ones that seem to last forever. No doubt, some things are really, really hard. Sometimes learning is frustrating. Some days we just chuck it and go grab a bag of chips and flip on the TV. The thing is, if the goal is worth it to us, personally, inwardly, we will be back at it soon enough and of course, “trying our best”.

Sometimes as we all know we are NOT trying our best. It could be we really just don’t care or it could just be the day. Sometimes we can re-focus, sometimes we can’t. Sometimes we should just walk away and admit it’s not OUR goal but someone else’s. Sometimes we should admit distraction or feel good about hating the teacher. Whatever it is, chances are if you find yourself saying “I’m trying my best!” you are probably not, and that’s the catch.

I keep having this re-occurring dream where I’m talking to a psychologist. After a long rambling diatribe about all my belly-button staring problems I pause as I catch her looking at her watch. (Which reminds me of something I was told long ago. . . “a psychologist after all is just someone you pay to be your friend, it’s just more honest!”) As her eyes lift from her watch, I find myself needing to wrap it up. “Well,” I say with a slight pause as I stand up and fiddle in my pocket for my keys, “The thing is, I feel very alone. . . but I’m trying my best.”

Some stories are magical, meant to be sung
- paul simon

Greg Stamer has completed his circumnavigation of Newfoundland! Congratulations!! It certainly sounds as if the trip gave him everything he could have hoped for.  You can’t help but be a bit impressed with the speed in which he did the trip, not to mention some of those solo crossings.  Wow!  Now my suggestion is one beer for each day on the water over the next 4 days. . Obviously starting AFTER the national TV interview! Oh, and remember to prepare an answer to the question you’ll be asked the most in the next few days. . . “What’s next?”

So imagine that 1950’s Science Fiction announcer voice here “IT’S TIME FOR . . NEWS OF THE VAGUELY UNIMPORTANT!!!!)  That was fun.  Anyway, I got a note today that the USCS says it’s time to start using the term “life Jackets” again!  Now we should only use the term PFD when describing specific types of life jackets or regulation issues.  (Thanks to to Jon Stackpole for gathering the info & Nancy S. for passing it on).

Meanwhile in other news Prince has changed his name to “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii” since that name is no longer being used.

all the while the world is turning to noise
oh the more that it’s surrounding us
the more that it destroys
turn up the signal
wipe out the noise
- Gabriel

34 C was the size of the first bra we came across. After the recent flood the trees and banks of the Baraboo River were filled with everything you could imagine. Beyond 2 sets of red women’s apparel my elder son Julian and I counted 6 bicycles, countless tires and more plastic bags than a Wal-mart parking lot. It was a mess. Yet I had not paddled the section above the rapids since I was a kid and barring all the waste it was a much more diverse and beautiful area than I had remembered. Besides what good is red lingerie if no one happens to be wearing it?

Our Launch site was located just a few miles east of Baraboo just off a road called “Lover’s Lane”.  The park is so “off” the beaten path and seldom visited that the picnic benches are staked down to keep anyone from taking them away.

A dedication was added a few years back in memory of a local police officer.

The banks of the river are just beginning to dry out.  In this area the river must have been at least 5 feet above it’s current level.

This is about the best launch you are going to come up with.  The plan was to face the boats generally in the direction of the current and seal launch.

Even the raccoons had to work to get down to the water.  Interestingly we actually came across a raccoon later in the day.

We took a little side journey up a stagnant stream.  The stream we found was fed with natural ice cold artesian streams.  The warmer surface water sat still with the consistency of jello.

We paddled up the stream about as far as we could. Of course turning sea kayaks around in a small stream is a bit of a challenge.  I spun the boat around until it hung up on both banks, then stepped out into the muck and turned the boat around.  After doing what I could to get the mud off my feet I jumped back in and we headed back downstream to the river.

We enjoyed a variety of landscapes along the shores.  Over the centuries this sandstone outcrop has been etched away by the little river.

Around the very next bend we were paddling along the high banks of an open plain with farm fields beyond.

Around the very next bend the river slipped under a canopy of green.  Lost in this little forest was the remnants of an old train track.  A small island built of sandstone marked the place where a bridge once crossed the river.

I paddled under branches filled with everything the flood waters had carried.  It was here where the 34C showed up.  Across the river another stone cliff came into view. Large boulders had broken off and were now tiny islands along the shore.

The highway 12 bridge carries traffic along on their way to Wisconsin Dells.  It’s also marks the beginning of the Baraboo Rapids. For the next couple miles the river drops about 4 feet producing a few small play spots along the way.  As a teenager I lived next to this bridge. (well, the bridge before this one).  I spent an awful lot of time right here. Under the bridge and along the river banks.

The small islands take on the look of tug boats where their upstream sides have been stacked with dead wood and everything else pushed down in the flood.

The river banks look much more natural these days. Almost every bend now has gravel washes adorning the inside corners.  One would imagine this is much more how the river looked before a city was built around it.

You could have easily missed this little guy along the banks.  We stayed and watched him (or her) for quite awhile.  We guessed the poor thing must have been sick as it did nothing to get away from us as it clung to a log and occasionally shivered. The trouble with wildlife of course is that you can’t just ask them how they are doing and you certainly can’t just pick them up.  In the end we did the most logical thing, and just left it be.

Along with all the tires we counted 6 bicycles either on the banks or in the water.  Some areas are just a mess.  It’s hard enough to get anyone to care about rivers, especially when they run through cities.  Usually businesses & residents build facing away from the river and for some reason got in the habit of using the banks of rivers as places to put all their junk.  It’s sick really.   We discussed what an individual can do to get this cleaned up.  The river is much to shallow for some sort of raft or barge to carry the trash out and the banks are mostly private land.  Leaving it to each individual to clean up the banks on their land is pretty much a lost cause.  We paddled past all this trash before.  After the floods the main difference is that the garbage is sometimes gathered more conveniently in big heaps.  Then their are the bags in the trees.  In some areas it looks like a homecoming party.  Trees are just covered.  It would take teams days to pick all the plastic out of the branches now overhanging the river.

I was most curious how the river bed had changed after the floods.  In fact most the small play spots I had enjoyed are now just gone.  The river is much cleaner.  Larger stone for the most part had been pushed right up along the banks.  Still though, I did find one really nice spot.  Imagine a small wave about 20 feet long!  Yeah, it’s beautiful.  Things have lined up just perfectly to create a really wide wave.  It’s not much, but for people just wanting to learn boat control in rivers and on waves this will be a great “first experience” spot.

Right before the take out is where much of the damage had been done to homes.  Here the water flows down from the Baraboo Bluffs gathering into a small steam before entering the river.  The stream  must have been a torrent.  Here at it’s mouth there is now a wash that has dammed off about 1/3rd of the river.  Looking up the stream you see a deep gorge disappearing into the woods.  The power must have really been amazing.

After about 5 hours on the water we arrived at the landing.  Quite a difference from the grassy banks that lined the river just a couple months ago. The concrete landing was still in tact but it was beginning to be undercut before the water receded.

In many ways the Baraboo river has taken on a change of character of amazing proportions, then just as quickly it’s the same old lazy stream it’s aways been.  I couldn’t help but be impressed with the power of nature and it’s attempt to rid the river of the marks of humanity.   But like a gull covered in oil,  the pollution can not be just shaken off.  It will need a lot of help.  The next trick is finding enough people who give a damn about one little river in the middle of nowhere.  Certainly one of the biggest challenges a paddler can face.

How come I end up where I started
How come I end up where I belong
Won’t take my eyes off the ball again
You reel me out then you cut the string
- radiohead

Ok. So there I am in the wee hours of the morning listening to Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” and working on the DVD cover art for Justine Curgenven’s next film, “This Is The Sea 4″ when all of a sudden. . . the power goes out! Blast! Rats! And DOUBLE BLAST! Now, being that I’m lost in my transcendental creative state aloft in a haze of incense and sipping chamomile tea, I didn’t have the sort of fit you would expect when 2 hours of work go out in a wink. Instead I glanced out the window and noticed that the sun had risen just enough to put a golden glow on the world, and decided to go out and do some gardening. Yeah, that was just what I needed.