Upper Peninsula
I love paddling my Coaster during the small craft advisories on Lake Superior. I love it so much that my wife and I bought a retirement home in Trenary, Michigan this year.
Does that make me a Yooper wannabe?
Trenary Toast, anyone?
Absolutely
You've never really kayaked until you go out in rough water. My whitewater kayaking friends think I'm nuts! I tell them it's like class 3 whitewater, non-stop for hours. The bonus is that after you've been home for a few hours, your brain is still bobbing up and down... pretty cool.
Going out in tough conditions is a great way to improve your skills and confidence. A bombproof roll is a must! I always launch into the wind and waves (many places to launch on the Chesapeake) so that if I should get into trouble, I'll just blow/wash back to shore.
yes i love it
i am experienced and extra careful. i am lucky to live in an environment (small protected creeks emptying into big water) where i can test the wind and waves to the limits of my level of confidence. i suggest anyone find a place- protected shore, smaller creeks etc- where you can get a gradual exposure to the full force of sca conditions. trying to paddle off a lee shore into ‘conditions’ can be a quick initiation to the reasons they post sca’s
Never Mind What I Do!
You have to judge for yourself
every chance I get
I enjoy paddling in rough conditions. It’s a great challenge and always finds a way to give you a lesson. With the proper skills and knowledge of the conditions it can be a great skill builder. Starting out with someone who is experienced with these conditions is a good way to learn safely. I live in Marquette Mi. and look forward to the fall north winds.
Yes
As others have already mentioned; be sure of what you can handle. It might also help if you know the waters you’re venturing into (or you’re good at reading the conditions and predicting the safest routes according to the conditions and topography…both above and below the water level).
That said, I absolutely love paddling in highly textured and “confused” seas (with countless SCA conditions amongst my happy paddles). Some speak of adrenaline, but I also find that a certain calmness comes over me, and I can see/feel/anticipate what I need to do as if it were all laid out before me in slow motion. I guess that’s commonly called “being in the zone”.
I can’t count the times I’ve been preparing to launch and someone would come up to me and tell me that I’m going to die if I “go out there in that little boat”. I just smile, then launch. When I come back in, I enjoy thinking about how remarkably well I feel for being so dead! 
Melissa
dancing with the sea
I too find the dance much more enjoyable when the water has some life to it. Flat water can be fun at times but lively, textured water is always fun, always engaging. Who wants to dance with a partner that doesn’t move?
Cheers,
Jed
dirty dancing…
…sometimes baby dances rough…
…hoping the hop this weekend turns into just that kind of bump and grind, big daddies and cool kittens!
Bring on the waves!
Last weekend our club went out in the ocean off Bird Island, north of Jacksonville, Fl. The waves were three to five feet with occational larger waves rolling in from the north east (current storm out in the Atlantic, Iren I think?). There were smaller two foot wind waves being blown in from the south east breeze. The waves were breaking up to one mile off shore as the larger NE swells rolled over sand bars. Nassau Sound (about one mile wide from the southern tip of Fernandina To Bird Island, at the ocean, had waves breaking in the sound throughout the sound). Very cool! I was out on my Mako XT weaving in and out trying to miss the breaking sections. Having these multi directional waves on my beam (for the most part) as I paddled north made for an exciting paddle (think bike riding on ice, that could keep it interesting). I would occationally turn in and have some great long rides, turn back out and start all over again! Very cool. I did make a tactical error and at one point stayed in the break zone turning in and out. That was not a great choice as I ultimately (while trying to turn down to catch a wave) was caught, turned, broached and pushed. I tried a high brace with my trusty Mid Wing. The high brace lasted about two seconds. The subsequent swim lasted alittle longer. I did remount, check to see how many of my buddies might have seen my refreshing yet some what humbling swim, turned down and off the ski went, riding the waves all the way to the main land beach (about one and a half miles away). One of the paddling crew is a very reserved (older man, hope he doesn't read this) eye doctor... aways calm. When he got off of the water he was glowing and had a beaming smile (I had never seen him like that). His only comments were that his heart rate monitor watch was beeping at 180bpm. He didn't know his heart rate could go that high or even if it was safe for it to do so. His other comment was "Lets Do It Again!" God I love this sport. Franklin
It depends on the SCA.
To me, the specifics are much more important than the general warning. An SCA due to a cold front coming through with a long line of thunderstorms may not be such a good idea… but an SCA due to 7 foot swell at an angle to 2-3 foot wind waves was about the most fun I ever had in my kayak.
I believe it’s very important to know the area where you are paddling–to be intimately familiar with semi-submerged rocks, escape routes, and the effects of tide height, tidal current, and wind (from each direction). So I’m much more likely to paddle an SCA in my “home turf” of Boston Harbor than in some place I know less well.
Sanjay
storm sea kayaking
There’s a branch of extreme sea kayaking called storm sea kayaking. This involves going out in not only small craft advisories, but also gales, and even storm warnings ( a group in northern California, Force Ten, probably pioneered this type of kayaking). Search the web for “Force Ten”, and “Steve Sinclair”, who was the founder of Force Ten, before his untimely death (not kayak related). Of course, to do this type of kayaking, you need the proper skills!
Tony
OH thank you Jesus
http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/26/gale.htm
That’s awesome. I’m going to improve my swimming skills (and paddle skills obviously) and join these people someday!
Incredulous
Am I the only person who has trouble believing this account? 60 mph winds? Standing and messing around with his seat belt in huge breaking waves. It sounds a little over dramatic to me and not quite in keeping with my experience.