You bet…
I can’t wait… I have a software release on Friday/Saturday or I’d be with you on the Tuckahoe… but either later this winter or early spring I would LOVE to get out in conditions.
I’m SOOO tired of typing when I should be paddling…
I’m ready to get in over my head 
Better to die like a man
than swim…
How embarrassing…must be BCU guys…
Just teasing…looks like a fun time!
It seems that your assuming
that when paddling in rough conditions you have a safety blanket of being blown back to shore if all fails. This is far from what these conditions can really do. The bigger the waves, the larger the currents can be that are developed from the conditions. Not only are there rip currents but many other currents can develope that can take you anywhere except to the shore. If you have a chance to talk to someone who has done some rescue diving in these conditions they can give you some great information. I used to think the same thing until I experienced how unforgiving these conditions can be with their unseen currents. Be careful.
And you thought…
that you were just going to post some neat pics and reflections of the uselessness of a paddle in high winds…
Seriously, my first thought was that you were all nuts. But then I remembered that, while I haven’t been in conditions as challeged by wind, waves and large crashing objects as you mention, I’ve launched in conditions that proved to lots less than brilliant.
In the end, I guess one of my questions was whether the guys who got out left their most expensive paddles on shore - having my Epic sucked out by undertow would really hurt. The rest is the risk of something major bad happening, and anyone who paddles long enough will have some stories to tell about accidentally or on purpose paddling in conditions that they will never try again. It’s just that some are more honest about sharing those moments.
Wasn’t there that day…
…But the wind speeds dd mentions were measured at Golden Gardens and West Point that day. Maybe they were sheltered somehow but it did blow as hard as he says while they were out. Check the PSKN Yahoogroup for more.
yeah
I buy 'em off’n the oyster dredge for $10 for about 80! we’re building an oyster shell fence around our yard!
Once you have shucked a dozen or 2 you get it figured out.
I can’t seem to figure out how to make individual folders in photobucket so all my pics are in ONE folder. oilwell
steve
me thinks…
they were just ‘practicing’ swims. so they could ‘train’ doing rescues…
maybe me thinks not…
steve
but…
a strong point of the post was not being able to maneuver with GP, Euro, turn into wind, etc. and I see conditions that are pretty do-able.
I train pretty hard at being able to turn into the wind, no matter what the force, no matter what the paddle, or boat.
part of the testing I do on proto-types is take them out in these kind of conditions. on a regular basis.
if you notice the pics I posted,the boat i am in is a proto-type Tsunami 160. 16’ X 24" with a RUDDER. NOT a Brit boat, just a regular-guys sea kayak. it’s gotta work in THESE conditions or we change it!
steve
Great Post
Fun looking at the pics and a good lesson for all of us. I love seeing this kind of stuff. Thanks
yep
– Last Updated: Feb-21-06 2:46 PM EST –
http://urdypaddle.fotopic.net/c850513.html
this is pretty much my comfortable limit for fat man paddling,,my guess is it's a sustained 20mph wind with gusts to 30mph. When I was in sustained 25mph most of the tops are blown off
members only
??? this is a private Yahoo forum for Puget Sound paddlers.???
steve
I’m not saying it’s not hard
and I know I’m fat and out of shape but those pictures are under 35mph winds,sure,maybe further out it was. I honestly dont’ think I could make way in 35mph+winds even if I was semi-fit. The one time I paddled in sustained 25mph with 35mph gusts for a couple hours it wasted me and took every once of control to paddle my Express along with a beam wind. It was shallow water with every wave having the tops blown off.
One fellow was towing a friend in her sea lion with his ruddered boat with a Greenland stick and i was using a 225cm lightning paddle. I’m with the poster that for the most part skills matter more than the equipment.
tho…
“and took every once of control to paddle my Express along with a beam wind.”
Don’t let Matt see this!
=:-0)
steve
HEY!
I said it was windy,and it’s not a low windage boat. AND I did it,which I am quite proud of the fact. Lean just right here, plant the blade just right there,I was pointing higher than the fellow with the ruddered boat by about 20degrees,hell at one point I started paddling backwards for relief. BUT I DID IT!!
I gotta tell you it was a learning experience…and it would have been a heck of a lot easier in a Chatham16 or 17.
And if I had a Tempest 170 with a busted skeg I don’t think I would have enjoyed the experience one bit.
Ice…
I was in the Arboretum on Sunday. The lagoon was frozen over. I was thinking that it would be a very thin layer that would break delicately with my passing. I was looking forward to the sound it would make as I easily pushed a pathway through it. It went from no ice to 1/4" thick to…??? I couldn’t tell you because it stopped me so fast and made the God-awful-est noise. All I could think of was the damage I must be doing to my varnish. With difficulty I backed out.
Some other fellow came along who had been there the day before. He was equiped for the conditions with a plastic Necky and a pair of ice hammers. Last I saw he was pulling his way up onto the ice. Not sure how far he got.
loud isn’t it?
Ice in the Mercer Slough
– Last Updated: Feb-21-06 8:54 PM EST –
Last year, I easily got around in 1/8 inch but at 1/2 to 3/4, I could not get the paddle to break the ice. GP or Euro. When it works, you hear this crunch, crunch of the paddle going thru and the never-ending train-wreck sound of the ice breaking and cracking under the hull as you go. Think Oh, the carnage!
Now this is something those arm-chair midwest paddling experts could comment about and know something about. For those of us who have to deal with tides and currents and man eating beasts when we paddle, we will be have to just trust our instincts and experiences from the hundreds of miles we paddle each year in the super bowl of kayaking... The great Pacific North West.
> over defensive mode off< >donning nomex dry suit for the heat I'll take on this comment
Holy Crap, YES!
SuperBowl?
heck, I think it’s a slice of heaven, clouds too.