CASKA: Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association

Goodbye and Thanks All

By: Tom Bamonte

Sarah Hartman ended her recent preview of her Great Slave Slave Lake trip with the words "follow your passions wherever they lead."

My passion for a new professional challenge has prompted me to move to Dallas, something I accomplished this past weekend.

Because of the early start of the high school year for my son in Dallas I had to make this move very quickly, which robbed me of a chance to say proper good-byes to all those in the Chicago paddling community who made the past decade a wonderful adventure for me (and so many others). Here's a partial and only illustrative list of thanks:

Thanks to people like Tom Heineman, Peg Cipolla and Dave Kaknes, who were there when I was starting out in kayaking with good advice and lots of patience. Peg's wise words of advice--"remember, the boat wants to stay upright, just work with it"--was most helpful in getting through the tippy phase.

Thanks to Dave Olson for being patient as I wasted his lessons on how to roll and for selling me my Prijon Kodiak, a tough and good first boat. The UIC pool sessions that Dave hosts have introduced hundreds of people to kayaking and provided a great resource for experienced paddlers to polish their skills (and show off for the newbies) in the winter. A special thanks to Joe Chang for the good advice on rolling that he gave me and many others over the years at UIC pool.

Thanks to people like Jim Tibensky, Wendy Madgwick, Paul Redzimski, Russ Johnson and Mike Agostinelli for modeling high-level paddling and graciously sharing their wisdom about paddling and life.

Thanks to people like Paul Doughty, Chuck Starks, Michael Taylor, Hether Hoffman, Mary Fairchild, Dave Naudi and Humberto Garcia for their inspiring love of kayaking and having fun.

Thanks to Ryan Rushton and the crew at Geneva Kayak Center (including Mike McDonald, Scott Fairty and Aaron Litchfield) for bringing ambitious rigor to sea kayaking in the region, helping to make Chicago a paddling destination for paddlers around the world. A special thanks to Ryan for "flunking" me at an ICE several years ago, as it provided helpful motivation for improving my paddling skills.

Thanks to people like Gary Mechanic, Tom Lindblade, Dan Plath and Erik Sprenne for giving tirelessly of their time to advocate and organize on behalf of the paddling community.

Thanks to Jim DesJardins and Beverly Serrell for the many ways large and small they have supported the Chicago paddling community. Seeing Jim wrestle with his boat in the snow and ice made on Chicago River paddles in January me realize that kayaking can and should be a life-long calling.

Thanks to the Bloyd-Peshkins and all the other instructors who embody a more refined approach to paddling than I--with broken, scruffed boat and a decided lack of appreciation for the nuances among paddling strokes--could ever hope for.

Thanks to Kristen and Tim Flentye for organizing the Chicago Shoreline Marathon, another reason why Chicago is now on the paddling map, and to Steve Quinn, who helped many paddlers get started at the Lincoln Park Boat Club (including me).

Thanks to the many strong paddlers who have given me and so many others comfort through the strength and steadiness of their presence on the water. Pierre Kornak, Dave Strauch, Luis Caro and Tim Philosophos come immediatedly to mind.

A special thanks to Pat Lutsch, who put up with me on three extended wilderness trips and taught me so much about camping and dealing with adversity.

Another special thanks to Bill Burton, Haris Subacius, and Sarah Hartman for sharing a 20 hour grand adventure across Lake Michigan just last year. That paddle helped prompt me to look inside myself and decide to chart a new life course.

I've just skimmed over a deep and vibrant paddling community that has its best days ahead. I owe each of you I've mentioned and each of you with whom I've paddled a debt of gratitude.

I'm looking forward to joining the smaller but seemingly scrappy kayaking community in Dallas. There are several sizable lakes within easy driving distance, the Gulf of Mexico is four hours away, and there is reportedly whitewater in Arkansas and elsewhere in the region. It is a 12 month paddling season, although summers are usually uncomfortably hot.

I will be coming back to Chicago occasionally, as my wife has just started graduate school and will likely remain in Chicago for at least two years. My Kodiak hangs in the garage and I hope I will be paddling in Lake Michigan and on the Chicago River again some time. I'll be reading of your adventures and accomplishments here.

I'm most proud of the work that CASKA did on safety and CASKA's advocacy for a "swimmable" water quality standard for the Chicago RIver, a standard that the USEPA ultimately mandated. Let's hope that CASKA continues to be an effective voice for paddlers and as a support network for paddlers who want to expand their boundaries as paddlers and people.

Me, Paddling Away

KAYAKER DEATHS AND THEIR MEANING

_{Kevin Dammen}

 

By: Tom Bamonte 

The recent news of the tragic death of a young kayaker in Lake Superior has prompted lots of discussion in the paddling community. Kevin Dammen sounded like a great guy. The reporting on his death portrays someone who was fully engaged in life. His obituary summed up his life as follows:

He was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church, co-founder of the Winona State University Ski Club, member of the Winona State University cross country team, and co-founder of the J.C. Hormel Nature Center Ski Race. Kevin enjoyed running, skiing, unicycling, storm chasing, kayaking, slack lining, online electronic repair, hiking, camping and spending time with family and friends.

When the news of the incident reached the university a large group of his fellow students gathered spontaneously to mourn. Clearly, he will be missed.  

The news reports indicate that Kevin died in an honorable fashion. Kevin, his brother and two others were paddling together in the Apostle Islands and ran into trouble when they traveled from sheltered waters to the open lake. There was a small craft advisory that day. One member of the group went in the water and Kevin tipped over when he tried to turn his kayak around and come back to aid his companion. With Kevin and his paddling partner both in the water Kevin urged the two kayakers remaining in their boats to rescue his partner and come back for him later. As a result he died alone in 47 degree water. His paddling partner lives.

It is important to analyze what went wrong on this trip and learn from the mistakes. The lack of a marine radio, not wearing one's wetsuit, the evident lack of self-rescue skills and equipment (e.g., paddle float) all deserve mention. There may have been a failure to consult the marine weather forecast. Surely, there was a point when the group left protected water and first encountered the full force of open lake conditions where they could and should have turned back. The decision of the two rescuers to take Kevin's direction and tow one swimmer to shore while leaving Kevin alone in the open water is debatable.

The lessons of this kayaking death and others go beyond technique and judgment, however. Let's face it, death and the risk of death permeats kayaking, or at least the "serious" form of kayaking to which many paddlers aspire. Many of us are probably inspired to kayak because it is precisely the risk of death that awakens in us that special kind of alertness that makes us feel truly and fully alive.

If we aren't considering the prospect of our death and the death of our paddling partners each time we kayak then we are fooling ourselves. So much can go wrong. A boat roars out of the fog and collides with a kayak. Dehydration, cold and exhaustion at the end of a long day make one tippy just as the waves pick up and you're over. The grab loop tucked in the cockpit holds one under just long enough to panic and gasp. A sudden off-shore wind tips you over and blows your boat away and you had the bad luck to chose to chance it without your wetsuit that day. An unexpected breaking wave pops your sprayskirt and suddenly you are sitting in cold water in an unstable boat miles from a landing spot. The list goes on and on. As we learned from Kevin's death, even a group of four able-bodied kayakers not that far from land is not enough to prevent a death.

The meaning of a kayaker's death is akin to the meaning we draw at Halloween. Halloween is the time of year when the boundary between the dead and the living supposedly becomes thinner, even permeable. In a similar fashion the death of a kayaker is an opportunity for us to acknowledge and come closer to Mother Nature, the Forces of Nature, God's Creation (pick your metaphor) and take special note of its relentless ability to thrust death upon the foolish, the smart, the innocent and the deserving alike. As the deputy sheriff involved in the incident so aptly observed, "Lake Superior is unforgiving. . . people underestimate the power of the cold and the power of this majestic lake."  

Death gives the sport, the way, of kayaking its meaning. If no one died kayaking then we would be practicing something like tiddlywinks or knitting. Interesting and enjoyable, even useful, no doubt, but not something that engages body and mind so completely as kayaking. The risk of death gives kayaking a sort of mythic dimension that these more routine activities lack. Each time we put it on the line with a lengthy crossing or by challenging big surf or taking a long trip along unfamiliar shores we are reenacting in our own way the great nautical adventures chronicled by Homer, in the Bible, and by fleets of novelists and adventurers since then. Their words and our practice come down to trying to make sense of a world where people like Kevin are snatched from life way too soon.

However tragic and unnecessary their deaths, we should thank the kayakers who died for reminding us of Death, our ever-present paddling companion. Obviously, we should study the failings that may have led to their deaths and adjust our techniques, equipment and risk-tolerances accordingly. We should go beyond that, however, and ask ourselves each time we paddle the ultimate questions--are we ready to die and are all the good things associated with kayaking worthy of death.

We don't know if Kevin asked those questions as he floated alone in Lake Superior, the life-giving heat draining from his body. I would like to think that he considered the richness of what he had received and given back to his family and his community and felt that he had lived a full life in his 20 years. I hope he had faith that his two companions in boats would be able to get his buddy back to shore alive. He may well have understood the heroic nature of his decision to stay in the water and give his buddy a better chance to live. In that moment of reflection Kevin might well have decided that he had no regrets about dying.

Shouldn't we use the stories about kayaker deaths as an injunction to live our lives and paddle our kayaks in a way such that if death comes to us on the water we're ready and reconciled to its arrival. We want to be able to say, as this young man hopefully said to himself, I've lived a full and responsible life and I've done the best I can on the water to make the right decisions. The rest we must leave to the forces as powerful and as mysterious as Lake Superior that determine our fate.

The C.A.S.K.A. C.A.S.E.

by Haris

The new paddling season is nearly upon us. All of those day paddles, practice sessions, surfing outings and overnight trips may still appear unreal as most of us dream of blue water but the snow is melting. Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association will have another busy season in 2011. Right now it is time for you to join the circle of like-mined CASKA members to help thaw our open water out!

I joined a couple of years ago. Saturday morning paddles in the company of experienced CASKA sea kayakers opened the door to the treasure that is Lake Michigan. I could have, of course, gone out on my own but the lake, beautiful as it is, can turn into a death trap without warning. The negligible price of the membership paid for itself many times through a free pool session, subsidized first aid course, and discounts from the local kayak shops. Yet, at the time, was not quite clear on the purpose of CASKA.

I was quickly directed to CASKA official website where anyone can find a masterfully crafted mission statement:

"To encourage and promote safe paddling on our local (Illinois) waterways, including both rivers and Lake Michigan; to interface with local government agencies in regards to environmental and access issues; and to provide networking opportunities for our paddling community."

Hence, the C.A.S.K.A. C.A.S.E! Community, Access, Safety, and Environment. I figured you may want to know why we need a club with paid membership.

First and foremost, most of these funds go to create and maintain the ways for a community of paddlers to get together. CASKA secures and maintains a virtual meeting ground, a website with resources for anyone who wants to paddle in our waters as well as a blog rich in information relevant for local paddlers. Part of CASKA membership fee goes to support the efforts of Illinois Paddling Council and American Canoe Association. Membership with these two advocates for paddlers' rights connects us to a larger community of Illinois and American paddlers at large. More immediately, part of CASKA budget goes to facilitate face-to-face member meetings in various formats throughout the year.

All three of the organizations above—CASKA, IPC, and ACA—serve as the voice of paddlers in advocating for our rights to access and use the blueways. Officers and members of these clubs keep an eye on any developments in the public sector that may impact what we can and cannot do. Lake Michigan Water Trail is one of the long-standing projects that will eventually provide access points for a paddler to go all the way around the only Great Lake surrounded by four US states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

CASKA stands for safe and responsible use of water. Visit our safety center for starters. Most CASKA day and overnight trips are led by experienced sea kayakers who can not only help out a fellow paddler in trouble but also share their knowledge to prevent that trouble from developing in the first place. Many CASKA members are certified instructors.

Last, but definitely not least, CASKA advocates for preservation and improvement of the environment in which we paddle. The urban area in which we do most of our paddling is surrounded by industry giants and pollution is a very real danger. Our members have spoken for water quality in the lake and the Chicago River at multiple public forums over the years. CASKA members also organize regular clean-up events throughout the paddling season. Look for them on our Calendar.

So, if any of these four pillars that found CASKA appeal to you, join us by signing up electronically on CASKA website. Everyone who joins or renews is entitled to a spiffy BPA-free CASKA water bottle with a karabiner. The only catch is that you have to get it at one of CASKA functions.

As CASKA member, you can also get a prorated ACA membership on their website.

See you on the water!

Dave Kaknes: A Wind-Blown Appreciation

By: Tom Bamonte

Bryan Wagner (a transplanted Gulf Coast surfer and playboater making his first Great Lakes voyage) and I were sitting in my car in the Rainbow Beach parking lot yesterday afternoon (10/2/10) looking out over the beach and Lake Michigan beyond.  The wind was blowing at about 30 knots from the north, rain was coming down in pellets and the 5-8 foot waves were crashing away.  The sand blowing off the beach sounded like it would take the paint off the car in no time.

Bryan and I were just starting the discussion with which every guy, and maybe everyone, is familiar.  You start hemming and hawing about the situation, hoping someone else will "chicken out" and suggest turning around from the intended course before you are forced to speak up.  Finally, someone breaks down and opines that discretion may be the better part of valor.  Alternatively, and sometime tragically, no one speaks up and you go forward with deep reservations. 

Bryan and I were just circling around the question of turning around when a car pulling a trailer with a Pintail pulled up.  It was Dave Kaknes, the trip organizer.  Dave parked and ran over to our car, bent forward against the wind and the rain.

Dave is a short, wiry guy with an often mischievous grin.  He was wearing such a grin this day.  I asked Dave if he thought we should launch and he responded to the effect that "Well, we're here so we might as well see what things are like out there."  Hearing that, I felt both relieved and energized.  Over the years I've trusted Dave to make good decisions, ones that may stretch a person's boundaries of skill and experience, but good decisions nonetheless.

What followed was a couple of hours of hard, fun surfing for the three of us, Hether Hoffman and, for seemingly an instant, John Tebbens.  We all struggled to get off the beach and got knocked over once we got into the breaking stuff.  The waves crashing against the breakwater on the east side of the beach sent up huge walls of water and spray.  In the open water some of the waves were big enough that it took a stroke or two just to get the boat up the side to the peak.

I had a first-ever experience plowing out through the surf after the initial launch.  A wave was peaking, ready to break on top of me.  I pushed myself over the peak and the front half of my boat became airborne.  Right then there was a wind gust and my boat got pushed over, forcing me to roll early in this adventure.  Wind gusts at the Dever Crib a few miles north of us were hitting 40 knots at the time so that may explain what I felt.  During the rest of the paddle I tried to avoid going airborne as much as possible.

For most of our time at Rainbow Dave worked on his technique in the near shore breaking stuff, further polishing the skills he had practiced the previous week.  When Bryan and I called it a day, Dave helped us carry boats and the like.  Then, it was a handshake with a happy smile and Dave was gone.

* * *

Like with any sport we kayakers tend to focus on grand feats and the highly decorated practitioners.  For the many years Dave has been paddling he has been on neither list.  Yet, I realized as I was driving back that over the years Dave, like many relatively anonymous members of the paddling community, has made significant contributions quietly and to great effect.

Speaking personally, Dave was a member of the team that I joined years ago as a relatively inexperienced paddler that attempted, unsuccessfully, to make the crossing from Calumet Park to Michigan City. He was encouraging and supportive even when I called the trip to a halt because of conditions and we headed to shore.  Dave and his equally voluble and good-spirited wife Jeanie joined and helped organize kayak camping trips to the Manitou Islands in 2009 and the Lake Erie Islands this summer.  Those were trips with folks with a wide variety of skill levels and interests.  Dave was instrumental in helping to be sure that everyone had a good time on both land and water.

I know that Dave (and Jeanie on occasion) have organized and attended many other paddles and camping trips.  I'm sure that plenty of people have enjoyed Dave's impish humor along with his solid grasp of paddling fundamentals and attention to safety.  Perhaps equally as importantly, Dave models good paddling by continually working on his skills.  He recognizes his limitations, which we all have, but rather than being burdened by those limitations he works to unravel them.

Dave is not a single-minded paddler.  He runs, bikes, operates a business and has helped raise a family.  But when he is on the water or planning a trip he is focused on the task.

I don't mean to embarrass Dave by singling him out in this public forum.  It just seemed fitting that on a blustery day Dave's example got us out of the car and on the water, where we, like Dave, worked carefully on improving our skills.  We're better for his example.

Certainly, the great feats and uber paddlers are justly celebrated.  Yet, it takes many people like Dave, who model good paddling and who encourage people to develop their skills and have fun, to make a paddling community function well.  I just felt it appropriate after this invigorating paddle to acknowledge Dave as exemplifying the qualities of the unheralded stalwarts in the paddling community.  In addition to recognizing great skills and accomplishments it is also important to remember that mutual support and friendship are the glue that hold us together.

Thanks Dave and thanks to the many folks who in their own way support and encourage their fellow paddlers without recognition or reward.

Jeanie and Dave Kaknes 

Meteorology Conundrum

Here are wind and waves for this Friday night:

 

So far so good: the wind is from the west and the waves are predictably building with increasing fetch from Illinois to Michigan side of the lake.

Now here are the predictions for Saturday noon or 15 hours later:

The winds have shifted to the north somewhat but are still predominantly west. The wind shift to the north was gradual. The waves are still gaining height from west to east.

But what happened to the wave direction?! Is it just me or does it seem odd that on the west side of the lake the waves have turned nearly perpendicular to the wind direction! I've heard of refraction and diffraction (waves changing direction due to bottom topography or obstacles in their way) but I can't see how these laws would change the wave direction so much! There is also Coriolis Effect that turns the winds around the HI/LO pressure areas but I don't even understand that one well enough to see how it could possibly apply here.

What forces are at play here? I am stumped! Is it just a mistake? Anybody have ideas?

Haris

PS This may be a clue but to me it just adds to the mystery: associated with the wind starting to shift north NOAA predicts 1.5 knot north to south surface currents in the middle of Lake Michigan

I am sure they have something to do with the predicted wave direction ... just no idea what!

End of Summer creeping up on you??

The sun is rising later and setting earlier. If the end of summer is looking a little too close because you still have training, tripping or playing goals to accomplish, read on. Many of the Great Lakes Symposia have come and gone, but here are a few to check out.

                      Give them a look or call them to get involved.

(Note: This is not a comprehensive list, just a handful of opportunities FYI.)

 

August 12-15

Ladies of the Lake Sea Kayak Symposium Marquette, MI Contact: Arni Ronis, (906) 482-2500 arni@downwindsports.com www.downwindsports.com

It's this week end if you're free to travel.

 

August 19-22

Lower Columbia Kayak Roundup Slow Boat Farm, Wahkiakum County, WA Contact: Ginni Callahan, (360) 849-4016 info@columbiariverkayaking.com www.locoroundup.com

What's New for LoCo 2010
First, what is LoCo 2010? The 4th Annual Lower Columbia River Kayak Roundup is an instructional retreat for kayakers of all levels.
Classes last the full day, with some afternoon games, and evening presentations. Most participants and coaches camp at Slow Boat Farm, where the event is held, although there are also a number of small B&Bs nearby.
Catered Meals. Sharon's Pizza and More in Cathlamet will be working with local farmers to offer fresh, locally raised food. Breakfast, Trail Lunch, and Dinner are available. Meals will be served at the Slow Boat Farm. Pick up your trail lunch at the morning meeting.
LoCo Meet-up. Kayakers who are not taking classes are invited to go paddling together unguided. Daily routes will be recommended for various skill levels based on the weather and tides. Sign up on the regular registration form. Modest fee of $20 includes the organization of groups, screening for skill level, camping, and evening program.
Sunday Morning Social Paddles (free with a 3-day program; $20 as a Meet-up option). Enjoy paddling with friends and utilizing your new kayaking skills. Separate groups will have different levels of challenge and length of trip.

 

August 26-29

Greenland Paddling Symposium Wawa, ON, Canada Contact: (800) 203-9092 info@naturallysuperior.com www.naturallysuperior.com

Every August, Naturally Superior Adventures hosts Ontario’s only Greenland-style sea kayak symposium on Lake Superior. Instructors include Bonnie Perry and Doug Van Doren, two of North America’s finest Greenland-style paddlers. Perfect for first-time and experienced Greenland-style paddlers alike, registration includes the use of a handmade paddle.

Where the vast majority of Greenland-style retreats have focused on flatwater skills, Naturally Superior's Greenland-Style Paddling Symposium includes surf kayaking at the mouth of the Michipicoten River. Novice and women-only programs make this event perfect for everyone. And Sunday’s Greenland-style competition combines a sprint race and portage with rolling and traditional hunting techniques in a fun-filled format.

With a maximum registration of 50 participants, there will be lots of personalized teaching and feedback from our instructors. Registration includes a beach campsite and hearty, home-cooked meals at Rock Island Lodge, and a Saturday night house concert.

 

September 10-13

Downeast Sea Kayak Symposium Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, ME Contact: Melinda Rice, (207) 669-2338 info@carpediemkayaking.com www.carpediemkayaking.com

Registration is now open for the 5th Annual Downeast Sea Kayaking Symposium !

Dates: Friday, Sept. 10 through Monday, Sept. 13.
Location: Mount Desert Island, Maine

New This Year: We're mixing it up this year, offering new classes (along with the usual favorites) and dividing them into series based on skill level and interest: Fundamental Skills; Beyond the Basics; Masters Series; BCU Series; and Just for Fun. Check out class descriptions and the symposium schedule at www.carpediemkayaking.com/symposium .

The Masters Series is for experienced and trained paddlers looking to push the performance envelope even further -- much further. If you feel you qualify, please call us, as enrollment in these courses will be limited, with prior approval required.

Coaches: We've got many coaches from previous years returning including John Carmody, Scott Fairty, Christopher Lockyer, Jean Totz, Russell Farrow and Steve Maynard, plus new coaches including Nigel Robinson from Wales.

Visit the website or call us at 207-669-2338 for more information or to sign up.

 

October 27-31

Sea Kayak Georgia Skills Symposium Tybee Island, GA Contact: Sea Kayak Georgia, (888) 529-2542 info@seakayakgeorgia.com www.seakayakgeorgia.com

 The British Canoe Union is a widely respected school of training, we invite you to join us for your skills development and assessment in this outstanding system. We are pleased to offer BCU courses as well as skills training courses developed by Sea Kayak Georgia and some of the world's leading kayakers. Courses are available for all skill levels and everyone is invited to attend.

Sea Kayak Georgia looks forward to hosting the 2010 symposium to allow paddlers to come together as a community to give and receive knowledge, to see old friends and welcome new ones. The Symposium is planned around the highest tides of the year. The high tides lend themselves to challenging conditions for the advanced classes and flood the marshes with higher water than usual. The marshes are an excellent sheltered water training ground. Navigation through flooded creeks enables us to offer the Exploration Series and the Naturalist Day Paddle.
Group dinners will be offered. Presentations will be given by different coaches evenings around 7:30 to 8:00.

Call with questions, help you plan, and receive your registration by phone: 888 529 2542.


Check in with Geneva Kayak Center for the September Midwest Sea Kayak Skills Fest

When

Fri Sep 17 – Sun Sep 19

http://genevakayak.com

You can always check the many posted calendars:

Locations for event calendars:

http://www.goneseakayaking.com/calendar.asp

http://www.paddling.net/events/

http://playak.com/calendar.php?eid=1458

http://www.seakayakermag.com/events_calendar.htm

http://www.kayaksession.com/calendar-kayak.php

http://www.paddlermagazine.com/component/option,com_eventlist/Itemid,138/view,eventlist

"Paddler's Book Club" - Back in Business

My name is Sherri Mertz and I have been a sea kayaker since 1988 and an ACA instructor for over 10 years.  Just an FYI that I have taken over Rick Isaacson's "Paddler's Book Club" blog at Rick's request.  He found himself suddenly too busy to keep it going.  I have new posts for chapters 3-5 of the book, "Sea Kayaker: Deep Trouble" by Matt Broze and George Gronseth. (Which should really be chapters 2-4.  Rick apparently counted the "Introduction" as chapter 1 when he started. :-))  I welcome your comments.  Even if you aren't reading along faithfully in the book, many of the discussion questions are broad enough that you may be able to contribute from your personal experiences.  You can find the Paddler's Book Club at www.paddlerbooks.blogspot.com.  I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Anatomy of the Storm

by Haris

Here's the marine forecast for tonight's storm moving through Chicago:

TONIGHT

NORTH GALES TO 40 KT BECOMING NORTHEAST 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. PARTLY CLOUDY. WAVES 7 TO 11 FT SUBSIDING TO 5 TO 8 FT.

Where does this come from?

In theory, the main source of wind is air moving from a high pressure system to a low one. Let's look at the pressure map.

Yep, there is a HI pressure system sitting to the NW of us and two LO pressure systems—one directly south of us and another directly east of the HI. HI pressure system is much like a giant mountain of atmosphere made of air much like real mountains are made of earth and rock. Unlike earth and rock, air is not solid and whenever a mountain is formed next to a valley (the LO area) there is a flow from high to low pressure areas. That is wind. So, being in between the two pressure systems, we should be experiencing NNW winds. Let's look at the wind maps, then.

Not exactly, the wind through Chicago area is distinctly from the NNE, not NNW which is the direction that connects the two centers. Why is that?

Straight flow of air from the HI to the LOW is modified by the rotation of the Earth (technical term is Coriolis Effect). Instead of flowing directly from the center of the HI to the center of the LO, in the northern hemisphere, the wind around a HI pressure system spirals in the clock-wise direction and then counter-clock-wise into the center of the LO pressure system. It's the opposite on the other side of the equator. The wind map shows exactly that--an inverted S curving around the HI on top and into the LO on the bottom.

Let's get down to the water level now. Wind blowing over the open water, the friction between the two causes waves. Here's the map of Lake Michigan, then:

It shows small waves on the side of the lake from where the wind is blowing. As it moves across the open lake (fetch) over time the effects compound and the waves grow larger. One foot waves on the north end up as 9-footers on the south some 300 miles later.

So there you have it. Here's what I actually saw on Oak Street Beach this afternoon:

How Necessary Is A Roll For Safe Paddling?

By:  Tom Bamonte

With Chicago temperatures in single digits and nearby paddling destinations freezing up a mischievous local paddler decided to warm things up by posting the following poll to the CASKA Yahoo Group:

Please indicate what you think about the following statement:
"Everybody who wants to paddle on Lake Michigan should learn how to roll." 

o Agree 
o Disagee 
o Can go either way 
o Don't know 

To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/caska/ surveys?id= 2255705 

This poll sparked a vigorous discussion, reproduced below.  Join in via a comment here and join the CASKA Yahoo group and vote.  There is also a lively and extended discussion of the topic in the Qajaq USA forum.

Erik Sprenne-

Perhaps a second statement to vote on would be the same, except for the added word 'solo', e.g.:

"Everybody who wants to paddle solo on Lake Michigan should learn how to roll." 

DM-

Being able to roll your kayak does not guarantee your safety on Lake Michigan.... :-) It's just one thing in your trick bag. 

Humberto Garcia-

Ditto.

More than rolling one should be able to brace, high and low braces.  If you have good braces in your "trick bag" you would never need to roll.  I know great paddlers that cannot perform a roll but their bracing is great and they are super comfortable kayaking in High Water. 

 

It would be great if you can do it but if you can keep your balance, aid by your bracing, why would you have to roll?  I only roll to get cool in a hot day, but in a cold waive day, my braces will help me not to need to roll.

 

Practice Bracing! 

Erik S.-

I'm not going to argue with the opinion about needing only a good brace, except to ask these questions:

 

"Is it possible to learn a 'good' brace without learning a roll?"

"With the brace being such an important part of the roll, shouldn't anyone who has 'good' braces also have a roll?"

Henry Davies-

Erik-- I think that those are fair questions.  I personally am a decent roller (taught at the Michigan training camp this year and have performed many Greenland rolling demos, including Door County Sea Kayak Symposium).  I learned to roll after I had been kayaking for something like 12 years.  I believe that those 12 years gave much experience in boat control which made learning to roll much easier and intuitive, when I actually got around to learning to roll.

Also, the brace that I use most often to recover balance is a low brace.  That isn't the brace that is part of most people's rolls.  The high brace, which is part of most people's rolls, is more often used in surf or extreme loss of balance.

Most of the time when I need to recover balance it is because I was playing around and edging too far and a wave changed the balance of the kayak (or I just edged too far).  You are right that having good braces makes this type of experimentation/ play uneventful and having a roll would make up for not having good bracing.

I didn't exactly answer your questions, but hopefully provided some insight into how it works for me.

Humberto G.-

Hmmm?  For many years I did not have a roll, but my bracing was always good, and as mentioned before, there are many people that I know that cannot roll, for one or another reason, but they are great in big water, better than some that have their roll.  Yes, the roll will develop from your bracing but it is not the other way around, you become a great bracer and then, next time you know, you will have a great roll.  Now is a roll proof that you can be safe in Big Water, no, but being able to control your boat and avoiding it for going over.... I think that this is what make you safe.

 

.... not to discuss it, but.... isn't this right?

 

Just my thought!

John Parker

Speaking as someone who recently ended up counting fish in the mighty Fox River.

The following is my humble inexperienced opinion. Nothing can beat experience. Experience would in my mind mean build bracing skills and then lead to a roll. I always thought having a roll would be cool. But, in reality, the ability to get almost laid out and then brace and come back up and avoid counting fish altogether would be great. Having a roll on top of that would be awesome.

In the spring, I'll be the guy in the yellow boat trying to be a better paddler so Ryan doesn't have to put me back in my boat again.

Has anyone found my glasses or hat or water bottle floating down the mighty Fox... wife is still mad about the expensive glasses, I miss my hat....

Haris Subacius-

The distinction between a deep high brace and a kayak roll is not great.  Like Erik suggests, I am not quite sure how one can have a good high brace but not the roll.  Low brace can stop working with surf that as low as 2-3' high--you can pretty much forget about it when a 4' wave or higher broaches the kayak.

Can we agree to define a roll as any recovery from being completely upside down under water and distinguish it from a brace as a recovery from any angle above the water including the body being parallel to the surface of the water.  With these definitions, no matter how good your braces, it is only a matter of sufficiently angry conditions until the capsize.  No one can brace themselves out of everything that the open water can throw up!

Lastly, as far as safety goes, a paddler with a good brace will have a good sea sense not to paddle into conditions that can overwhelm their skills.  If they do, they will have an exit strategy.  Risk versus ability assessment is even more important than the bracing skills when it comes to high water!  However, if the paddlers with good braces never paddle into conditions that could challenge their skill, how are they to grow, develop and test those braces?  

For me, personally, it is this borderline area where the limits of my skills are exposed and environmental conditions begin to take over the controls where a reliable roll truly pays off for the effort it takes to develop one.

Ryan Rushton-

Well said, Haris.

Jim Tibensky-

I was not going to get into this rather odd discussion, but now that Haris has said pretty much what I was thinking, I will add my voice to say that no one can be sure that they will never need a roll.  I found that my confidence in whitewater improved exponentially when I got my roll down pat.

 

I hope I'm not offending you, Humberto, because I know you are a very good paddler.  But it is not possible to run big whitewater or be out in big ocean conditions without sometimes being knocked over so quickly that you won't be able to brace successfully.  Especially (I know this from painful experience) when you are attempting a rescue in tough conditions.  Once in a while the other boat makes a high or low or any other brace impossible.  A quick roll puts you back in charge.

 

I do a combat roll about once a decade now that I don't run much whitewater anymore, but I keep the skill up just in case. 

 

And if any newer paddlers are keeping score, add me to the side that says a roll is a really, really good to skill to have.

Russ Johnson-

Anyone can learn to paddle safely on lake Michigan when the conditions are ideal. Knowing how to judge the conditions is a more important ability. 

Compared to Humberto, I had the opposite experience--learning to roll quite reliably before I ever practiced bracing. Knowing how to roll allowed me to learn to brace without ever having to worry about wet exiting.

Missing a brace on occasion will happen. Missing a roll can cause greater problems.  Again, neither will matter in ideal conditions.

Bill Burton-

I agree with Huberto that a brace is more useful, more often, than a roll. But, I don't think this is how people learn -- it may not even be possible.

Most paddlers, when they get hit by an unexpected force, will reflexively reach for the sky rather than their friend the water. I think this reflex may best (or perhaps only) be overcome by gaining confidence, probably by getting really comfortable hanging upside down underwater and knowing you can get up -- by learning to roll.

That's the chicken/egg dilemma of kayaking -- it's hard to learn to brace OR roll until you're totally at ease in the water, and you won't be totally at ease in the water until you learn to roll.

One thing I do know for sure -- despite his assertions to the contrary, there was not the slightest chance that Mr. Tibensky was not going to get into this "odd discussion."

Jim Tibensky-

Bill said it very well - at least, in my opinion.  I, like Humberto, have known some very good paddlers who could paddle in crazy conditions without a roll.  But most of the ones I know would say that they are at risk because they don't have that extra, bottom-line, safety tool that is the roll.  The famous adventurer and author Lone Madsen died in 1999 because she could not roll.  This is from an on-line description of her death:

 

A Danish woman, Lone Madsen, died of exposure when her Skerry kayak capsized on the West Coast ofGreenland. Lone Madsen had paddled extensively in the Arctic and was well known for her exploits. Her paddling partner on this trip was Tore Sivertsen. The pair were caught in a sudden gale which quickly whipped up large waves. When Lone Madsen turned over, Sivertsen could not come to her aid because they had never practised assisted rescues. Neither paddler could right themselves with Eskimo rolls and instead depended on paddle floats which would have been useless in the conditions. In any event, Sivertsen reported that Madsen's paddle had floated away during the capsize due to lack of a paddle leash. Sivertsen, unable to turn his Prijon Seayak into the wind, was forced further and further away from Madsen and never saw her alive again.

 

I had read incident reports of this death and Lone had often said that she really didn't want to be bothered learning to roll when her self-rescue skills were so good.  Sadly, the last thing poor Tore heard her say was "Tore, don't leave me!"  I can't imagine the nightmares he must have.  Pehaps a solid roll would have resulted ina very different result.

 

Finally, I also agree, very whole-heartedly, with Humberto's point that boat handling skills should be just as important as rolling or rescue skills.  Makes it that much less likely that the roll or rescue will be needed.

 

[And I swear, Bill, that I intended to let this go on without me.  But I started getting headaches and the voices in my head absolutely demanded that I respond.  And I've learned not to ignore those voices!]

 

Jim Tibensky, et al

Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown DVD: Reviewer(s) Needed

Simon Willis has kindly sent CASKA a review copy of his new DVD entitled "Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown:  An Instructional Journey Along the Magnificent Coast of Skye."

You can see a preview here.  Here is a description of the contents from the press release:

At its heart are eight coaching sessions.  The UK’s number one sea kayak coach guides beginner and intermediate kayakers from the fundamentals, through forward paddling, turning and steering, and into rough water and tidal races. 

The coaching is interspersed with the story of a group of nine kayakers, of mixed abilities, tackling a challenging four-day voyage along the exposed west coast of the Isle of Skye.

Gordon says, “I try to coach in the context of a journey, so I wanted the DVD to be the same.  If we can take our techniques and turn them into skills by applying them in the right environment, then everything becomes very, very real”.

If anyone is interested in viewing and then reviewing the DVD for this blog please contact me.

Nice picture follows.

Tom Bamonte