We had a good couple of days two weeks ago. 80° air temp and water reported as 52°. Like many members. I was tired of waiting. Got to the water, put my hand in and made a decision that the water was hogher than reported. That was my call, but youll never hear me say “don’t worry - go for it!” You got to do whst you do “tdaniel”. Were gonna do what we do, and not much can stop it. The one thing experience does for us is teach us to be prepared; have a plan and act immediatelty. No regrets. Once we hit 18 yrs old, it’s on us.
My college had a mandatory 1/4 mile + 10 minutes treading water swim test. I believe it was established in the 1930s, as a result of some local tragedy.
If a student didn’t pass the test, they didn’t get their diploma. For some reason it was phased out about 20 years ago.
Ten or fifteen so ago, Paul Smith’s College (in the Adirondacks on Lower St. Regis Lake) had a swim test for students. And, if they wanted to take out a College canoe, they had to demonstrate the ability to recover from a capsize. Not sure if it is still a thing there and can’t say with certainty that it saved anyone over the years, but I’ll bet it did.
We pay for our own sins!
Probably because that’s pretty hardcore.
I took that test this weekend, and just barely passed. Swim out into the current, float downstream, swim into an eddy, and them pull yourself up onto a large rock. I did it, but I was glad for the help to get up on the rock. Swimming is hard work. In my defense, it was the second long swim of the session, but that could easily happen with a bad day on the water.
I don’t know if us old fogys are ignoring the danger, or are just unwilling to accept that we are getting old. For some like me with this swim, maybe they don’t even realize the impact age and a couple of pounds have had on their physical ability. That’s why it is always good to get out and practice under controlled conditions.
Just to show that I made it 
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@eckilson, you also have years of experience from facing conditions and danger. Therefore, you better understand your abilities and limitations. In the past few months, you’ve been considering a different style of paddling that’s less demanding. One reason I don’t do white water anymore is because conditions constantly change - such as water levels, the course of the river, debris like shopping carts or tree limbs make new hazards. We lost a few canoes and I decided to seek different challenges. It comes down to judgement. If paddling wasn’t a challenge many of us wouldn’t do it. The key to safety is plan and prepare.
Sea kayak - yes. Less demanding - not so sure about that. Bunch of new demands and challenges when you get out in wind and waves in open water. Spring is for whitewater. This summer I hope to spend more time in the sea kayak. We’ll see. Agree that it is all about understanding and preparing for the conditions.
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Both of these things sound pretty insane to me. Bad water conditions have always scared me more than anything, even heights. I’ve been on the ocean a couple times in bad conditions and it wasn’t a good experience.
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One reason i joined RICKA last year is because there seems to be an active rockplay/surf contingent of longboaters. Granted i only went with the contingent once last year but it lived up to expectations. The second reason is that the summer pattern of Bermuda Highs give RI wind swells whereas MassBay goes flat because Cape Cod blocks those wind swells. The RICKA contingent knows the local spots that I don’t know about.
looking forward to more longboat play sessions this summer.
sing
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@eckilson sea kayaking isn’t less demanding, but as you say, different challenges. I love tidal water with wind and wild currents. The difference is you down get jambed into a rock. To me, beong able to develop speed is important, because you have to paddle 6 mph to paddle 3 mph into a 3 mph current. I’ve co e across paddlers more than once who couldn’t make progress into combined wind and tide. That’s hell if you miscalculated the tide and have to claw ten miles to get back.
If out in big open water and I see a solo paddler without wearing pfd and no evidence of a paddle float or pump, in the conversation that follows I will casually ask if they have thought of how they will get back in their boat is they capsized. Most people in this situation have never thought about it. They think that they can just climb back into their kayak. Another common answer is “I don’t plan on capsizing”. I then ask, who does, but it happens.
I suggest that they try it in calm protected water and suggest they look further into learning about it. If approached in the right manner, most people appreciate the suggestions. Of course, some people are just resistant to learning or advice.
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Hope to see you there. I am going to practice open water rescues/recoveries before I get out on anything too interesting.
The weather picture gets a lot bigger in open water kayaking - salty or similarly large situations like the Great Lakes. From a fog bank in Maine in June that rolls in to be pea soup within 20 minutes - no you cannot outpaddle it - to squall lines that came thru 3 hours earlier than the morning forecast said and have left me sitting on an unplanned island for that long waiting to get enough clear space to make it home.
The weather patterns often operate over half to full days. The offshore wind in the summer will be fairly reliable event on sunny days, noticeable by midmorning and kicking arse until about 3. Which matters when the offshore island you want to get to is an hour plus paddle one way. I am not a morning person but for solo paddling these days have become much more of one in salty stuff.
And just the distance. When things get bad in whitewater they can be very bad very fast - but the shore is within sight. When you get caught out well offshore the land seems very far away. It is a manageable change perspective, but a different one.
Yeah, but the view never changes and I don’t have a fast twitch muscle in my body.
I’d rather pack all the necessary stuff, head out for the day and see what there is to see. But then I cross country ski instead of downhill, too.
That’s the wonder of kayaking - something for everyone, right?
Actually, when you are surfing the “view” does change. You tune in on the incoming waves and differentiate which is about break, where it is going break and where you need to be to catch it at the optimal place. Even as one catches a wave, have tune into how the craft is positioned and moving with the wave energy, see/feel where the wave is peaking/waning and to get to the next optimal spot on the wave for whatever one is intending to do. Each wave ride is unique and different from the one before and the one after. The wave beckons the rider to pay attention and be in the moment. No daydreaming.
I think flyfishing has a similar quality. An external looker will see a person with a flyrod, standing in the river, and flicking his/her line to some spot out there. Pretty simple on first appearance. To the flyfisher, it’s much complex and engrossing. S/he is looking the multi strands of currents, eddys, foam piles and trying to decypher what’s happening underneath the surface to create the changing surface currents, and how these currents bring the “food” either on the surface or subsurface to a waiting trout. Also, have to figure out where a trout may be lurking, usually in a spot that allows it to see the food flowing by but also offers refuge from the fast current that would otherwise suck up its life energy. Having figure these out, the flyfisher needs to cast competently to land a fly in the intended current line and manipulate the flyline to minimize interference or drag of the varying lines of flow. As a flyfisher, I have spent significant time in a “good spot”, trying to get my fly to the right current line, in the right way, to go by a fish that I think is likely at certain spot just off to the side or deep believe the surface current line. On those occaisons, I have never felt that I was seeing or doing the same thing, while it may appear so to an onlooker.
With skiing, admittedly, I was much more drawn to downhill (mogul filled) venues because I was and still am an adrenaline junkie. I only took up x-county skiing after blewing my knee out. It’s a fine activity, just like snowshoeing, hiking, or taking a walk. I do and enjoy all these. But, these don’t demand my absolute engagement (physical and mental) in the way that adrenaline based sports do.
For sure!
sing
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Agreed.
We moving out of the “killing season” as water temps rise to 50 and above. Still, danger of wind and waves continue…
Tragedy avoided:
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Novice paddlers generally don’t understand that they don’t stand a chance fighting wind and current. Glad this one ended without tragedy.
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There was a stiff westerly that day. Marblehead harbor is eastward-facing and sheltered from the wind. The possible put-in locations outside the harbor are also eastward-facing. She probably didn’t check the weather and was tricked by the calm conditions near shore. And if it was her first time paddling that area, she may not have been aware of the currents.
Probably because I have young kids myself, stories like this really get to me. My wife has expressed some interest in exploring and camping on the Maine coast, but we’re not prepared for that yet. For one thing, I need to buy a VHF radio. I can’t imagine doing what she did without a means to call for help. Given where she was picked up, I’m surprised her phone didn’t work.
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