What little I know I am happy to share

The Lorax writes this disclaimer in his first blog post:

"Now a disclaimer......

I am in no way an expert in any of the things I post here. Most post will be my opinions and we all know about opinions. Please, do your homework, get professional training, and learn the things that are important. I place no guarantee that anything I post will work for you or will keep you safe. Just because it works for me does not mean it is right for you."

And I start to wonder whether anyone would mistake me for an "expert?" Goodness, I hope not! I certainly never meant to imply I am an expert in anything. 

Okay, honestly, I know a few things about gear. I read tons of reviews and (critical) pay careful attention to the things my gnarly boat elders point out as "good" and "bad." Because I enjoy shopping I also tend to keep tabs about current prices and new gear on the market. 

I do not enjoy buying gear that ends up not working right. This is why I am always asking other paddlers about their "X." It is cold here now so currently I am looking at paddlers and their kits and asking "do you like those booties? Why?" "Pogies? Why?"

I have definitely made some mistakes in gear, early on especially. This has lead to a fair pile of cast-offs. Also, things that were right in the beginning, do not fit my current needs or skill level. I am currently in the process of trying to "re-home" a bunch of my stuff. If I am not going to use it it needs to go.

I developed some rules of my own regarding gear: 

-I never buy a product based on online reviews alone. I get real-time reviews from my boat elders (see above) and also from fellow paddlers. 

-I never buy something that is brand new technology or a brand new company until, again, someone I know has actual experience with it.

-I really believe "you get what you paid for." As in, I have a Kokatat drysuit, not some off brand. If one thing is really a lot cheaper than another known product in the same category I have to wonder "why?" 

-If I do not love something, say a PFD, I do not keep using it. Forcing myself to use something that does not meet the function I need is silly, and the delay serves no purpose.

-I take really good care of my gear. Brian says I am a "boat coddler." It is all so expensive. If I am going to pay that much for anything I am going to take care of it. This includes rinsing all my gear in tap water after use. I also wipe down my boat after every paddle. Once a month or so each of my two composite boats get a coat of wax, even in the dead of winter. 

-303 goes on all the hatch covers and rubbery parts. It works well on almost everything and I also apply it to my poly prop Necky Elias once every three or four trips. Although, to be honest, this boat rarely leaves the garage anymore.

-When I buy technical clothing I try to buy things that can be useful in multiple sports. I sadly admit that I have purchased bike jerseys, but that is a thing of the past. Now I buy 1/4 zips and wear them hiking, biking, paddling, walking the dogs...

-I know a guy who is a self proclaimed gear expert. I am NOT this guy. I am not an expert, I am a consumer. I am a careful shopper. The reason I review products here, and at other online venues, is because I like to share information. I try to offer wise consumer advice, and I would always advise checking other resources, especially real people resources.

Which brings me to a story:

-One thing I did buy that was "a new product" on the market is several items made from polyolefin. I first became aware of this material when I purchased a jacket and pants from SUPreme in April 2013. The material is smooth faced on one side and microfleece on the other. It wicks like crazy so I always feel dry. It is my go-to layer under my drysuit, in the shoulder seasons under my wetsuit, sometimes under my wind pants biking in the freezing cold...You get it. The only time I do not want to wear them is the hotbox peak of summer. I have been raving about "poly-o" for a year and a half. I mean, this is great stuff! 
link to pants made of poly-o that I purchased in 2013

Anyway, "gear expert" comes up to me recently and says "by the way this polyolefin stuff is great, you should really think about getting some."

... ...  In all fairness to my friend "gear expert," a) he likes to share too, is generous with both loaner gear and advice because he is truly kind, and b) I chat a lot so maybe he missed the part about "these awesome pants made of polyolefin."

Wye Island Circuit

Thursday morning found me up and out the door early with my boat and equipment in tow. We are now in the last few weeks of (for me) "wetsuit season" and I plan to make the most of them. I will paddle whenever and wherever I can, hopefully not alone.

I carried the Romany across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Wye Island on the Eastern Shore.
DNR Wye Island Description
I was meeting a group we call CKA (Chesapeake Kayak Adventures). It is both a large group of friendly like-minded paddlers and a commercial venture for its "owner." It is a brilliant bit of hybrid social media, adventure outfitting, and truly friendly people. My kind of people, and I enjoy being able to paddle with them very much.

We planned and completed a "Wye Island Circuit." Starting and ending at the same location, we circled the island counter-clockwise. At 14 miles this is not a terribly long paddle but it is one with a ton of natural beauty. It was cool and overcast most of the day but there were moments when the sun shone and the blue sky sparkled off the water. A very good day to be paddling.

At the launch

Ed in his Impex Assateague

Chocolate kisses!!

Dennis snaps another amazing photo

Thanks to Dennis there is evidence I made the trip

The day ended with blue skies and a mild breeze. These pretty autumn days will hold me over, through the bleak months, until I see the Keys or spring again.

Who the BEEP turned on winter over here?

(insert groan of misery)

So all day yesterday I am running errands, spending huge chunks of the household budget on dentistry, getting stuff done. Yeah. But the whole time I am thinking "ah but tomorrow I go to yoga and then paddle in the afternoon. It will be lovely."

At some point I realized it was going to rain. Rain, for me as a paddler, is no big thing. I am already wet from getting in the boat, the dripping from the paddle. Kayaking is not a "dry" sport. If I needed to stay dry I would take up, say, golf. So rain, not a problem.

I scramble outside at lunch time, yeah it is already raining but still no big deal. The car parked in the drive is warm and my garage is warm. I "load de boat" as my husband says in his comical way, and all is well. Hey, life is good.

Before paddling, I still have an errand or two to run on the way to the Marina. It must have been somewhere around the Vet's office when I realized, "Hey, it is cold out here." Wait a second? Did not the weather guy say low 70s? It is bleepin 57 degrees out here! Wait, I just looked again and it says "high of 68." Dude, there was no 68 degrees here today. 58 maybe. But now, it is sub 57.

I do not want to come off as a wimp, even though I AM a wimp. My main problem is that I still have my summer kit. I have sun hats and sun block and fingerless paddling gloves, all neatly stowed in my "go bag." What I do not have is my dry suit, my fleecy layers, my wool caps. Ah, alas and woe upon the underprepared. So now I am back home. Errands run and I sadly returned, knowing the smart and safe thing to do is to get my winter kit packed.

I call this "fluffing my gear." Yeah, I know in human slang "fluffing" usually means something entirely different. But for me, "fluffing" is very much like an osprey cleaning, preening, and fluffing her feathers. This fluffing thing is a necessary part of every bird's life. It is what keeps them warm and dry even in bad weather. See? Fluffing is a good description of what I now must do with the rest of my afternoon.

Let the "fluffing" commence.

Tomorrow I paddle no matter the weather.

Sold my Sirocco and bought, drum roll please, an NDK Romany Surf!

I say that with an exclamation as I am really excited by the boat. Some pictures...

Out with friends Friday 5-2-14. Credit R Dennis Green

Kat in her n-used NDK Explorer, Becky, and myself. Credit R Dennis Green

House shopping from the water. This is the one! On Massey Creek Fairfax County, VA. Credit R Dennis Green

Just for comparison: My Surf is supposed to be 16' 3" and Kat's Explorer 17' 8". While the size difference looks obvious in this photo it eluded us in person. I think the Explorer was trying to bamboozle us into thinking "she" was fun-sized, rather than the stately lady "she" is. One can also see the difference in the key hole cockpit size. While I find the entrance to my Surf roomy, the Explorer is more cozy, aka, tight getting in and out.

Here the silky slack waters at high tide beckon us out from Leesylvania to cross to Mattawoman Creek. Once there we practiced bracing and turns. James's CD Gulfstream is still pretty new to him as he doesn't get out as often as I do.

Charmed by the new boat

Selfie 5-3-14

James tried out the Surf and declared the seat more comfortable, and cockpit more roomy, than his Gulfstream. This, despite the fact that the Gulfstream is a full two inches wider (23.75") than the Surf (21.75"). I believe the issue with the Gulfie is the plastic stabilizers that run from the cockpit coaming down to the seat at the hip area. While my CD Solstice GTS has the same kind of arrangement, it is not tight while the Gulfstream is. As a matter of fact I cannot sit in the Gulfstream for more than a handful of minutes before I am threatened with severe hip pain. My hips are crap, that's a given, but I find it odd the seat area is so tight when my Solstice is not.

Why so serious? He says, "Meh, my Gulfstream turns more easily." He and I never agree on boats. This is good as we will likely never share a boat. This is bad for the same reason. We will eventually run out of room.

I hope my CD Sirocco suits her new owner better than me. She was just too big. The gal who bought her found she fit just right. Every one deserves some new boat joy!

White Water Run on the Po

Frank and Kathy Collins invited the husband and I on a little easy white water run a couple of  Sundays ago. I don't own a ww boat so I brought my Wilderness Tsunami 120. James brought his old Dagger.

At the launch off the C & O Canal. Frank on the water and my husband on the bank.  We paddled upstream and took to the Potomac right above the "Breaks."

Kathy with James in the background.

James

We ran into an older couple as we entered  the side channel that took us around the Breaks on the Potomac. They seemed like lovely people and after they paddled ahead of us Kathy told me the couple is in their 70s. I want to be still paddling in my 70s, I do.

It was right about here in the trip that Frank said "Randi, I saw you do an eddy turn!" and I thought, aha, Dale Williams and the scary Elliot Cut taught me something I retained and used. Woohoo! It's a good day!

I was not as grim as this selfie makes me appear.

Frank and Kathy

James' boat emptying after he flipped while fooling around. I got to swoop in and tow him to the side when he lost grip on his boat as Frank towed it out.

Although it's hard to see the Virginia bluebells were all blooming on the banks and the trees just beginning to green.

Bluebells to the left on the bank

You can just make those Bluebells out

This is actually how I felt. It was a happy happy day. And then we had dinner at a little pizza place in Potomac with Frank and Kathy. A great way to start the week.

Paddling clubs and their bear pits aka unanswerable questions

So, let's forget about the dead dogs and go back to the easier things in life, like say, getting crushed by a Romany during a botched beach landing. You know what? I'd do that every day for the rest of my life if it meant I'd never lose another furry friend unjustly.

But meantime "Everybody knows Deke!" sends me this off a CPA forum:

"Topic: Rock the Boat: Paddle Clubs that Don't Suck
Author: davekroeger
Message:
I joined the Washington Kayak Club a few weeks ago after they posted on the
CPA message board. I filled out the info and posed a photo of myself but
not my big, glaring mug. Today, I was kicked out of the group through a
boilerplate-written message because I hadn't posted a full-face photo. The
message mentioned "as I had agreed to" just to let me know that no curtesy
was necessary in dealing with me, and to point out a flaw in my character.
When I responded, a cyber-generated message told me that I could not even
do that.

The group is kind of odd anyway. The invitations that I received catered to
a beginner crowd, despite the bitter cold temperatures. They do mention the
need to wear a wetsuit or drysuit, but I don't think that a wetsuit would
be enough for this weather. The distances mentioned an presumably the speed
didn't appeal to me, but hopefully it did to enough experiences paddlers to
help those who weren't.

So I'm back to traditional clubs after my first step into the
software-heavy world of Meetup paddling. I've been a member of more than
half a dozen traditional paddling groups, and none have forced me to post
my face publicly. In this day of privacy intrusions, I have to say that I
don't want to. Facebook, for example, considers your photos as their
property and they metric your face so that you can be tracked by cameras.

If the controlling group owner wants me to give up my face for the honor of
joining his group, and then wants to hide behind cold electronic messages
when kicking me out, I guess he can. I'm out. I sure hope that the
traditional group holds out in these increasingly cold days of the
computer."

Well, ain't that special? Seems like everybody is taking pot shots at everybody else over there in CPA land. You know, I'd pass on that except, well, I can't. So this is what I sent back to Deke:

"hmmm...

Nope, not an Annapolis "ACK" owner. They have no problem putting their faces out there, different last names.

Please do mention that we get very very few beginners indeed this time of year. Actually, what is this guy "Super Dave?" Because many paddlers have accused our cold-water-crowd of paddling "too far, too long, too fast," as you well know.

Now, I can tear his response down point by point if you think it'd help you. He's made us sound like jerks and I'm not liking it. And I'm not even the owner anymore.

Lastly, I would consider myself a fairly skilled paddler but got my ass handed to me in class seventeen ways to Sunday this last weekend. Given the class, and instructors present, I am much humbled. We, NONE of US, are more than an L2 of 5 at best. (this of course excludes the Brians (S and B), and to a certain extent Gulfstream Dennis) so, in reconsidering what Super Dave said maybe WE ARE beginners but we are very well experienced and equipped beginners with good assisted rescue skills, detailed knowledge of our stomping ground, and confidence.

Over and Out"

(Edit, I am being unduly harsh on myself and paddlers such as Deke. Rereading the ACA's own guidelines some of our regulars really are  closer to L3s. Okay, I stand corrected. I have the flu and some things look worse than they are from the sick bed.)

There are some parts of Super Dave's complaint that are valid and some that just aren't, like complaining about parts of the program behind meetup. For example, he can't reply directly to an auto-remove but he can always go back to the website, click on the "contact us" icon and blast away. Andy is a lawyer, I am sure he'd be happy to send Super Dave a well thought out response.

The only part of Super Dave's complaint that I consider valid is his complaint about being ejected over the photo. Here's MY photo from meetup:

Look, Super Dave, if you actually believe that your mug is not already planted in the guts of the government's super computer multiple times then you can just go right on believing in fairies too, m'kay? 

Now to point out the flaws in my own photo: I am wearing a hat and sunglasses, the photo isn't all that close up and personal, and well, maybe it's not the most telling photo of me. Andy might kick me out of the group, right? No, wrong, because all Andy is looking for is a photo that will help the event organizers recognize the members when they assemble on the mat, and after the event while logging attendance. That's all, Super Dave. There really is no reason to go and get your panties all in a twist, eh?

All this fuss over a photo. Really? Really??

Sigh. Why do we do this to ourselves? 

The Lorax got the moniker "run silent, runs deep"

But I'm not sure how deep my husband's thoughts run. After all, as he doesn't have much to say I really haven't any idea. After I wrote this I was back on our club's website and I saw someone had changed his nickname to "Thor," which made sense and made me laugh at the same time. Maybe an apt name for my blonde wild-haired husband in the Swedish boat with the Thor's hammer around his neck, and the dog he named Thorvald.

He has had a hard week. He's been quieter than normal. We are both a little emotionally wrung out for the last few weeks.

Tor is worried that the "nugget of evil" will steal his favorite person from him

Even though I have for the most part left the SCA behind I couldn't help but put this sticker on my car. I *think* it was a sticker suggesting a bike helmet but I'm with Bike Snob NYC. The helmet doesn't make you any safer and it encourages car drivers to treat the wearer like they are Lance or something. But fighting helmets, yeah, those are sexy!

It's the middle of the night and I can't sleep. I often have trouble sleeping after 2 am. I keep meaning to stay awake until 11 to see if I might sleep through until 0530, but I always crash and burn somewhere around 9 pm.

I've gone out at least a dozen times since I last made an entry here. I still don't have a reliable camera and so am not really taking many photos. I miss it.

This last Friday morning we four gals found ice crusts ringing Pohick Bay. It was 23 degrees, over cast and windy when we put in. It was 45 and sunny when we finally gave up. Literally the sun broke through the clouds as we loaded up. Doh.

I took my Elias out the last couple of paddles. I remember it being light and nimble, and so it is. It's a nice little sea kayak. I think I'll take it to roll class tonite.

Trish, Drew, and Lynn at our wedding in 2008

I want to always remember Trish laughing. She looked great at our wedding and her own with Drew a week later. She was killed in a car wreck last Saturday. I am stunned. But my husband is having the hardest time. Drew and Trish were a huge part of his life during his obsessive rock climbing years. Trish will be forever missed.