Sea Kayak Surfing and Other Open Water Skills

Last weekend I went down to SeaKayak Carolina for the first time, in Charleston, for a Sea Kayak Surfing class. The instructor was Dale Williams, a well known surf kayak teacher. Brian and Pete were taking the class as well.

Saturday morning started out with a weather and locale briefing. Dale explained where we were going and why. This is where I found out that I had signed up for an ACA L5 course. Um. When Dale digressed for a moment I went back quickly to re-read the course announcement. Nope, no mention of L5. Way to go kiddo, dropped yourself right into the fire.

Lesson 1: next time I will *ask* what level is expected.

I had, with Brian's input, arranged to borrow this very nice Romany Surf for the class. Thanks for the loan Scott!

Mmmm, red and white, my fav boat colors too!

In the briefing room:

L to R: Dale Williams with chart of coast, Lee

These morning discussions of gear, weather, and navigation were fascinating to me. I am reading Gordon Brown's "Sea Kayaking" right now. Hoping it covers some of those topics but if not "the Sea Kayaker's Handbook" is next up and I might find more coverage there.

 Lesson 2: more to learn. I love learning, look how much more there is I need to learn! No wonder I like messing around with boats.

On the shore:

L to R Paul, Lee, Paul

Dawn aka "Sandy Bottom," Dale, Tom

Pete, Brian, Trey stretching

Heading out to the surf spot

We are just now beginning to find some waves but they aren't yet breaking or ridable

Wave rising up between us makes the first paddler look like a disembodied head

Now you can really tell we are getting into the waves

It was a few miles out to the surf spot. We rounded Fort Sumter and continued along the coast on to the right, south of the city. With the lighthouse as a landmark, down coast of us, we went out a few miles from shore to find swells. These were fast moving rollers that were hard to catch. I had many near misses or partials but got two really good rides in. Both times Dale was near me and was able to direct me on to the wave. These were both amazing rides-amazing for me anyway.

Brian pointed out tendrils of mist on the shore. Soon we had almost complete fog cover. The light house disappeared. Brian advised me what heading to look for on the compass if I had to bale and make my way back alone. I'd never paddled with a compass on the deck before, now I want one. Yeah, yeah, like all the other things I want, right?

Lesson 3 lean forward, 

Lesson 4 bring a short paddle with big blades, like the Werner CorryVrecken and paddle fast, 

Lesson 5 stay on the crest: My tendency is to lean back. Lean forward, paddle fast, let your boat settle on the crest of the wave. The boat is too long to ride down the face like a surfer on a board so the best spot for a sea kayak is right on top. Both bow and stern will be out of the water.

6th thing, let the boat turn a bit in one direction or the other as the ride is finishing. On the second wave this took me over the shoulder and now I was pointed right at the oncoming face of a similarly big wave. I didn't know what else to do so I charged right at and over it. Just as I got to the crest it started to break into my lap. I leaned forward and pushed hard, dropping neatly down the back of the wave. I repeated this maneuver several times. I enjoyed the doubt that I would make it over the wave before it broke, carrying me backwards into a reverse endo. Okay, I'm an adrenaline junkie. I already knew this.

Lunch time came and we pulled out on the beach. I botched the landing. Stuff went awry and I found myself broaching, then flipping, wet exit with really no room between me, the boat, and the sand. The already heavy Romany was full of water. Just as I got it up on the beach I coughed up some sea water and there was a perfect sand dollar nestled in the sand. Treasure. I'm okay, dry suit isn't full of water, I'm surprisingly warm. Lunch. I am not unhappy. I was a little glad I wasn't the only one who botched the landing or the take off. Better paddlers than I wiped out as well. 

We played around in the waves some more and then the long paddle back. My low point struck about 1.5 miles from our take-out. I was just on empty.

We debriefed in the parking lot and then off to the hotel for a shower. Then we went to the shop's open house, where we caught an hour long film about Dale's 2013 trip to Wales, and the NDK factory, among other things. Filmed mainly by Joe Campbell, and well edited by him, it was a blast. Just really really cool.

I slept like a rock.

Next morning, briefing, and then off to play in Elliott Cut. This is an entrance to Wappoo Creek, a place of truly fierce tidal currents. Rips really, as in "tide rips through." Here we practiced ferry glides, eddy hopping and turns, as well as peel outs.

While yesterday I felt very little fear and indeed felt well in my element, here I had doubts just putting in. The currents were ripping down stream at about 5 knots, while boat traffic was coming through without slowing down. The numerous docks and pilings, all encrusted with barnacles and other shells, made for dangerous obstacles. Always at the ready to grab your boat or paddle, these things suck mightily. 

Dawn, Paul, and Dale watching "Group A"  acclimating to the rip.

First group ferry gliding across to the first eddy. Look at those currents churning!

This was highly educational to me. I really got up close and personal with my need for better boat control. While the first day of class had been exciting and fun this second day of class was a stern reminder that I need to get my sh*t together. I would feel this class in my chest muscles the next day. And my brand new paddle left class somewhat worse for the wear. Thanks barnacles!

A good class, money well spent, that gave me tons to think about and ruminate over. Plus, I think I fell in love with Charleston; just like that, on the first date with the first kiss.

New toys!

I have a Sea Kayak Carolina "sea kayak surfing"class with Dale Williams coming up at the end of this month. I am really glad to be getting out of northern Virginia for a few days. It should be warmer in Charleston and I am hoping for good weather.

 I am somewhat intimidated by the class. I am planning to bring my CD Sirocco. I have enjoyed this boat in surf and find that it handles rollers and following seas well. The boat gives me confidence, it is a platform to build upon. Downside would be I haven't been able to complete a roll in it. But I have practiced wet exits and heel hook reentries in it very recently. As I said, the boat gives me confidence, so I am not worried so much about biffing in the waves as I might be in another boat, like my Solstice.

myself and the Sirocco

Brian did warn me that I might need to reenter multiple times and that I will likely "get tired." This has been so present on my mind that it drove me to start running again a few days ago. I had been waiting for my busted knee to heal, but decided I couldn't afford to wait any longer. I have been running farther each day. I plan a five mile course, alternately running and walking. Today I managed to run an entire mile & 1/2. This might only be impressive to me, but then again, I'm my own worst critic as well.

I am also looking forward to getting back on my bike. It's been a year since I rode with any regularity. I had been riding two or three times a week until last spring when my neck pain became just unbearable. Taking a break from regular rides improved the situation. I guess the best I can hope for is one ride a week. Having several bikes at this point seems silly so I plan to keep only my cyclocross bike. It's been my main ride all these years and I really can't see the point in keeping the others.

Me heading out on the C&O Towpath with my main ride

With the Dale Williams class, then the East Coast Paddle Festival and several other symposiums coming up this year I decided it was time to fill in any holes in my paddling kit. So I purchased my own radio this week. I wanted one that was a little smaller than the one I have used for the last two years (which is really my husband's but he doesn't need it often). I also ordered a tow belt and 18 foot line. During the two trips to Florida I noticed several other paddlers had quick release lanyards they used to tie up when taking breaks, clever, and so I ordered one of these as well.

Maybe I went a little "wild" as I also ordered, drum roll please, a dry suit for my husband. Amazon knows how to reel in a sucker. They sent me a notice that the same suit I have was available in an XXL for 30 bucks less than I paid for mine. I considered my suit a great deal so there was no way I could pass up this one. Purchasing it solved my husband's two piece dilemma, neatly. Now I have my bottoms back so that I have a two piece back up dry suit and he will have just the one suit. He will need it way less often than me so this seems a good solution.

new toys!

I am planning on getting out tomorrow morning just to practice strokes, and then paddling the big water off my friend's beach in Coltons Point, MD, on Saturday. We will celebrate the arrival of spring that night before heading home to NoVa. Sunday will find me looking for a quick paced "exercise" paddle and hopefully a low-key bike ride.  My week starts over again.

Birds in Florida, 1st Keys trip and Calusa Blueway

This post will mainly be photos. I will try to avoid posting photos that appeared in other blogs but frankly, one or two are just too cute to pass up another showing. If a picture speaks a thousand words then I'll just let them do their jobs.

The above five photos were shot during my first trip to the Keys. I was not focused on the wildlife so I really didn't take that many shots of birds. So that's the best of them. The Nikon wasn't so healthy, I'm pretty grateful for what I got.

The group above was from the Calusa Blueway circuit. As you can tell from the last few photos, my companions were doing the same thing I was, watching birds and snapping shots. Of course the camera wasn't cooperating, so again, grateful to whatever forces grant a bird watcher a few good shots.

Calusa Blueway Trip Report Part 2

This next day James and I really learned the truest usefulness of the Buff. We both burn like crazy and there really isn't enough sunscreen to stop this process. So the Buff became our secondary defense against our lovely star's visible radiation. There are already a handful of photos floating around social media of my husband channeling his inner bank robber, and so here are a couple more.

I haven't been so freckled since I was a child. It's a look I rather like. And my husband took on a mystery man air. One of my pals said "he looks like an adorable alien, with the blue lenses and tube face!"

We left Cayo Costa State Park and paddled south along its Gulf side. We had lunch. Yeah, they really know how to feed people, no doubts! We then made the crossing through a channel into Pine Island Sound and on to Captiva Island.

Along the way we picked up a begging double crested cormorant. He really was the cutest little guy, darting around and under James and my boats, giving us quizzical looks. He finally took off as we approached the entrance to the landing spot.

We stayed the night in at Captiva Island Inn , in a quiet, quaint, and upscale little village. Easily walk-able, and effortlessly cheerful, it had a Caribbean flair, with colorful houses and and a nautical theme every where one looked.

Our little one bedroom cabin, complete with a secret garden on the shady side and a hammock just calling James's name!

Oh, and it just happened to be Super Bowl night! I suspect, on no factual basis, that Bill was behind this fortuitous turn of lodging. So this night we enjoyed AC, ice cream, hot showers, and the Super Bowl half-time show complete with the RHCP & Bruno Mars to thrill our middle-aged lady hearts! <3 <3 <3

Super Bowl night group dinner, awesome!

Next morning we saddled up bright and early. In the list of items to bring was a couple of grocery-style cloth bags to move stuff when not in one's boat. I chose *very wisely* to bring two blue Ikea bags and another plastic-tarp style bag that had a top with a zipper. They didn't absorb any water and served us very well. Added to my list of essential items for kayak camping. These bags meant that we didn't have to make more than one trip from our lodging to our cleverly secured and hidden boats.

James, cheerful in the morning

Grouped waiting for take off

Pretty boat, looked like a deck ornament rather than an actual seaworthy vessel

Look at that water!

Mary and Bill

We lunched near a bird preserve, getting quite a show from the residents. Then we paddle on to "Picnic Island" which is apparently nameless but as it is in Picnic Flats the Burnhams use this apparently sensible name.

Unfortunately for me, my arrival on Picnic Island coincided with an exhausted feeling, a cough, and fever. I did not get out of my tent to listen to the "mandatory" camp bathroom lesson. I didn't come out to eat either. I *never* let a little illness stop me from eating. But I was really sick and didn't even get up to search out this "camp can" until the next morning. I had caught the flu James had battled for a week before our trip. I couldn't breathe and coughed horribly through the night.

Some how, not entirely clear, I managed to make it through the next two days of paddling. However, I noticed when editing my photos just how few I took the last two days. Too sick to do more than paddle and pull my share of the load, apparently.

We settled in for our last night of the trip at an RV park. Although the "camp ground" isn't quite set up for tents they had a large flushie bathroom, a water hose to wash at and an outdoor bar and fire pit which we happily used. The owners had us set up in the common area next to their own RV and it worked out great. Grateful to be bedding down I went to bed much earlier than everyone else. In the morning I had lost my voice, and was gently teased for being so quiet.

The last morning dawned cool and cloudy, much like our first day. We made the boat ramp at Bokeelia at about noon, just as the clouds started to burn off.

White Pelican roost, apparently a rare sight

Follow the black dots to follow our tracks. I am sure James will come up with a high-tech version of this but for now this simple laminated chart and dots added by Bill will be perfectly adequate. I think Lisa took this photo and I cropped it to remove the ads along the sides.

Total distance was either 73.5 or maybe 75 total if you like to round up, and most of us do. We averaged 12- 15 miles each day. I have a callus on my right thumb where my paddle rests, like never before. Yes, I would do that again, minus the flu next time, please!