This is one of the more gnarly play venues I’ve seen recently in Youtube in a while. Tough venue, winter conditions, know your play/team mates!
-sing
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Wild, crazy, and impressive paddlers.
I wish he would have showed more of the video right after getting ‘back flipped’ - where he came out (starting at 1:30).
(maybe it was just all dark)
Why did he come out (obviously the back flip, but was he not firmly attached, padding?)
Maybe not enough cameras and coverage. I love video and find it helpful. Great help in reviewing/improving technique and also for analyzing/dissecting situations. Too bad not everyone is able to carrying a cam and/or committed to shooting/editing video.
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Oh my! I’d be crying for my mummy. Actually, I’d be sitting in the pub by the fire.
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One thing maybe is that between those big breaking swells, they at least have some time, 2-3 seconds, to roll, gather themselves etc? Was watching a vid from the River Kings I think (can’t find it now) on what I guess was a decent Class IV and it looked like being in a washing machine.
Neither would be my idea of fun!
Yee- ha that looks gnarly. I lived about two miles from this spot in the late 1970s on a hillside in Vaagsbygd. Was not into kayaking then but used to watch the ocean from the garden in the apartment where I lived. Impossible to see the ocean during storms but I had no idea it was this rough there. The coast in summer is fairly benign and you can book tours where you paddle from light house to light house and stay overnight. Very close to here at Møvik is a huge German WWII canon emplacement with a museum that is well worth the visit. I believe the canon is one of the largest ever made. Kristiansand kanonmuseum Cannon Museum | Buildings & Monuments | Kristiansand S | Norway
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Very cool. Those are some gnarly conditions!
The thing that popped into my mind watching the person in the orange kayak was that you will automatically do in challenging conditions the same thing you do in similar less challenging conditions. Both blades out of the water lifting the paddle over the wave. Those were all 3 of the orange kayak capsizes shown there. Plus another time the person got away with. Both blades out of the water. 100% control forfeit to the wave at the worst possible moment. In every sport I’ve ever been in, when the moment of truth comes along, a person consistently performs their practiced habit…even when they know it won’t work during that moment of truth. It’s one thing to understand and explain it. For some reason, in sports, you simply have to practice what you do in order to do it in practice. I’m certainly not exempt. I started many years ago practicing using the paddle over small non-pushy waves the way I need to use it over large pushy ones. I think this may help the person in the orange kayak a lot.
Props to the person in the darker yellow kayak with black ends. It looks like they were in their element. It appears they towed the other two rafted kayaks into calmer water when the person in the lighter yellow kayak went for a swim and was rafted up with the orange kayak.
And I’m behind the keyboard here. All easier said than done. But I promise, a blade in the water changes so much. Both blades held up is a paddler frozen in hope, and it can be hard to thaw quickly enough - as seen in the orange kayak slow motion capsize in a backsurf with both knees tensed up into the thigh braces. A blade in the water keeps a paddler proactive, maintains a connection and a feel for what’s happening, and does a lot to prevent a momentary freeze-up that leads to capsize.
That’s a very cool video!
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See videos of class V runs that scare the bejesus out of me. Of course, having almost died in a class IV strainer weighs heavily in my mind when it comes to moving water…
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Good stuff. Makes me want to get out an paddle in more adventurous conditions.
Me too!!! I need a good crew to get out with. I renewed my RI Canoe&Kayak Association (RICKA)membership specifically because they have a surf/rock play contingent and a variety of venues in the “Ocean State”. But, I haven’t gotten out with their contingent yet this year. Had a nice surf/rock session with them a couple years ago.
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I watched the vid again (it’s worth at least a couple viewings), and, while the seastate is a bit bumpy, what is most impressive to me are the seemingly ‘uneventful’ successful rescues (they know what they’re doing).
The reason it hit me like that, is that most of my ‘heavy sea condition’ experience has been on my own, not with a group.
In a group, one is expected to (should) have good rescuing experience, I would not perform well in those conditions (with rescuing others). Bouncy waters, possible kayak torpedoes coming your way, very large breaking waves during rescue, etc.
However, on my own, I know that I’m the last resort.
It’s for this reason, I think I’m more likely to stay in the kayak then bail (into severe conditions) - probably to a fault.
There is that saying for river runners - “we’re all between swims”.
While it can apply to sea-kayakers, for me, I think I may get just get one swim (if you know what I mean).
Playing alone around rocks and such, I’m trying to give myself 1.5 swims. I installed an E pump in my rock boat, the Stratos 14.5, for the eventual re-enter and roll. 
-sing
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