We are flying out tomorrow to Portland, Maine. We'll be doing 3 days of paddling and staying at the Harpswell Inn during the middle of the week. The headquarters of H2Outfitters will be the home base for day trips. The area is protected by the finger islands that extend into Casco Bay. It should be a fun way to get started with touring on the ocean in bona fide sea kayaks.
The Portland area, Bath, and L.L.Bean haven, Freeport, will be part of the trip.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Waves on a Lake
Last Sunday, I went out for a technique-focused paddle. Not much sight-seeing but going to a secluded spot to practice various strokes. After watching recently acquired DVD's, I've been psyched to do more of this. I had good luck with most of the strokes I attempted. Since I was by myself and, due to warm temperatures, didn't bring the skirt, I didn't do much static bracing. I did practice a LOT of turns.
On way back to the put-in, I came around a corner of land and caught some decent waves kicked up by powerboats with skiers. This was great fun. With my Necky Manitou 13, the two-footers were enough to get my stern up and my bow down - even into the water. I didn't try to carve any turns. It was too much of a surprise and I had no time to get prepared. It was fun just trying to stay on them and ride them for a bit. I never felt like I would capsize. However, with a little coordination in the future, it seems possible to get some practice catching & riding little waves.
All the more reason to get a bona fide sea kayak in the 16 ft range.
On way back to the put-in, I came around a corner of land and caught some decent waves kicked up by powerboats with skiers. This was great fun. With my Necky Manitou 13, the two-footers were enough to get my stern up and my bow down - even into the water. I didn't try to carve any turns. It was too much of a surprise and I had no time to get prepared. It was fun just trying to stay on them and ride them for a bit. I never felt like I would capsize. However, with a little coordination in the future, it seems possible to get some practice catching & riding little waves.
All the more reason to get a bona fide sea kayak in the 16 ft range.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Which Paddle?
A bazillion options. Okay, maybe not that many, but the variations are a lot to sort through.
I borrowed a 220cm Werner Shuna Performance from Great Outdoor Provision Company to try with a neighborhood lake trip. For kayak touring, they have 4 blade sizes, 4 blade material types, 2 shaft types, and 2 diameter sizes. This particular paddle is a fiberglass blade, the smaller of the two high angle sizes, straight shaft, and the normal diameter. It was perfect for a demo because I've realized I was (unconsciously) using a high-angle paddling technique with my low angle paddle. Now, I could see how it felt to paddle that way with a blade designed for it.
I took my own Aquabound 230cm Stingray and the Shuna and spent several hours on our lake. It was quite a lot more exertion with the Shuna since it catches a significantly larger amount of water. After using the Shuna for a significant chunk of the out portion of the trip, I swapped with my Stingray a couple times to compare & contrast the paddles with high & low angle styles. I learned the following:
So, I ordered a 220cm Kalliste. We'll get small diameter shaft for Kathleen. She'll use mine to decide between a Kalliste and an Athena. She'll also use mine to see whether she should go with the 215cm length or not. These are the Werner suggested lengths for us in boats less than 23" wide. We don't have boats this narrow yet, but it's all part of the broader upgrade plan.
I borrowed a 220cm Werner Shuna Performance from Great Outdoor Provision Company to try with a neighborhood lake trip. For kayak touring, they have 4 blade sizes, 4 blade material types, 2 shaft types, and 2 diameter sizes. This particular paddle is a fiberglass blade, the smaller of the two high angle sizes, straight shaft, and the normal diameter. It was perfect for a demo because I've realized I was (unconsciously) using a high-angle paddling technique with my low angle paddle. Now, I could see how it felt to paddle that way with a blade designed for it.
I took my own Aquabound 230cm Stingray and the Shuna and spent several hours on our lake. It was quite a lot more exertion with the Shuna since it catches a significantly larger amount of water. After using the Shuna for a significant chunk of the out portion of the trip, I swapped with my Stingray a couple times to compare & contrast the paddles with high & low angle styles. I learned the following:
- Paying attention to what I'm doing with my forward stroke makes a big difference.
- The low-angle blade shape suits a low-angle forward stroke better than the high-angle blade. Duh! Same with high matched with high.
- The low-angle blade seems to suit a high-angle style better than the high-angle blade with low-angle style.
- I am now looking to be a two paddle kinda guy eventually: one low-angle, one high-angle.
- Upgrade the low-angle paddle first: Camano or Kalliste
- I'd be looking at a 210cm length whenever the time comes to get the high-angle paddle.
So, I ordered a 220cm Kalliste. We'll get small diameter shaft for Kathleen. She'll use mine to decide between a Kalliste and an Athena. She'll also use mine to see whether she should go with the 215cm length or not. These are the Werner suggested lengths for us in boats less than 23" wide. We don't have boats this narrow yet, but it's all part of the broader upgrade plan.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Trip #18, Paddling Asheville, June 2010
I had a great time on a fairly nearby paddle today with Andy and Claire. It was a stretch of the Broad River in Rutherford County - trip #18 in Betsy Mayer's Paddling Asheville and Southern Appalachia. One of my favorite local trips so far is close to her trip #13. I'm definitely going to start working more trips from this book.
The put-in and take-out was somewhat steep. The put-in had a steeper incline - we used rope to lower our boats down. No pictures of my own since I dunked & ruined our camera at the May boat demo session with Great Outdoor Provision Company. Andy's will be linked here. The river had a steady, manageable current the whole 11 mile trip. It took about 5 hours with a lunch break and a tree hacking break. Claire and I got the break on the latter. Andy used his handy-dandy handsaw to cut some limbs to clear a way through a tree that spanned the river at one point. (We did use my tow rope to pull some of those limbs free. The next paddlers can thank Andy.) This, and an easy pull around, were the only serious blockages. We were easily able to navigate around other trees and rocks we encountered.
The water was clear enough to see some submerged stuff. And clear enough to see color differentials when the water went deep. This is an old theme for me - I'm just fascinated by the way the river bottoms change: sand, pebbles, big rocks; ledges of sand on an inside of a bend with deep drop-offs to the outside. The trees that were down gave me the impression that big water would roll down dragging behemoths from the river banks. That's probably not the case, but it was a compelling image in my mind.
We passed a pair of black cows, a pretty brown horse, a small dark heron, a great blue heron, several kingfishers, miscellaneous small brown things, a very big owl (that we didn't get close enough too), and a half-dozen turkey vultures by the water. Not a whole lot of wildlife, but the trip was very, very enjoyable.
I also got to put into practice techniques picked up from the Brent Reitz Forward Stroke Clinic dvd. This was recommended by a couple of guys I follow on Twitter, Bryan Hansel and David Johnston. Even with low-angle paddling, the "chicken wing" approach, of keeping the elbow up, even with the hand & shoulder, made a HUGE difference in how the torso rotation, and power in the stroke, felt. Brief description here.
The put-in and take-out was somewhat steep. The put-in had a steeper incline - we used rope to lower our boats down. No pictures of my own since I dunked & ruined our camera at the May boat demo session with Great Outdoor Provision Company. Andy's will be linked here. The river had a steady, manageable current the whole 11 mile trip. It took about 5 hours with a lunch break and a tree hacking break. Claire and I got the break on the latter. Andy used his handy-dandy handsaw to cut some limbs to clear a way through a tree that spanned the river at one point. (We did use my tow rope to pull some of those limbs free. The next paddlers can thank Andy.) This, and an easy pull around, were the only serious blockages. We were easily able to navigate around other trees and rocks we encountered.
The water was clear enough to see some submerged stuff. And clear enough to see color differentials when the water went deep. This is an old theme for me - I'm just fascinated by the way the river bottoms change: sand, pebbles, big rocks; ledges of sand on an inside of a bend with deep drop-offs to the outside. The trees that were down gave me the impression that big water would roll down dragging behemoths from the river banks. That's probably not the case, but it was a compelling image in my mind.
We passed a pair of black cows, a pretty brown horse, a small dark heron, a great blue heron, several kingfishers, miscellaneous small brown things, a very big owl (that we didn't get close enough too), and a half-dozen turkey vultures by the water. Not a whole lot of wildlife, but the trip was very, very enjoyable.
I also got to put into practice techniques picked up from the Brent Reitz Forward Stroke Clinic dvd. This was recommended by a couple of guys I follow on Twitter, Bryan Hansel and David Johnston. Even with low-angle paddling, the "chicken wing" approach, of keeping the elbow up, even with the hand & shoulder, made a HUGE difference in how the torso rotation, and power in the stroke, felt. Brief description here.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Over the Mountain Triathlon 2010
The Over The Mountain Triathlon is an annual event where the swim is in Moss Lake, the ride heads toward Kings Mountain, and the run goes back out from Kings Mountain. Since we got boats, I've wanted to help out with this event. The email arrived Thursday afternoon saying they needed more on-the-water volunteers. It was the first I heard about it, but fortunately I had no plans. While Kathleen was preparing for the Certified Pool Operation exam, I paddled toward the public access where the swim starts.
With minimal instruction and none of the promised equipment (flotation device & whistle), I was back out on the water and headed towards another pair of paddlers that were positioned at about the halfway point. The swim course was a 7 facing down for 1.5 km. At 8am, the horn blew for the lead group to start. The leaders tore up that distance. At intervals, trailing groups started. No one became distressed or needed anything to hold on to. Several swimmers got off course. Some more so than others. One boat was orange, as were the course markers, which caused at least one person to cut the corner, lose time, and add distance before getting re-oriented. The last person out of the water had a regular flotilla escort as all the boats along the course trailed in behind him.
Here are the leaders going past me (with a path buoy way in the background) and the finish line with a lady just out of the water and a blue-capped person still in the water but approaching boat ramp.
With minimal instruction and none of the promised equipment (flotation device & whistle), I was back out on the water and headed towards another pair of paddlers that were positioned at about the halfway point. The swim course was a 7 facing down for 1.5 km. At 8am, the horn blew for the lead group to start. The leaders tore up that distance. At intervals, trailing groups started. No one became distressed or needed anything to hold on to. Several swimmers got off course. Some more so than others. One boat was orange, as were the course markers, which caused at least one person to cut the corner, lose time, and add distance before getting re-oriented. The last person out of the water had a regular flotilla escort as all the boats along the course trailed in behind him.
Here are the leaders going past me (with a path buoy way in the background) and the finish line with a lady just out of the water and a blue-capped person still in the water but approaching boat ramp.
Monday, April 19, 2010
ECCKF Round Two
We made it back to the East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival in Charleston SC this past weekend. No pictures this time. We jammed the weekend full of master classes (expert teachers, not old learners) on the water, tent classes, vendor tent browsing, boat demoing, and a beginner's class on rolling (me, that is; not Kathleen). We only went for the festival deciding to hotel it rather than rent a place on Folly Beach. It was a good decision. As it turns out, we were beat at the end of each day and didn't want to do much at night. Kathleen threw out her knee getting out of a boat after class on the first day. And, by the end of the weekend, I had a massive crick in my neck from poor sweep turn form on the windblown pond and then unsuccessful attempts to roll in the last class on the last day. No trips in the area this time. Next time! And next time, hopefully, we'll have better boats to take the classes with. The Charleston Park & Rec folks had nice boats available for the classes but it's harder to learn technique in an unfamiliar boat.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Winter Warmup & Brown Water
It's been a cold snowy winter so far - very different from last year when we started kayaking; very few options for us to get on the water. It warmed up this weekend and I couldn't pass up the chance to paddle. I decided to do a quickie on our very own Moss Lake.
First decision was "what to wear?" Actually, it wasn't hard due to our experience last year and expecting the water to be colder. Even with temp pushing into 60's, I was going to wear my 3mm farmer john. I went with a lightweight long-sleeved paddle shirt to go over it. Oh, the other part that made it easy? A guy died a couple weeks ago on the South Fork Catawba River. Inexperienced, not dressed properly, then trying a river in flood stage. We haven't tried the stretch they did. It's a real mix of flatwater and rocks & shoals. Neither flatwater nor whitewater paddlers are fond of it - I think due to the mix of conditions that make it hard or unpleasant for one or the other. More later if/when we ever paddle it ourselves.
Second decision was "where to go?" This wasn't hard either. With Kathleen not able to go, I didn't want to go far or stay out for long. I wanted to go to the Mystery Waterfall and see if the higher rainfall this winter made a difference. This would also make it a short paddle. Since we were going to run an errand, I didn't want to stay out long.
As I'm prepping to go, I realized that last time, after a long break, I'd forgotten to take something. I meant to look at my checklist, but did I? Noooooooo! (Turns out, I only forgot a small face cloth to dry my hands.) Good to be doing this again none the less.
While the lake had some minor flooding during the big rains, the water level was normal full pond. There was floating stuff about. Less than what we've seen before when we were on the water more consistently. After all, a week of no rain had allowed some degree of settling or stabilization of the stuff that gets washed through the creeks. I picked up some floating debris in the open water.
The lake water was very brown. Not surprising, really, but it got me thinking. A pharmacist, who works where we get our prescriptions filled, lives on our lake and was commenting about the changing color of the lake water over the course of a year. A little Googling and I found this nifty explanation of lake turnover.
When I got to my destination, I was surprised to see the buildup of a sandbar that kept me from getting past the 'gatekeeping' tree. Disappointment. Compare this to
this:
And then I discovered this affordable lakefront home (only one of it's kind on Moss Lake that I've seen so far):
Finally .... I've speculated previously about proper clothing for days like this. I saw that NRS has a 3mm shortie and a 0.5 mm shortie. I think I'll try the thinner material. But then again, if I wait too long, I'll have even less reason to buy something.
First decision was "what to wear?" Actually, it wasn't hard due to our experience last year and expecting the water to be colder. Even with temp pushing into 60's, I was going to wear my 3mm farmer john. I went with a lightweight long-sleeved paddle shirt to go over it. Oh, the other part that made it easy? A guy died a couple weeks ago on the South Fork Catawba River. Inexperienced, not dressed properly, then trying a river in flood stage. We haven't tried the stretch they did. It's a real mix of flatwater and rocks & shoals. Neither flatwater nor whitewater paddlers are fond of it - I think due to the mix of conditions that make it hard or unpleasant for one or the other. More later if/when we ever paddle it ourselves.
Second decision was "where to go?" This wasn't hard either. With Kathleen not able to go, I didn't want to go far or stay out for long. I wanted to go to the Mystery Waterfall and see if the higher rainfall this winter made a difference. This would also make it a short paddle. Since we were going to run an errand, I didn't want to stay out long.
As I'm prepping to go, I realized that last time, after a long break, I'd forgotten to take something. I meant to look at my checklist, but did I? Noooooooo! (Turns out, I only forgot a small face cloth to dry my hands.) Good to be doing this again none the less.
While the lake had some minor flooding during the big rains, the water level was normal full pond. There was floating stuff about. Less than what we've seen before when we were on the water more consistently. After all, a week of no rain had allowed some degree of settling or stabilization of the stuff that gets washed through the creeks. I picked up some floating debris in the open water.
The lake water was very brown. Not surprising, really, but it got me thinking. A pharmacist, who works where we get our prescriptions filled, lives on our lake and was commenting about the changing color of the lake water over the course of a year. A little Googling and I found this nifty explanation of lake turnover.
When I got to my destination, I was surprised to see the buildup of a sandbar that kept me from getting past the 'gatekeeping' tree. Disappointment. Compare this to
this:
And then I discovered this affordable lakefront home (only one of it's kind on Moss Lake that I've seen so far):
Finally .... I've speculated previously about proper clothing for days like this. I saw that NRS has a 3mm shortie and a 0.5 mm shortie. I think I'll try the thinner material. But then again, if I wait too long, I'll have even less reason to buy something.
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