the thing about rocks
and swell is: the rocks stay in place and the swell goes up and down. It’s only when you get ‘surfed’ do the swells move you into the rocks.
I spend alot of time in this transition zone both in my boat and out. Swimming up against a rock face is quite fun and educational. When we get the full vid done you’ll see some rescue practice up against rocks and I just float up and down with the swell.
steve
too bad…
I’m missing this expedition to England. Sounds like an excellent workshop, Aled. 'specially in a hired boat!!!
btw, I’m unable to join Jon and me buds because I ‘have’ to be in Arizona in May. on the Grand Canyon! =:-0) bummer, eh?
Have fun in Anglesey! maybe next year i’ll get to go.
steve
beginner, h—
i’m selling my yak, and getting a 3 speed schwinn !!
Give And Take…
The longer boats feel more stable in rough water (again, paddler has to do with it as well). That’s why “river runners” are higher volume. Not dealing with alot of differential currents also helps.
The sea kayakers I 've met with WW background always seem more comfortable with textured water. Indeed, they get bored otherwise.
sing
drama queens!
bowling is DH’s advice. :-p~
Wade was totally honest when he said that a few weeks ago he was in the ‘beginner’ stage and with proper EDU a serious paddler can achieve some form of comfort in level 3+/4 conditions.
Yes, a whitewater course will help tremendously. learning to brace and roll, yep! proper stroke and boat control, yeppers again. but it is possible to achieve profieciency in these conditions with proper coaches and training.
and we aren’t lacking in the conditions you might aspire to!!!
steve
Redline the funmeter
Rocks are what makes offshore paddling a gigglefest!
There are some prerequisites. One, very good boat control. Besides a brace/roll, I judge a paddler’s capabilies in those conditions by the quality of their draw strokes.
Two, be ok in the water. Get out of your boat and swim, and self rescue (I grew up doing a little surfing and swimming in the surf).
Three, the similarity to WW is the ability to read the water. Waves hitting a steep rock will only give you an “elevator ride”- too much fun! But if there is a rock/reef below the surface, you have trouble. And you can hide behind rocks- a swell/surge around/over will create a suckhole; it is much like a hole in a river, if you side surf it, it buffers you from the rock, even as it sucks you close to it.
But like WW, it is possible to get pinned!
karl
Elevator
– Last Updated: Apr-20-04 7:39 PM EST –
Most people don't know that the water in any wave that is not breaking is only moving up and down, not forward. It just looks like it is moving forward.
You can get some momentum going down the wave face, but the water is not pushing you. You are just going "downhill".
You need the forward momentun you get from going down the wave face to ride across the wave face. Or get some more momentun by going up and then back down the wave face again.
Only the spilling part of the wave is actually moving forward.
And Flatpick is right. I learned this from swimming in surf, boogie boarding, and body surfing. Then you can "feel" the difference more than in a boat, or even on a board.
well it looks like fun either way
to me, i’d love to have a chance to dodge rocks instead of jetskis.
KW…
you just gotta plan a little VACATION time out here, check out the scene and figure a way to move WEST! 
you’ve seen the photos, now the vid, JUST DO IT!
steve
stop, stop, stop,
i’m already GREEN with envy of being able to dodge rocks in swell. You don’t have to rub it in!
Any need for a salesman at Alder Creek Canoe? Or how about a web developer/tech writer/software qa analyst? Tell your friends! I’ll pack my bags!