CASKA: Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association

Sarah Hartman Great Slave Lake Solo Adventure Update IV--Movement to Mainland

Sarah has moved from a tiny island off of Thompson Landing to a spot on the mainland not far away. She is in a broad bay that likely is very suitable for a bush plane pick up if she remains there until Saturday.

The weather forecast suggests that she might well have to stay put. There is a strong wind warning in effect and winds are currently about 25 mph. Winds will continue in the 15 mph range through Saturday. By being on the mainland, however, she has some opportunities to explore the rugged country on foot.

Sarah Hartman Great Slave Lake Solo Adventure Update III--Gale

Sarah has spent another day on a flat, S-shaped island just off of Thompson Landing. Conditions have deteriorated and she is in a gale with 35 mph winds with rain. One can only imagine what that is like on what looks to be a relatively flat island exposed to the full force of the winds and waves.

The winds are forecast to diminish to 20 mph by morning and through Wednesday and the rain will be tapering off. On Thursday and Friday the winds are forecast to drop to 15 mph. This might allow Sarah to make some forward progress towards her Saturday rendezvous with the bush plane.

Sarah Hartman Great Slave Lake Solo Adventure Update II--Weather Challenges

Sarah Hartman has finished the middle leg of her exploration of the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake. She has been paddling since Saturday, August 20. She is expected to rendezvous with a bush plane on Saturday, September 3, for a flight back to her base at Narwal Northern Adventures in Yellowknife, NWT. You can follow her progress via these coordinates she sent from her SPOT:

August 25: http://fms.ws/5nqOS/62.86047N/109.28127W

August 26: http://fms.ws/5oQNr/62.89853N/109.63383W

August 27: http://fms.ws/5p4pH/62.94655N/110.19386W

August 28: http://fms.ws/5pfoM/62.92435N/110.66667W

August 29: http://fms.ws/5qEuB/62.92448N/110.66664W

At the beginning of this middle leg of her trip Sarah was at the mouth of the Hoarfrost River, likely visiting with one or more members of the Olesen family, the only permanent residents on McLeod Bay, a stretch of water roughly 50 miles long and 10 miles wide. The chart shows a series of rapids as the Hoarfrost River approaches the Bay, and I suspect that Sarah explored them.

Since then, Sarah has retraced her earlier route, paddling west along the north shore of McLeod Day. She has covered roughly 45 miles and has spent the past two days at a bay called Thompson Landing.

This is complete speculation on my part, but it is possible that Sarah is contemplating a seven mile crossing of the bay to the tip of the Kahochella Peninsula, which points like a finger into McLeod Bay. There are islands to the east and west of such a southward crossing, and the promise of hitting either Shelter Bay or the sheltered Lost Channel, just around Gibraltar Point, the very tip of the "finger."

Such a crossing would reduce the distance back to the Taltheilei Narrows and into the Hearn Channel, where Sarah likely hopes to get by the time she is due to be picked up by the bush plane on Saturday. Hopefully, she will continue to exercise good judgment and not let the daunting fact that the bush plane costs about $20/mile cause her to rush or take risky shortcuts. For all I know, she has found a hot springs and is going to enjoy her solitude and let the bush plane take care of itself.

The weather forecast for Yellowknife, NWT from Weather Underground is somewhat daunting. Yellowknife is on the North Arm of the Great Slave Lake, over 100 miles to the west from Sarah's current location. The forecast for tomorow (Tuesday) is for rain and winds up to 20 mph from the northeast. Such conditions mean an offshore quartering headwind if she continues along the shore or a wind-assisted crossing where conditions will build quickly as she crosses and a potentially tough surf landing along the cliff-lined shore of the Kahochella Peninsula. Tomorrow might be a good day for her to sit tight and soak in those mythical hot springs. From Wednesday to Saturday according to Weather Underground Sarah should get no precipitation. Temperatures will peak in the mid-50s with lows in the mid-40s. Wednesday will see winds as high as 25 mph. Winds will taper off from there and be largely at her back.

The Environment Canada forecast for the North Arm is much more troubling. There is a gale warning in effect. Winds are predicted to hit 35 mph by Tuesday night. Winds will taper off by Wednesday morning, but after a brief respite, rise to 25 mph by Thursday night and increase to 30 mph by late Friday. If these winds continue into Saturday it may make it difficult for the bush plane to pick up Sarah.

The forecast for the East Arm, where Sarah is located, is slightly better. There is a strong wind warning in effect, rather than a gale warning. Winds are forecast to top out at 25 mph.

These conditions, if they pan out, could make it difficult for Sarah to make much progress in reducing her distance from Yellowknife. In addition, as anyone who has camped through sustained 35 mph winds, or even 25 mph winds, can attest, those conditions are brutal, especially when the temperatures are in the 40s. It is hard to cook, hard to sleep, and hard to stay warm. The wind can tear tents, break tent poles, and wreak general havoc.

These forecasts indicate that Sarah may have only one good paddling day left between now and her scheduled pick-up on Saturday. That window of good paddling may close quickly as the next bit of high wind moves in. Hopefully, she will continue to exercise caution and use good judgment. She will have to be extra alert given the volatility of the weather.

Given the forecast, I will try to provide an update on a daily basis.

 

 

Sarah Hartman Great Slave Lake Solo Adventure Update

By: Tom Bamonte

Sarah Hartman is doing a two-week solo exploration of the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories.  The GSL is one the world's largest freshwater lakes--larger than Lake Erie or Lake Ontario--and is the deepest in North America. She and her kayak were flown in from Yellowknife, the capital, by bush plane. The East Arm is the remotest part of the lake and has no towns, a scattering of summer fisherman, and lots of hungry fish. The lake is frozen 8 months of the year and Sarah is paddling at a time when the average temperature drops sharply as summer transitions quickly into the cold season.

Sarah has been making good progress since she was dropped off. You can click on these daily coordinates sent by her SPOT to follow her journey thus far:

 

8/20: http://fms.ws/5ky51/62.51786N/111.5647W

8/21: http://fms.ws/5ky51/62.51786N/111.5647W

8/22: http://fms.ws/5lTyi/62.70049N/111.43109W

8/23: http://fms.ws/5mezO/62.93279N/110.57718W

8/24: http://fms.ws/5nFDI/62.92603N/109.93344W

I talked to her by satellite phone today. She had planned to do a roughly 8 mile crossing of McLeod Bay to the Kahouchella Peninsula but opted not to in light of her assessment of the conditions and the foreboding cliffs she would face on arrival. Her current plan is to paddle eastward along the north face of the Bay and then retrace her route, exploring lots of interesting waterfalls and other enticing sites that she has passed along the way. She is in the part of GSL that is closest to the treeless tundra, just 50 miles away, so the land is very rugged.

Sarah reports that she is rested and well fed, leaving 600 calories a day untouched thus far. A nice reserve for when she paddles back to the rendezvous with the bush plane over a week from now. She seems to be in good spirits. Probably enjoying the company!

I was supposed to join Sarah on this trip but a professional obligation forced me to scratch. I'm grateful that Sarah opted to push ahead and is exploring waters likely never paddled before by a Chicago kayaker.

 

Paddling Lake Okoboji: One of Only Three Blue Water Lakes in the World

By Mary Fairchild

(Arnolds Park)

West Okoboji Lake is located to the south and west of the City of Okoboji and northwest of the City of Arnolds Park in northwest Iowa. Last week I was able to paddle some of my favorite areas of the lake where we frequently vacation with my husband's family.

Vacation Okoboji Magazine 2011 claims that Arnold's Park's wooden coaster, located near Pillsbury Point State Park, is in its element today (pictured). Owner Wesley Arnold's granddaughter, Caroline Anderson Moyer, who lives in St. Charles, Illinois, just visited last year. She was never allowed to ride the roller coaster because her parents thought it was too dangerous--at that time, kids would try to stand on the seats during parts of the ride...

I rode the roller coaster for my first time in the summer of '83 when I was kidnapped from my wedding reception by the groomsmen and put on it in my wedding dress...  I'm not kidding.  It was our anniversary this past weekend and we were able to visit with two of the groomsmen who both remember "the adventure."

In 1946, Arrow Development was started by four men who previously worked together at Hendy Iron Works--Bill Hardiman, Angus Anderson (of Arnold's Park), Karl Bacon, and Ed Morgan. All four men were instrumental in the start up and development of Arrow along with designing/building the rides for Disneyland when it opened in 1955.

West Okoboji Lake is about seven miles long and up to two miles in width and it is the largest of a chain of five connecting lakes, which is considered part of Iowa's Great Lakes.  

The lake is a glacial pothole with curved, boulder-strewn shores surrounded by clusters of knobby hills, smaller lakes and bogs, and abundant sand and gravel deposits.

It is one of only three lakes in the world that are considered to be a blue water lake.  The other two are Lake Geneva in Switzerland and Canada's Lake Loiuse.  These lakes are fed by cool, fresh, subterranean springs. 

Just around the bend from Arnolds Park is Pillsbury Point State Park.  Mike Koppert, operates the Abbie Gardner cabin, and massacre monument which are located there.  

 

 

Mike has created a film, which he shares, depicting the history of the site where, on March 8, 1857, a small band of Wahpekute Dakota warriors led by Inkpaduta began attacking white settlements on the Okoboji lakes.  An interesting note, there are claims that, about twenty years later, in 1876, it was one of Inkpaduta's sons who may well have killed Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Ideally, I should have had my boater's registration sticker on my kayak right by the Geneva Kayak.com but I don't have all of the paperwork from last fall's purchase of the used boat that is required for the process. 

 

 

I've been lucky with my few excursions away from my Wisconsin home base where I am not required to have my kayak registered.  My boat travels to Maine next month and I will luck out again as Maine still does not require non-motorized boats to be registered--negative public response appeared to work in that state.  When it comes to non-motorized boats, only Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa (boats over 15'), Minnesota (boats over 9'), and Pennsylvania (if used at a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission [PFBC] lake or area, or at a Pennsylvania State Park lake), require registration fees. 

After non-motorized boat users complained in droves, the registration fees in Alaska  were eventually dropped from the law.  In 2000, in Arizona the annual registration fee was also dropped due in part to high administration costs that were exceeding the revenues that were being collected and an ineffective ability to return services to the public.

When it comes to paddle boats, not only is there is a higher rate of turnover which makes for more paperwork, but many paddlers tend to own more than a single canoe or kayak and when it comes to registration, this makes what their share of what they pay in boating fees disproportionate compared to the owners of single, more expensive powerboats. 

 Hundreds of thousands of dollars go into creating bike trails without requiring bicycles to be registered like cars and in the same way it makes sense that paddle boats ought to be separated from motor boats.  All power-boats are registered just like cars for a good reason. The money is used to support investments in channel marking and provides for law enforcement in heavily used oceans and lakes.   

American Whitewater reports that registration fees have rarely been used to benefit paddlesports, but tend to be diverted for motor-boat launch sites and programs that benefit fishermen, but unlike hunters and fishermen, paddlers take nothing from the environment.  Registration laws also increase the opperating costs for church organizations, university programs, and comercial angling outfitters and whitewater outfitters. 

Since Illinois requires all boats to be registered in the state, if you are coming from another state that does not require kayaks to be registered, as most do not, you will have to purchase a license in your state or from Illinois. The initial fee for registration in Illinois currently is $13.00 for 3 years (for each boat). Renewal is then $6 (for 3 years). 

Out-of-state boaters can stay up to 60 days in Illinois if they are registered in their state but since only a few states currently require canoe and kayak owners to register or pay special taxes on their boats, this creates an inconvenience to out-of-state paddlers visiting that have not been required to register their boats.

Heading back to the Crescent Beach Resort...   Time to get out the jet skis and stand-up paddle board...  Life's good.

Kayaking Rock Lake With Rutabaga: Mezmerized by Aztec Mystery

By Mary Fairchild

On Friday, I traveled to Rock Lake where I met up with Kevin Leher from Rutabaga.  I was in the area and decided to see if I could meet with someone who could teach me how to re-enter and roll and work on some self-rescue skills for a few hours.

Rock Lake is only 3 miles away from the important archaeological site of Aztalan. 
  
About the same time that the Vikings founded Greenland and Canada, the "Middle Mississippian" culture appeared in Wisconsin.  About AD 1000, emigrants from Cahokia began to build new towns in northern Illinois just before moving up the Mississippi and Rock River valleys into Wisconsin.

 

I asked Kevin if I should be concerned about hitting my head on one of the "supposed" submerged pyramids in the lake and he assured me I wouldn't have a problem.

....We were just kidding!!

We briefly chatted with some of Kevin's neighbors who were arriving at the beach that morning, Kevin lives a few blocks down from the beach where we put in. It was perfect. I was able to park within feet of the beach for free. There were nice public restrooms and the weather was a dream--sunny and 85.

Kevin had assisted Sam Crowley during his circumnavigation of Ireland in 2007. In fall, Kevin will be spending some more time with Sam in Marquette working on his ACA training.

(Map of Rock Lake Indian mounds 1914; Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society)

The name Aztalan came from Aztec tradition that describes their ancestors coming from a country up north, which they called Aztalan.  It is made up of two Mexican words, atl, water, and an, near which seemed to describe an area that was close to large bodies of water not unlike the great lakes.

The burned remains of the stockade and house walls lended to the thought that Aztalan was most likely burned and not just damaged by natural prairie fires. The Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society writes, "...the Woodland tribes surrounding these intruding strangers with their unheard of foriegn customs, grew intolerant of their superior ways and drove them out. Possibly their canabalistic habits of which there is such unmistakeable evidence in their food refuse, had to do with their abrupt dissappearance..." (2; p. 5) YouTubeAztalan

Salon review, "...Andrew O'Hehir calls Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi a "cautious but mesmerizing" account of the archaeological discoveries at the site, which certainly included lots of human sacrifices... it doesn't fit the traditional paradigm of prehistoric Native Americans as eco-friendly hunter-gatherers."

After the Great Depression, Aztalan was sought out to become a national park. The National Park Service made a favorable assessment, especially if the site could be reconstructed, but for economic reasons this never materialized.

The greatest period of public land recreation related construction occured late in and shortly after the Great Depression. Today, there is a lack of funding because tax breaks are being provided to corporations and the wealthy, and direct subsidies to powerful special interest groups. As a direct result of government policy, poor Americans are getting poorer and the wealthy are getting wealthier.

References
1. Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town, Robert A. Birmingham, Lynne G. Goldstein; Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2005.
2.  "The Ancient Aztalan Story," Lake Mills Aztalan Historical Society; 1969.

Warm Water Surfing: What's Not To Like?

By: Tom Bamonte

What's not to like about surf practice at Rainbow Beach on a warm August evening (8/3/11) with an enthusiastic paddling partner?

Launch View: Rainbow Beach North to Chicago Downtown 10 Miles Away

Gary Steinbauer Launching

Nice Wave

Sunset

Gary Steers Out Around Amoeba Buoy For First Of About Three Final Circuits

 

Water Music: South Side Buoy Hopping

 By: Tom Bamonte

There are plenty of eminent composers who have been inspired by water. Handel's Water Music, Debussy's La Mer and Weezer's Island in the Sun come to mind. But on a warm Saturday morning Pierre Kornak and I decided to journey to a gong buoy about eight miles out in Lake Michigan where the water makes the music.

Pierre Cutting Nice Figure In His Epic With Distant Skyline

It was a day of buoys. We launched at the Calumet Park boat ramp on a warm day with soft winds and no waves to speak of.  We went a mile east to a buoy marking the south side of the shipping channel leading into Calumet Harbor. Here we spied the first of several large ships that reminded us that the southwest "corner" of Lake Michigan is a busy commerical shipping area.

 

Calumet Harbor Buoy With Freighter in the Distance

We then proceeded about 7 miles due east to a gong buoy designated R "2" on the applicable chart.  As we approached the buoy we caught another ship steaming out to mid-lake.

 

Approaching R "2" Gong Buoy

By this time we could hear the "music" produced by the buoy. It was decidely more ambient in nature than the one hit "Timothy" from the group called the Buoys or the music put out by the contemporary group from Maine called Buoy or by the rapper Buoy Royale or even the recent song entitled "Gong Buoy: Pacific Coast" by a band called Village of Spaces.

Gong buoys have a distinctly different sound than a bell buoy, more complex and arguably more interesting. (You compare and decide.) 

The Music Maker: Gong Buoy Seven Miles East of Calumet Harbor South Entrance

Most gong buoys, like this one, have three gongs, which allow for different notes. As we found, even modest waves can prompt the gong buoys to put out a nice stream of music. As someone who is a afficianado of ambient music I felt right at home in the sounds. The music is made by the action of the waves on the buoy the music and is thus ever changing, 24/7/365 creativity.

Alas, we didn't stay long to enjoy the soundscape, what with miles to cover and, deliciously, the approaching wake kicked up the freighter. The wake was traveling in roughly our intended direction to the next buoy to the northwest so we hitched a ride for what felt like about a half mile. In about an hour the buoy marked "B R C 'D'" on the chart appeared. It marks a wreck and water as shallow as 21 feet deep. We didn't see the wreck, but had a snack and drifted southwest, our direction back to the launch.

 
Buoy Marking Wreck

From here we proceed west southwest to a "RACON" buoy located about two miles from the breakwater entrance to Calumet Harbor. "RACON" stands for the Radar Beacon type of buoy. A RACON buoy "responds to a received radar pulse by transmitting an identifiable mark back to the radar set.  The displayed response has a length on the radar display corresponding to a few nautical miles, encoded as a Morse character beginning with a dash for identification." Now that we've cleared that up, on the images:

 
RACON Buoy R "2" Two Miles Northeast of Calumet Harbor Breakwater Entrance

The actual radar beacon kind of looked like one of Poseiden's tools on a nightstand.

RACON Beacon

From here we paddled about three miles through the breakwater entrance and back to the boat ramp. In all, we covered over 21 miles, visited four buoys, and crossed several busy shipping lanes. But most of all, we had journeyed well to hear some sweet water music.

How's that shoulder?

Is it true there are only two kinds of kayakers -- those who have shoulder problems, and those who will?

I can't answer that question, but I can tell you how upset I am that this paddler seems to have converted from one group to the other. It happened late last pool season when I was a little too vigorous fighting gravity during another failed attempt at a storm roll. Gravity 1, Shoulder 0.

It wasn't a violent pop. Just a slight tweak; I barely gave it a thought at the time. Now I notice soreness, clicks and pops during motion, and occasional pain at lifting my arm above the shoulder. Just a twinge, but...worrisome.

I haven't sought medical attention yet, because I don't want anyone to restrict my activity during paddling season. But the appointment is made.

In the meantime, I came across this very hopeful article in the New York Times. It describes the medical discovery that a simple yoga pose can retrain different muscles to make up for even a seriously torn rotator cuff. According to the research article, it can be as effective as surgery, which I have always heard is the very last thing you ever want to consider.

I've been doing the exercise three times a day. It's too soon to note any change, but I'll post updates in comments below.

For lay language proselytizing of the yoga approach, see

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/health/02brody.html

The research article, with easy-to-follow detailed instructions is available online for free here

http://journals.lww.com/topicsingeriatricrehabilitation/Fulltext/2011/04000/Yoga_Based_Maneuver_Effectively_Treats_Rotator.10.aspx

If you're in my group, why not give it a try? And if you're in that other group, remember: brute strength never makes up for crappy technique.

~Bill Burton