CASKA: Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association

Navigating Bermuda and Cumberland Island: Intrigue, Flux, and Current

Last week our family took a cruise to Bermuda.  We spent our first day at Snorkel Park Beach where we snorkeled and kayaked on sit-on-top kayaks.  It was very windy and we had a nice little surf to play in out by the bouys which marked off our beach zone. 

You can see the storm that was off to the left in the picture.  Although it got much darker and ominous, fortunately, it never came any closer.

Our ship docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard which is at the very tip of the notorious Bermuda Triangle.  The nineteenth century fortress is now an entertainment complex.  Once used for naval offices, the North Tower clock keeps the time and the South Tower clock marks the tides... 

(Picture taken from our cruise ship as we pulled away from Bermuda)

Bermuda's upper layer was built by corals that thrive in the clear, warm waters pulled up by the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream that runs through the BermudaTriangle is swift and turbulant.  It flows at 4 to 5 knots along the shelf break until it deflects out over the open ocean off Cape Hatteras.  A constant succession of massive eddies and upwellings peel off the Gulf Stream's western wall, carrying life from the tropics to the temperate sounds of North Carolina.

The ocean floor has shoals around islands as well as some of the deepest marine trenches in the world.  Uncharted navigational hazards abound as strong currents interact with reefs creating a constant flux. 


It is here that rogue waves 80 feet or higher occur with regular frequency. Rogue waves could be one possible explanation for the loss of many of the ships.

The area appeared to be quite protected by the fort that bordered one side and a jetty on the other. 

(Snorkel Park Beach, Bermuda)

Later that afternoon, while snorkeling, my brother-in-law struggled and finally swam back to shore against waves and a strong current.  Somehow he had found himself in deep water, waves, and current before he knew it.  None of us knew about it until he told us later that night.  The National Weather Service believes that deaths from rip currents are also under reported.    

The University of Southern Florida reports that the sandy bottoms of Florida beaches are constantly shifting shape and making them more vulnerable to rip tides.  U of SF also reported that researchers found, in most cases, it was wind-driven waves towards the beaches that produced the conditions leading to rip currents. (8) 

Surfers actually use rip tides to help bring them out to the waves.  They can also help rescue a swimmer caught in a rip tide.  Charles Paxton, Science & Opertions Officer for the National Weather Service and avid surfer who has studied the area, explained that the rip currents are formed when water from breaking waves that has collected in the shallows is funnelled seaward through a narrow channel, creating a powerful stream of water that swimmers can't see and don't know is there until they are in it. (8)  

Rip currents can be dangerous if you are not familiar with them.  Most surfers learn to paddle out right in the middle of rip currents to catch a ride out to the break, and then surf right alongside them. YouTube: Rip Tides. 

Although it is a haven for surfers, locals at Sagres Beach on the Algarve said tourists frequently get into trouble because strong currents create hidden whirlpools around a large rock in the middle of the bay.  The water is especially dangerous because it is where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, meaning waves can change quickly, catching swimmers unaware. (2)

Earlier this year I went on a kayak expedition around Georgia's Cumberland Island and kayak surfing was one of my favorite memories from the trip.  People who like to surf, including kayak surfing, will look for the shoals where waves break.    

Mary R. Bullard, author of "Cumberland Island: A History," writes, "... the entrance to St. Andrew's Sound from the ocean was considered dangerous.... mariners were often reluctant to cross it because it was full of shoals... you enter over a shifting sandbar that extends about five miles offshore.  Two large rivers, the Great and Little Satillas, empty into the sound carrying thousands of pounds of silt, which means the sound changes its underwater configuration with dangerous rapidity.  Sandbars appear and disappear with no particular evidence."  (1)

 

Cumberland Island is located in the South Atlantic Bight (gradual bend that forms a large, open bay).  This is the name given to describe the U.S. coastal ocean from North Carolina to the east coast of Florida.  Rock reefs covered with attached algae and animals makes up to 20% of the bottom of the continental shelf found in the South Atlantic Bight. (1)

"...Be Careful Surf Kayakers--Rougher chop and more dangerous conditions than usual are par for the course for South Florida seas in the winter.  This weekend will prove the point with a storm system off the East Coast which is predicted to bring in heavy winds, waves, and rip currents.  While this will undoubtedly (and thankfully) keep many out of the water this weekend, it could be an opportunity for some surf kayaking..." (12)

Mfairlady

• Paddle/Hike/Play
• Baja Winter Kayak Expedition:  Wind, Waves, and Lipstick
• February:  Falling Back in Love With Sea Kayaking
• Kayaking Cobscook Bay and Coastal Maine with Geneva Kayak
• Kayaking Cumberland Island: Surf Workshop With Geneva Kayak
• Navigating Bermuda and Cumberland Island:  Intrigue, Flux, and Current
• Tybee Island Sea Kayak Surfing
• Menominee River Piers Gorge in Sea Kayaks

References

1.  Cumberland Island:  A History, by Mary R. Bullard; U of Georgia Press, 2005; p. 7.
2.  Algarve Drowning--Sagres Beach, Portugal.  Mail Online  UK ; 10/7/2009.
3. The Gulf Stream ; wikipedia.
4.  Ocean-in-motion--current--coastal currents; Office of Naval Research-Oceanography.
5.  Rip Currents--Everything You Need to Know; Long Island Like You've Never Seen it Before

6.  Bermuda Attractions.com
7.  Cumberland Island:  Kayaking the South Atlantic Bight
8.  Examining What Fuels Deadly Rip Currents ; University of South Florida, 5/16/11.
9.  Atlanticbeach.com; General Information on Drowning.
10.  Surfing; Wikipedia
11.  Rip Tides:  They Will Get You Every Time; Wayne Spivak. Paddling.net
12.  Be Careful Surf Kayakers--Large Waves and Dangerous Rip Currents Are Expected in South Florida;  George Sayour; About.com/kayaking, 11/12/10.

A Field Guide to Canoecopia

By:  Tom Bamonte

Right about now, in houses throughout the Midwest hundreds if not thousands of paddlers are rediscovering the pleasure of snail mail.  They have come home from work or the unemployment office to find waiting for them the Canoecopia Gazette, the official guide to Canoecopia, the world's largest paddlesports festival, which will be in Madison, Wisconsin on March 11-13.

A Slice of Canoecopia

Just as Canoecopia marks the beginning--or at least the hope of the beginning--of the paddling season, the Gazette whets our appetite for Canoecopia, the high holy days for midwestern paddlers.  The Gazette is filled with surveys of new gear, inspiring trip reports, and chatty articles on all sorts of paddling-related topics. There are some nice nature photographs and lots of pictures of cute kids and smiling adults.  You can always count on an article from Darren Bush, who heads Rutabaga, the outfit that sponsors Canoecopia, complaining that he didn't get enough paddling time the previous year but that it is all good anyway.  You savour the Gazette, thinking back to how much fun you had at past Canoecopias and counting down the days to the next one.

Darren Bush of Rutabaga

The Whys of Canoecopia

Why is it worth making the journey to Madison in often chilly early March for Canoecopia?  Image a huge exhibition hall packed full of boats and gear and outfitters where everything is at least 15% off.  You can easily comparison shop and sometimes find stuff on sale at even deeper discounts.  Keep an especially close eye on the Rutabaga sale table.  I've gotten good stuff for half off or more.   

Both inside the exhibition hall and in the hallways outside there are commercial and civic organizations (including CASKA) with booths.  The booths feature mounds of paddling-related propaganda for you to snag for later reading and folks willing to talk about paddling destinations and techniques.  You can learn so much at Canoecopiea by just wandering around and asking questions, feeling stuff and hopping in and out of boats.

But there's more. Canoecopia offers over 150 presentations on a wide variety of paddling-related topics. Many of the presentations are Powerpoint travelogues and how-to demonstrations.  There are also real-life demonstrations in a pool and participatory sessions on paddling techniques in an open area in the atrium.  Some of the presenters are world-renowned paddlers and some are the folks you paddle with on the weekend. Rutabaga encourages local paddlers to be presenters.  For the cinematically inclined there is a day-long festival of paddling films on Sunday.  

On top of the formal program of presenters are plenty of informal opportunities to learn a lot.  For example, I noticed on page 42 of the Gazette that Kokatat is holding three drysuit gasket replacement demonstrations this year. With a trip coming up where we'll be relying on gaskets for over two weeks straight this will be useful stuff.  Canoecopia also the kind of place where you can bounce your questions off of the perfect stranger next to you.  People tend to be both friendly and helpful.

Some Hows of Canoecopia

I've attended Canoecopia for about the past five years.  Here are some tips:

First, if at all possible try to spend at least two days at Canoecopia.  Not only will the extra day(s) mean you won't feel rushed but you can spend a night or two in Madison, which is a really fine town. (Visitor information here.)  If resources are an issue you can usually find a motel for $50 a night and there is a hostel for even cheaper accommodations.  The CASKA Yahoo Group is a good way to get or share a ride. An alternative to buying food at the event at convention hall prices is to stop someplace like the Willy Street Co-Op and pick up some good carryout.  The University of Wisconsin typically is on break Canoecopia weekend so there is no difficulty getting into downtown restaurants and clubs.

Madison

Second, once you are up there you don't have to spend a lot.   You can get a three-day admission and parking pass to Canoecopia for just a smidgen over $30.  Once inside, there is no obligation to buy anything.  I went two years running where just about the only thing I brought home was a couple pairs of Teko socks.  Your results may vary, as did mine in other years!

Third, Canoecopia is an opportunity to sell your boat or buy a used boat.  The parking lot is filled with vehicles with boats on top festooned with For Sale signs and contact information.  If you are in the market for a pre-paddled boat troll the parking lot.  At a minimum, make sure your boat rack is on your vehicle just in case.  You never know where your covetous eye might land.

Fourth, there is a Bike-o-Rama right next to Canoecopia. There is no admission charge and you might find some deals on bikes and biking gear if you aren't all shopped out for paddling stuff.

Finally, for sports entertainment there used to be the Wisconsin girls high school basketball tournament on Canoecopia weekend, but that is not the case this year.  One option on warm days is to to watch the cluster of ice fishermen on Monona Bay chance fate on the diminishing spring ice.  You never know when the lake will claim one of those pesky fisherman who have been depleting the water of fish all winter.

Ice Fishermen

A Guide to Presentations

People graze through the presentations for personal reasons.  Some want advice on paddling techniques. Some are looking to live vicariously through the "I was up a creek without a paddle" sort of of travelogue. Some want to increase their knowledge about camping, navigation and first aid skills.  Some just want a dark space for a 45 minute nap.

Here's my highly personal guide to this year's presentations.

First and foremost, we should support the Chicago area paddlers who are presenting.  This year's crop includes:

--Alec & Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin are doing a pool presentation on T-Rescues.  This is a follow-up to their excellent article on the same subject in a recent issue of Sea Kayaker magazine. (Saturday, 1:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon)

--Gary Mechanic.  Gary is presenting on the Lake Michigan Water Trail, a very important initiative about which there will be much news in 2011. (Sunday, 1:30 p.m.)

--Tom Lindblade is doing a timely presentation entitled "From Killer Dam to Whitewater Park," which is about the new whitewater park in Yorkville, Illinois that adds a great new dimension to Chicago-area paddling and has prompted the return of the Geneva Kayak Center store.  (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.)

Some other presenters and presentations that I'm keeping an eye on include, in no particular order:

Steve Scherrer.  Steve is doing a land presentation on "Understanding Boat Design" (Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.) and pool sessions on boat control and rolling (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2:00 p.m.). Steve is wise and witty and I learn a lot from his presentations.

Stephen Brede.  "Solo Canoe Circumnavigation of Lake Huron."  Stephen paddled around Lake Huron in 2009 and had a tough but successful Lake Michigan circumnavigation in 2010.  I bet he goes for all the Great Lakes.  Stephen is a thoughtful guy and a writer, so this should be an interesting presentation. (Saturday 9:30 a.m.)

Keith Wikle.  "An Introduction to Surf Kayaking." Keith is a pill and has a prankster spirit. In the same spirit I want to attend and ask a rookie question such as how he pees in his boat just to see his response. I also expect to learn a lot. (Saturday, 11:30 a.m.; Sunday 10:30 a.m.)

Nancy Uschold.  "Fog, Ferries & Fjords-Paddling Newfoundland."  Nancy is co-owner (with Sam Crowley) of Sea Kayak Specialists in Marquette.  She has been quietly building an impressive paddling resume and I'm certainly interested in Newfoundland paddling. (Friday 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 2:30 p.m.)

John Browning is a well-known Milwaukee paddler and instructor and is doing multiple presentations on topics including navigation and wilderness first aid.  I going to be sure to make at least one of them.

Shawna Franklin & Leon Somme.  "Safety and Rescue:  Defining a New Standard."  Shawna and Leon run Body Boat Blade in Washington and are well-known instructors and adventurers.  They will be showing a new Sea Kayak Rescue Film.  A don't-miss presentation.  (Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 12:30 p.m.)

Ben Lawry runs a variety of hand's-on sessions on how to paddle effectively in the upstairs atrium.  Over the years I have participated and observed many "a-ha" moments when people first understand that you paddle from your core rather than your arms.

There's much, much more.  Find your way to Canoecopia and plunge into a truly invigorating swirl of people, presentations and, yes, shopping.  Don't forget to stop at the CASKA booth and introduce yourself or help staff the table for an hour.

 

CASKA Booth at Canoecopia (Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin & Lyn Stone)

 

 

Will It Float?

by Haris

Years ago, or maybe just last Friday, there was a segment 'Will It Float?' on David Letterman show. They would toss all kinds of things into a tank of water and guess whether the objects would float. Some said it was not very funny, silly and pointless. Others opined it was fascinating, educational and taught scientific principles of answering questions through empirical research through an accessible comedy medium.

Kayaks, especially the sea kayaks, float--we know that, right? It's the ultimate sea-going vessel that, in capable hands, can challenge seas that threaten big strong supertankers. Just to confirm this, I've flooded the cockpits of multiple kayaks and once I even filled the entire bow chamber separated from the cockpit by a bulkhead. The horizontal machine that is a kayak turned into a vertical bobber fit to catch whales, yet, the kayak stayed afloat. I've filled my bulkheadless folding kayak with water and it floats thanks to structural sponsons.

But is a fiberglass kayak really just an 'unsinkable' Titanic in disguise? I already knew that it is no nimble sea creature with a cockpit even half-full of water but will it stay above if all compartments are filled? In other words, will it float?

Here's the answer.

No tricks, no weights just water in all four chambers. If this happens to you in deep water, the kayak will go to the bottom and you will remain without a ride home.

That being said, it took quite a bit of pushing, spinning, shaking and wiggling to force the air completely out of the kayak. This particular model--Valley Avocet--has upturned nose and tail which, as it turns out, trap just enough air to keep the boat on the surface. I wonder if that's an intentional design feature. I needed to push the bow and then the stern down deep under the water in sequence to get those last air bubbles out. Only then the kayak sank. So that may take care of an accidental loss of hatch covers.

Another likely scenario is hull breach. If a kayak is floating upside-down with air leaking through the bottom of the hull in all chambers, in theory, it will eventually sink. A typical kayaker would have something in dry bags in the hatches. Given how little fiber and resin differ in weight from water it seems to me that even a single dry bag would keep the kayak on the surface even if completely submerged.

None of these assurances should comfort a paddler, however. Yes, sinking the kayak is very unlikely but a water logged beast completely submerged under the waves is entirely useless as means of travelling or surviving on the water. I was just looking for something to do at a pool session other than work on the hand rolls. So there goes our own round of "Will It Float?"

Geneva Kayak Center Update: Ryan Rushton Interview

In just a few years after its opening the Geneva Kayak Center established itself as an integral part of the paddling community.  GKC offered quality boats and gear and plenty of pool sessions and Kayak and Coffees to use them.  It matched students with top-notch instructors, and some of these students have now become into instructors in their own right.  GKC organized trips across North America appealing to a variety of interests and skill levels.  GKC hosted special events such as visits by paddling luminaries from around the world.

The good news is that GKC expects to continue doing these things and more for many years to come.  However, the Great Recession has taken its toll and prompted GKC to reassess and retool.  Tom Bamonte interviewed Ryan Rushton about GKC--past, present and future.

Ryan Rushton

Question:  In the past couple of years Geneva Kayak Center has opened
and closed a store in Chicago, faced the biggest economic downturn since
the Great Depression, and recently moved out of its Geneva location?  What
happened and what did you learn about the experience?

Ryan:  A kayak center in the city of Chicago on Lake Michigan had been a dream of
mine since we had opened the Geneva shop.  We seemed to have the ideal
situation in place when we investigated the space that became the
Lakefront shop.  Delays in permits pushed our opening from the spring of
2008 into the spring of 2009 and what came with it - the Great Recession
and one of the coldest summers of late.   The recession and cold/short
season had us down severely from even the most meager of projections for
our first year in business at Lakefront.   While there were other minor
factors including access, the major issues with Lakefront was the economic
downturn.  With a continued negative economic forecasted for 2010, we had
to pull the plug on Lakefront for the overall good of the company.

GKC Chicago Lakefront

Many people are wondering what happened with the Geneva shop.  Our lease
was set to expire this month for the building that we have been in for the
past five and a half years.  The lease that we signed worked for us when
the economy was good and boats were selling, but not workable in the
current economic climate.  We had hoped to renegotiate the lease to a more
affordable rate and stay in the building, but were not able to work with
our landlord.

The past two years have included many highs as well as growing pains.  The
major lesson is that we have to do business differently in the current
economic climate.  Both our paddling school and adventure paddling program
have grown and been largely successful over the last two years.  We need
keep a tighter reign on inventory purchases to adapt to the market.  We
also need to keep our overhead costs, particularly rent, in line with what
a business like ours can afford.

Question:  What's the current status of GKC and what are your plans for
GKC?

Ryan:  We are currently looking at several locations for a re-opening
in the spring of 2011. We hope to announce the new location by the end of
January.

Action shot from GKC website

Question:  What is GKC doing in 2011?

Ryan:  We hope that all will be "business as usual" in 2011.  This
includes boat and gear sales, trips, classes and tours. I'm very excited
about what 2011 has in store for GKC!

Question:  Can I use GKC to purchase boats and gear?  If so, how?

Ryan:  GKC currently maintains all of it's lines of boats and gear.  We
have been placing many customer orders during the transition period
between closing the Geneva shop and opening the new location.  Orders can
be placed by calling us at (630) 232-0320 or emailing us at
[email protected].

Question:  Jim Walsh did a great job repairing boats.  Does GKC still offer boat repair services?

Ryan:  Yes, Jim is still doing repairs.  In fact, we're currently installing a footpump with a custom bulkhead placement for a CASKA member.

Question:  GKC brought together many of the top paddlers in the area to
offer instruction.  What instructional services will GKC be offering in 2011?

Ryan:   We feel like we've built the top sea kayak school between the
coasts.  In regards to our sea kayak training programs, we'll continue to
build upon last year's successful new programs, the 2 day Coastal Kayak
Weekend and 3 day Open Water Training Weekend.   We've done some
tinkering with our training programs and are adding a new class that is a
"next step" beginner class.

We are also very excited about the new Yorkville whitewater park, where we are
expanding our excellent programming into the whitewater and open canoe
disciplines.  Expect to see similar "leveled" courses and some exciting
workshops for whitewater paddlers and canoeists.

Old GKC Store in Geneva

Question:  The GKC website mentions that there will be GKC outposts.
What do you envision for such outposts and when will we see the first one?

Ryan:  Looking into the future, paddlers should expect to see two
different approaches for GKC - Centers and Outposts.  A center will be a
main place of business that includes retail, courses, local tours, and
rentals.  Basically, everything you've come to expect from GKC.  We will
also be looking at opening up some "outposts". These outposts will be
smaller satellite locations that offer various services ranging from
repairs to outfitting to kayak rentals to classes and tours, but not
everything that is offered at a center.

Question:  What about your personal plans as a paddler.  What are those
plans and how have recent events at GKC affected your paddling goals?

Ryan:  2010 was a big year for me on a personal paddling level.  In the
spring, I was assessed as a ACA L5 Advanced Open Water Instructor Trainer while running a five
day L5 course under the supervision of Dale Williams.  I was slated to be
involved with a major sea kayak expedition in January of 2011 but my wife
and I are expecting our third child in March and neither of us were
excited about the proposition of me being half way around the world while
she was eight months pregnant.  With a fluctuating business situation and
a busy personal life, I'll seek out some other shorter expedition
opportunities in the near future.  Beyond that, I'll continue to enjoy
leading some of GKC's paddling adventures and training both instructors
and paddlers alike.

Question:  Any words of advice for entrepreneurs and small business
owners from your experience?

Ryan:  Maintain flexibility and creativity.  Don't overcommit to
long term leases and inventory purchases.

Question:  Is there anything the local paddling community can do to help
ensure the success of local outfitters, shops and instructional centers?

Ryan:  The paddling community is integral to the success of paddling
businesses here in Illinois.  If paddlers want to keep these businesses in
Illinois, we need your support in many ways.  Here are a few suggestions:
* Get Involved with the shop or business.  Paddling is a very "relational"
sport and small businesses always need "friends" to be successful.
* If you are planning a boat or gear purchase, look locally first.  We can
meet or beat deals found elsewhere if you'd give us the chance.
* Referrals.  This is a small community and if we're going to grow the
sport, we constantly need to be introducing new people to the sport of
kayaking.

  Here's to GKC getting ahead in 2011.

EDGING TECHNIQUE

CASKA Pool:

Majority of instructional materials advise that edging is accomplished mostly by lifting with the opposite knee. Minority insists that weighing down the buttocks and upper thigh on the on-side does most of the work to submerge the gunwale.

QUESTION: Which part of your body do you use to edge?

o Knee to lift up
o Buttock/Thigh to push down
o Knee and Buttock/Thigh together
o Another part of the body (please tell)

 

Here are a couple of additional questions to ask yourself(via on-water experimentation):

Does the ratio of butt pressure to knee/thigh pressure change with the degree of edge, and if so how?

What degree of edge can you comfortably accomplish without using your offside (lifting) knee?

Can you edge the boat without pressuring the onside butt cheek?

How important are your footbraces in edging? How is your ability edge affected if you don't use the onside or offside footbrace?

If you edge the boat as much as possible, then let go of your paddle, then move your head 3 inches towards the on-side, what happens? (If you could have someone film this experiment and then post the video, it would be much appreciated.)

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the butt cheek concept, Ben Lawry used this phrase to describe it: "It's a bit like passing wind on a bar stool"

-Scott

 

Thanks for adding the FOOT to the discussion! I learned to edge in a folding boat where lifting with the knee was hard due to the absence of the knee/thigh hooks. Most of the edge was accomplished by weighing down the lower side of the boat. Engaging the foot did not seem to make much difference. So here are a couple of follow-up questions:

- What difference does pressure on the footbrace make if you try to edge with your butt only--completely disengage the knee?

- Can you use the opposite footpeg when edging exclusively with the knee without also weighing down the buttocks?

Personally, I get a distinct feeling that edging is NOT a move on one plane—one hip up, another one down, bend the spine into a C. It also involves substantial twisting--the hip that goes down also moves forward; the hip that goes up moves back. Like a screw...

Haris

 

One more Ben Lawry-inspired thing to try:
Take both thighs out of the thigh hooks and put your knees in the center of your
cockpit (pointing up into your spray skirt). Now how do you achieve edging?

Sharon

 

We've talked a lot about body and boat with respect to edging, but how about the blade?  Don't we also work off the leverage provided by the paddle on the edging side to accentuate our edge?  (By edging side I mean the side of the boat that is lower in the water.)  Often when we are edging we are adjusting the angle of the paddle blade (making it more horizontal) and extending the stroke in order to work with the edge and turn the boat.  These adjustments to the paddle provide a bit of a foundation against which we can work with our body to put and keep the boat on edge.  The physical link between a more sweep-like paddle stroke say on the left side and lifting your knee/hip on the right side comes to mind.  We often lose a bit of our edge when doing our stroke on the off-edge side.  The paddle stroke on the edged side allows us to reestablish and accentuate our edge.

Boat, body … and blade.

Tom Bamonte

 

I didn't see anyone mention (sorry if I missed it) that edging is easier, especially when learning, if the lower leg, the one being edged toward, is straight (or very nearly so) and planted on the hull with the foot of that leg firmly pressing against the footbrace. This gives a firm, stable foundation for the body while edging the boat.

And the comment about using the paddle for edging -

I believe that mastery in a kayak comes from being able to do just about anything without the paddle. A beginner learns to put the body, boat and blade together in a way that makes the boat move where one wants to go. The intermediate can become efficient at doing this and eventually learns to do it in challenging conditions. The advanced paddler can use the paddle and her or his body to get the boat to do almost anything in any conditions without even having to think about the details. The master can do that without the paddle.

Obviously, the paddle is necessary and a pretty useful thing to have. But really good paddlers can get almost everything done without it - maneuvering, rolling, surfing, and even edging. If you can edge without the paddle, then edging becomes another of those things that requires no concentration whatever when the paddle is being used for other important things.

A goal to work toward.

Jim Tibensky

The End of the Forward Stroke

Here's an aggregation of a recent discussion on the nature of the forward stroke initiated by the inquisitive Tom Bamonte. Enjoy!

Haris

Tom Bamonte:

This question came to mind when I was swimming yesterday. The instructions I've seen for doing the crawl--i.e., forward swimming stroke--emphasize the importance of pulling your hand down past your hip and getting a nice push at the end. Yet, the instructions I've seen and gotten for the forward paddling stroke for the most part encourage you to truncate your stroke and bring your paddle out of the water sooner rather than later. A "push" at the end of the stroke with the paddle behind your hip is discouraged on the ground that you waste energy and lift water for little good purpose.

Two forward strokes but fundamentally different approaches to how to end the stroke . . . for the most part. Why?

I say "for the most part" because a few years ago I had a class with an accomplished Brit. He told us in hushed tones that he and his colleagues were starting to leave their paddles in the water longer and push against the wake and the turbulence between the wake and the boat at the end of each forward stroke.

Is this a case of one forward stroke for beginners--"start lifting your blade when it is by your hip"--and another forward stroke for more advanced paddlers? Or are boats and people so different that you can't compare these forward strokes?

 

Tom Heineman:

Being a swimmer and a kayaker, I would like to throw my nickel into the discussion.

I am assuming we are not talking about winged paddles which do their own thing up front.

I happen to leave my paddle in longer than most, but I tend to not be the fastest paddler around. I suspect that there may be different strokes for different folks and different purposes. If you are doing long distance, moderate speed, you might have a different stroke than for short distance or sustained higher speed. I can tell you that I do an extra long stroke and pretty much did that for 20 miles a day, day after day when traveling around the lake. I think the important thing is that you are pushing water backward since this is what makes you go forward (same as swimming). The power part of the stroke is definitely in the front, but do you want to put all your effort on that part of the stroke or do you want to use more muscles and different muscles by extending the stroke a bit?

The same is absolutely true of swimming. One of the coaches I have on my Northwestern Masters Swim Team was the 2007 Big Ten champion for the 100 yard free. He has taught me that a sprint stroke is very different from a middle distance or long distance stroke. The Sprint stroke is shorter with faster turnover with the emphasis on the front part of the stroke; distance swimmers have elongated strokes (with the obligatory push at the end). High turnover, arms in exactly opposite positions is the rule for sprints. Long distance swimmers tend to have more of a "catch up" stroke (if you are familiar with that drill). I do very different strokes if I am doing a 1650 yd race vs. a 50 yard race. The same goes for the kicking… sprinters do more than 6 beats per stroke cycle (I probably do an 8 beat kick when sprinting), distance swimmers may be doing less than 6 beats per stroke cycle.

I will be interested in the kayak forward stroke gurus take on this. I do not consider myself a forward stroke guru at all. I just know what I do. I am sure Tim F, Kristin, Jim T. or Scott F. and others may have some more well thought out views on this.

 

John Tebbens:

Obviously, racers are not "beginners" so it wouldn't be a stroke just for them. In rapid, efficient succession out at the hip is all that works.

Can you get propulsion at the end of the stroke behind the hip? The answer is absolutely, but not with the efficiency of a racing stroke or fast forward stroke.

Also, keeping the paddle in the water past the hip is necessary for minor directional course corrections like stern draws – which I'm certain you do all of the time in a leisurely paddle.

Something to look for the next time you paddle a racing stroke with lifting at the hip, is that the paddle blade seems to snap back as you lift it from the water because it is under so much pressure in that very moment that the instant the pressure is released (nothing but air on the power face) you literally feel a snap like a fishes tail. If you leave your paddle in the water longer than that behind the hip, then that paddle bending under pressure thing becomes relieved under the water and pressure in front begins to build (on the back face) and begins to causes drag. (An Example similar to this is if you have ever ice skated, cross-country skied or roller bladed, your last push is off the pressure you have built during the full length of the stroke and then you snap/leap/push of that and if you have gone too far can actually feel you have missed the strongest point of the building pressure and switching feet becomes more of a recovery operation than one of efficient propulsion.)

If you understand this, then I can tell you a little something I've learned about catching and riding waves : )

 

Kristin Flentye:

My two cents...

The theory that letting the paddle go past vertical is inefficient in forward stroke is pretty universal and taught all the way up. I know very little about the dynamics of swimming and why it's different but I can find two things I notice on this point:

- In open water, I feel much more comfortable with a faster rate stroke. I can adjust to chop quicker, brace quicker and maintain a good speed. If I let the paddle pass my hip, I'm compromising some stability (in possibly over-rotating) as well making the recovery time longer. The most stable point is during paddle entry (why wait so long to get there?)

- Think back to Michael Phelps' super-photo finish at the Beijing games. He took another stroke, the 2nd place guy didn't. You are naturally going to be faster with more forward momentum. Forward momentum comes from taking another stoke, not gliding. Forward stoke theory is influenced a lot but sprint kayaking. Their goal is to be fast for a short period of time, so those extra seconds you can eek out of a slightly higher frequency (i.e. shorter stroke) can make a big difference.

 

Haris:

I've been musing the forward stroke for quite some time now. Seems to me it's both, Tom. Or maybe they are the same? Read on.

First, I've had the same 'unofficial' feedback from a heavily decorated local racer and instructor--there's nothing wrong with pulling the blade past your hips. The only caveat is that the technique is proper and one is not pulling the water up at the end of the stroke. It's not the optimal paddle angle but how about this: neither is the paddle angle at the beginning of the stroke. Have you ever heard anyone encourage the planting of the blade as close to hips as possible in order to avoid pushing the water down?

That's one side of the issue. On other hand, there are at least two fundamental differences between kayak paddle stroke and freestyle swimming stroke. First, the hand can be kept at an optimal angle for propulsion all the way to the end of the stroke because it has the wrist. Paddle can't. Even bent shaft paddles or wing paddles with their departures from a straight line will still quickly deviate from the perpendicular angle to the direction of travel as they approach the end of the stroke.

The second difference is that propulsion in swimming does not come from the torso. Past the hips, kayak propulsion becomes primarily the hand stroke as the torso rotation beyond that point is not possible ... or is it? Here's where things become murky.

Maybe, when we are instructed not to go past our hips, what is meant is not to go past the plane defined by one's shoulders rather than a physical place on the kayak hull where the hip joint touches the seat. When torso is fully unwound at the end of the stroke and the paddle is over 1 foot away from the gunwale the difference between the two could be quite substantial. What is well behind your hips by one definition becomes quite in line with the hips by another.

South African school headed by Dawid Mocke advocates bending the upper arm during the forward stroke. Instead of punching forward the paddler is advised to swipe the upper hand across his/her forehead. If you watch the competitive K1 racers, they distinctly bend the elbows on their upper arms too. Among other things, this contributes to keeping the blade closer to the optimal perpendicular as far as the surface of the water goes. With this approach, you can keep the paddle in the water longer without lifting.

What do you think?

 

Scott Fairty:

I don't think there is a single "perfect" forward stroke.

I use at least 5 distinct forward strokes, each for a specific purpose. 

Sprint
Race
Cruise
Mozy

and in its own category
Slider

Each of the first 4 are on a continuum of 2 characteristics: Verticality of the paddle, and length of the stroke.

The sprint provides a burst of speed and gets the boat moving from a dead stop.  It is exceptionally vertical (almost canoe-like), is very short and choppy, and uses less torso and more arms.  It's used when accelerating to catch a wave, to start moving in to rescue a capsized paddler, or anytime you need quick acceleration.  You would rarely need more than 4-6 sprint strokes in a row.

The Race would be what most coaches would teach as "THE" high-angle forward stroke.  It is most efficient at driving the boat fast forward in a straight line.

The Cruise is a more relaxed Race stroke, it is slightly more horizontal, enters the water slightly farther back, exits the water slightly farther back and uses a tiny bit less torso.  It's the stroke for covering distance.  Its advantage is that it is both efficient at moving the boat forward and energy efficient.  There are very few paddlers that can maintain the Race stroke for 6 hours but almost all of us can do a respectable Cruise stroke all day.

The Mozy is what you would typically see most recreational paddlers doing.  It is very horizontal, travels a long distance through the water, relies heavily on arm and not torso muscles and is designed to get you nowhere in a hurry. It's great for just poking around.

If you could only be taught one forward stroke then it should be the Race because it is perhaps the least intuitive of the 4 strokes but the most efficient.  When you get tired, you will naturally drop the top hand and lengthen the Race so it becomes the Cruise or if you get really tired, the Mozy (the Mozy is sometimes called the "Please Tow Me Now" stroke).

The Slider is in its own category.  I use it on long distance days to rest the muscle groups used in the Race and Cruise strokes without having to actually stop paddling.  It is very horizontal and the blade travels out to the side of the boat rather than from the knee to the hip.  I'm sure one of our Traditional paddlers could explain it better (since I stole it from a stick paddler).



The first is of Scott Shipley in a slalom boat.  You can see the splash left from his blade exit that he pulls the paddle at or in front of his hip.

The second is of a tandem team at an international sprint competition.  Their exit is also at the hip.

Photos can also be slightly deceiving as to where the blade actually leaves the water because the boat is continually traveling forward as the blade is leaving the water, giving the impression that the blade is exiting further back than it actually is.

The third is a graph of the measured force on the paddle blade during a paddling sequence on an ergometer. The first graph is for the right blade, the second for the left blade.  Notice that the force increases dramatically in the very beginning of the stroke, peaks when the paddle is at maximum verticality, then decreases  as the blade passes vertical.  This suggests that you are getting significantly diminishing returns on your energy investment the longer your stroke continues past vertical.

One thing we can say for sure is that if you put the paddle in the water and pull on it, the boat's gonna move in that direction.  Exactly what is the best way to do that is going to depend on the boat, the body, the blade, and what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Jim Tibensky:

I have been out of town and away from emails, so sorry for the slow response.
 
Haris pretty much gave my position on the kayak stroke part.  I can't speak to swimming because I was never much of a good swimmer. 
 
I know that for me and a lot of very good kayakers, bringing the blade past the hip is OK.  I have been criticized about my stroke being too long for most of my paddling career.  What I found interesting about that was the people saying I did it wrong could not beat me in a race.  And the people who did beat me, those hundreds of good paddlers, never criticized my stroke.
 
I once watched Nigel Foster's stroke when we were talking and paddling and he was clearly paying more attention to the conversation than his paddling style.  His style was perfect, but what struck me was how far back his blade went behind his hip on each stroke.  Looked a lot like what I do.  And, like me, he let the paddle sort of 'trail off' behind and 'float' up to the surface rather than 'snap' it out at the end of the stroke.
 
My thought is that it takes less energy to do this as opposed to lifting the paddle out any sooner than necessary.  I mean, we're just cruising - why strain ourselves?
 
The end of my normal kayak stroke is also out about a foot away from the hull.  This, again just my thought - no science involved - is that I am using the wake that comes off my hull at the cockpit.  I am using it as 'dense' water that gives me extra push at the end where the water outside that wave would have less pressure to offer.  This characteristic is also one many really good paddlers (without wing paddles which require this movement) have in their strokes.
 
Scott Fairty gave a perfect explanation of what stroke style to use when.  My 'cruising' stroke happens to be my racing stroke except, as Scott said, when I need a burst of about five seconds of pure speed.  My sprint racing coach (this was in 1969, so it may be too outdated a technique to be useful anymore) convinced me that the best way to get pure speed out of my stroke was to concentrate not on paddling fast, but concentrate on snapping the blade out of the water at the end of the stroke.  Just get it out as fast as possible. This both shortened my stroke in the water and ramped up my cadence.
 
Yes, there are diminishing returns with keeping the blade in the water too long.  But there is some return unless, as Haris pointed out, you are lifting the water at the end.  As long as the blade is pushing water rather than lifting, you're not hurting yourself by having a long stroke. The way to avoid lifting at the end is to slice the blade slightly to the side at the very end of the stroke.

I really like Haris' thought that we don't teach anyone to shorten the beginning of the stroke - only the end. I have known a few racers who actually did shorten the beginning. They were kayakers who paddled as though they were using a canoe blade. Mike McCormick, the slalom champion, was one. I think (again - no science) that we do, indeed, push down at the beginning of a kayak stroke. I can think of no other reason to explain the large triceps muscles of kayak racers. What happens in this downward motion is that we are trying to lift the front of the boat out of the water. Since gravity doesn't permit this, the effort moves the boat through the water instead. This provides propulsion. Lifting at the end of the stroke tries to push the bow down, which does nothing for propulsion except in a negative way.

I also agree with Haris' point that a person with lots of torso rotation, like a racer, is not so much paddling behind his or her hip as much as keeping the blade in the plane of the shoulders.

There is a bit of voodoo in a lot of the teaching of the forward stroke. Many Olympic champions, in the past before wing paddles anyway, had strokes that were not standard and some were even odd-looking. It is important to remember that people's bodies are different. A tall paddler with long arms and a light frame (think Tom Bamonte) is going to be a different thing altogether than a short, chunky paddler with short arms (I won't give an example.) And just as different from those types will be you or me. A good instructor is tolerant of idiosyncrasies as long as they are not going to cause physical problems – such as bending the wrist of the reaching arm or gripping too tightly. It really is different strokes for different folks.

What matters most is "does it work?" If yes, then it's good. If the question is "is it perfect?" then an even longer conversation will be needed.

I would love to have this discussion on the water with all the contributors there. We could demonstrate what we are describing and hash it out by doing instead of talking.

***

Look at this for some ideas about how the forward stroke looks when done in sprint races:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvCSWDyScGE&feature=fvw

Notice that, even with wing paddles which require a very specific technique, there is some (small) variation in things like: How high the reaching arm goes, how much the boat rocks, how much the head rotates with the torso, how long the stroke is in the water, how far back the blade goes in the water, and the cadence.

Notice as well, very important, what the knees are doing. Without good leg action, there is not much power in any stroke. Ditto the crossover of the reaching arm.

If you care, the speeds attained in the shortest sprint race at the World's (200 meters) are 12 mph for a K-1 and 14.5 mph for a K-4. At 1000 meters the speeds are 10 mph for K-1 and 12 mph for K-4.

With a K-4 it is easy to pull a water skier.

Finally, thank your stars that you don't paddle a sprint canoe!

THE TALE OF TWO BOW RUDDERS?

by Haris

I am in love with the bow rudder but I don't know her name! There, I said it. To me it's the sexiest most efficient and effortless move in a kayak. More than that, the way the boat spins under you when motions align just right feels almost magical. The turning momentum seems to perpetuate itself. It's like the boat starts to give back what put into it.

For a decent free skill description and illustrations of the stroke with moving images see this Atlantic Kayak Tours web page. Search also for "Bow Rudder" among these videos by Doug Cooper if you'd like to see a short movie of the skill in action. If you don't have them already Doug Cooper and Gordon Brown's books are great resources for updating your kayaking skills. They both also contain good consistent descriptions of the Bow Rudder. Gordon has a DVD companion to the book out as well.

Gordon Brown demonstrating cross-bow rudder

Then, there's another detailed and well-illustrated description of the skill by the same name by Derrick Mayoleth. You may not even notice much difference between the two versions but, in my opinion, what separates them is so critical that two different names should be used to label them. Derrick's is the way the bow rudder looked when I met her but she is definitely not the one I fell in love with. Yet, it is the skill as illustrated by Derrick that seems to fit the name. That stroke actually attempts to pull the bow in the direction of the blade. Applying the same name to the turning maneuver presented by Atlantic Tours, Brown and Cooper (ABC) seems to me like a long stretch. More than surface semantics, both of the words in the name obscure the little ABC gem from the sights or well-meaning students of the sport. What's your name, darling?

Derrik Mayoleth demonstrating bow rudder

ABC version of the 'so-called' bow rudder is neither done at the bow nor is it really a ruddering stroke. ABC way, the active blade is planted perpendicular to the surface of the water at the paddler's knees, next to the gunwale. The placement is much closer to the kayak's longitudinal center of gravity than its bow. Furthermore, there is really no reason to move it in that direction in principle. If anything, I am curious it if wouldn't work even better applied a foot aft. The live blade placement is distinctly different in the forward-reaching skill as illustrated in Derrick's post. Here the paddler needs to lean distinctly forward and advance the rudder toward the bow. The body rotation in the two versions is in the opposite directions. For ABC you "face the work" on inside of the turn with maximum torso rotation. In the alternative, you are rotated with the opposite shoulder facing the bow as the outboard hand extends as far forward as possible.

The term 'rudder' in the name implies that the paddler should be trying to concentrate the action on the end of the boat. After all, 'rudder' is a steering contraption always found at the (rear) end of the boat. Substituting 'bow' for 'stern' does nothing to the implicit suggestion that the stroke should be performed as far away from the center of the boat as possible. The first term in the name—'bow'—does the same thing: it tells you to reach for the bow with the paddle.

Atlantic Kayak Tours version of bow rudder

The role of the active blade in the ABC incarnation is not intended to move or anchor the bow. Here the paddle in the water serves the role of a pivot point around which the kayak swings–bow moving in one direction stern in the opposite. In that sense, although it is clearly meant for turning the boat, the move feels more like a draw-on-the-move or a side-slip than a rudder. Cooper gives an apt analogy when he writes that bow rudder should feel like a runner grabbing on to a stationary post with one hand and spinning around. The forward-reaching version of the bow rudder emphasizes anchoring the bow, releasing the stern so that it could slide around. Leaning forward, weighing the bow, taking the weight from the stern, and sticking the blade near the bow to anchor it are mobilized to that end. The ABC version treats bow and stern on equal terms. Instead, it capitalizes on finding the most efficient pivot point on which to spin the kayak around its longitudinal center axis not unlike a table-top. The paddler remains fully upright throughout the turn.  Finally, the lower elbow is fully extended in the former and tucked into the pelvis in the latter--seems a bit safer to me.

I am yet to confirm this in the field, but I would guess that the ABC way would not work quite as well as the lean-forward version for turning into the wind. In practice, I only know that I can easily turn 180° or more on calm days but was barely able to do 90° with strong beam wind using ABC. The latter is much more efficient at producing quick radical changes of direction in tight quarters will less body contortion … not to mention it looks much more elegant and also makes your legs shake with excitement.

So what do you think—are these two different versions of the same skill or two different skills? Are we doing those who are learning the skills any favors by misdirecting their attention from the knee toward the bow and toward ruddering instead of pivoting and spinning? How about something like "gunwale swing" or "beam spin" instead? The way the kayak dances alongside the planted blade could almost pass as a dos-á-dos dance move. Whatever you call it, give them both a try and see if it changes your relationship as much as it did for me. Whatever you decide, I'll always go to my spinning version to get a smile on my face and a tingle in the belly.

While we're at it, how about a cross-bow bow rudder that is initiated by bringing your paddle across the deck rather than the bow, has the blade planted at the cockpit rather than the bow, and uses the paddle as a pivot point rather than a rudder? Any takers?

Is Visibility Statute or Nautical? Decide for Yourself

by Haris

In a kayak, it's often good to know the distance to some destination or object. The human visual system is pretty bad at this task. I can easily recall many instances of paddling for hours without any apparent gain on large distant targets. It always feels that progress should be faster…

Kayak navigation books such as Burch or Ferrero provide some help. They give a simple formula for calculating distances at which objects with given elevations above the sea level will be seen. The range of visibility in miles is equal to the square root of elevation as measured in feet. For example, a light house 100 feet above the sea level will be visible from 10 miles away. The formula is for an observer at the sea level.

In a kayak, you are not at sea level. For an observer in a kayak cockpit, you can add 1.5 miles to the visibility range of an object as derived from the formula. One-and-a-half miles is the square root of the eye-level elevation above the surface of the water. On average, paddler's eyes are just over two feet above the surface. Here are some immediate applications—if you can see beach goers feet as they walk close to the water, you're roughly within 2 miles off-shore. That's 1.5 plus a little bit added for the elevation of the beach. Two kayaks will lose sight of each other when they are separated by three miles—one-and-a-half miles of visibility from each side.

This is where I got tripped up. The formula for the visibility range is supposed to give you statute, not nautical miles. Burch, then, suggests that the visibility range as determined this way is underestimated by about 15%. What this means is that 10-mile estimate for an object with 100' of elevation should actually be 11.5 miles instead. Funny, that just happens to be the distance in nautical miles. So what is going on here? Exactly how much off is the square root approximation?

Time to dust off high school trigonometry books. First, let's track down the mathematical solution to the problem. Then, we will have grounds to decide if the limits of visibility are statute or nautical and how precise they are.

Generalized shape of the Earth is basically a sphere. For our purposes, the sphere can be further reduced to a circle. An average radius from the center to the surface is approximately 3,440 nautical or 3,959 statute miles.

Any line that just touches the outside of the circle can be used to mark the range of visibility—objects whose height is above the line will be visible, the ones below will be obscured by the horizon. Another line can be drawn from the point where the visibility line touches the outside of the circle to the center of the Earth. This line will have two known properties: (1) its length will be Earth's radius and (2) its angle to the visibility line will be 90 degrees. The Earth's radius and the visibility line can be viewed as two sides of a right triangle. The hypotenuse of this triangle is equal to the Earth's radius plus the elevation of the object above the sea level. What we have here is a simple case of Pythagorean Theorem with two known sides of the right triangle. We can solve for the unknown third side. In our context, a² = c² - b² can be written as Visibility² = (Radius + Elevation)² – Radius².

Plugging in the numbers and plotting the results of this equation we get the following picture. If the result of the square root solution is read in nautical miles, then it underestimates the actual distance by 6%. In statute miles, the distance is underestimated by just over 18%.

There it is clear as day: mathematically, the square root of elevation (measured in feet) is much closer to geographical visibility expressed in nautical rather than statute miles.

So why, then, is the formula is presented as offering the solution in statute miles? I don't know the answer to this one…

Here are some thoughts. Mathematical solution gives the distance at which the top of the object will reach the line of visibility. So the question is if you be able to see the top as soon as it reaches the line? To me, it depends. If the object is a mountaintop, the answer is most likely "No!" The tip of the mountain will have to get above the line at least somewhat to be seen. A mountain that is 400 feet above the sea level will reach the line of visibility when the distance is 21.3 nautical miles or 24.5 statute miles. Square root formula tells you that, when you first see the tip of the mountain, you are 20 miles away. By the numbers, when you are actually 20 nautical miles away, the mountain is already 47 feet above the line of visibility. When you are 20 statute miles away, the mountain will extend by 133'. When will you actually see the mountaintop? I don't know but, personally, I would rather be closer than I think I am. To me, nautical mile interpretation is a more conservative one and seems to be more appropriate.

If you are paddling at night and it is a light that you're looking for, you will see the glow well before it reaches the theoretical line. The moment the actual light emerges from beneath the horizon will be determined more precisely than in the previous scenario. Again, if the height of the light is known, it's square root is more appropriately interpreted as the distance in nautical, not statute, miles.

What do you think?

How Necessary Is A Roll For Safe Paddling? (Part Two)

By Tom Bamonte

There was a lively exchange on the CASKA Yahoo Group on the topic of the necessity and utility of a roll for safe kayaking that was captured in an earlier post.  The discussion continued since that post and the rest of it is captured below, with contributions from Jim Tibensky, Kris Dressler, Scott Fairty, John Tebbens and John Puskar.

My view is that capsizes are most likely in the areas where a wet exit and rescue are the most difficult, namely, the surf zone and in other areas such as around breakwalls where the water is breaking or confused.  Thus, a roll is important if you plan to paddle in those areas.

By:  Kris Dressler

Jon Turk (Japan to Alaska, Cape Horn, etc) and I were talking after WMCKA a couple of years ago. I asked him his total number of unanticipated rolls. 

Zero.

I asked the same of Dave Snowberg (GLSKS 2007, Baranof Island, Baja to Tierra del Fuego, etc).

Zero.

Yet they both have, and continue to practice, excellent rolls.

So....

While a brace comes in handy far more often than a roll, the roll is essential.

As for learning, I learned the roll first, which gave me the confidence to begin practicing bracing, which is still not good. I think once the roll is learned, the reflexive nature of a good brace is the hardest part to learn. As I'm still learning, when I miss a brace, the consequence is only a little water in my nose and some heckling. 

The voices once told me that I could land a particular jump on my snowboard. I spent the next 8 weeks on crutches.

By:  Scott Fairty

Thanks Haris for posing an excellent question!  Here's a few somewhat random thoughts.

There are paddlers that have amazing rolls, they practice rolling every chance they get but many of these same people are also capsizing all the time in conditions that should in no way cause a capsize.  Because their first instinct is to roll, they end up flopping over all day.  A roll should be "Plan B"; braces are "Plan A".   A solid roll is not a reason to have poor bracing skills.

I don't view the roll as this "other" thing separate from all other strokes and maneuvers we use in a kayak.  Our stroke repertoire is a continuum; the more you know, the more fun you can have and the safer you'll be.  

The difference between a "good brace" and a roll is relatively small.  If you define "good" as being able to right the boat from your shoulder in the water, then the only difference is the setup for the roll.  However the environment in which we learn to roll is an issue.   If I were going to teach you something simple, like passing a bean bag from one hand to the other; I'm sure you would think how amazingly simple that would be to learn.  But now I tell you that while you're learning this you'll also be upside down, underwater and "locked" inside a kayak.  That just bumped the complexity of an otherwise simple task up to a whole new level of difficulty.

I have had people come to me over the years wanting to learn to roll without having first learned how to paddle.  In my experience, those people have a harder time learning to roll because they don't have the foundation skills of paddle sensitivity, edge control and body/boat awareness that a person with some "boat time" has acquired.

How much a paddler needs any particular stroke really depends on the environment they paddle in and/or how much satisfaction they get from controlling their craft with grace and finesse.  If you just want to poke around a little pond or slow moving river, do you really need more than some forward stroke looking thing and a slightly wider forward stroke-like thing for turning?  That skill set is not however transferrable to Lake Michigan with a 15 knot nor'easter.

A few weeks ago we were surfing at Montrose Beach in unusually powerful waves and I can say with a high degree of confidence that regardless of your bracing ability, you were going to be capsizing.  You can see Alec and I proving that here: video.  Alec also took a photo of me out in the clapotis at the end of the breakwall:

(The big stuff was actually to the right of this frame; you may need to copy the pic to your desktop for a better view.)  Had I come out of my boat I know it would have been exceptionally dangerous for Alec to attempt to rescue me and I am not at all confident that I could have self rescued.  Consequently I didn't spend too much time there nor did I paddle into the substantially more chaotic conditions to the right of the pic..  My point is that in these conditions a roll is essential not just desirable because the likelihood of being capsized is great (independent of one's bracing skills) and the consequences of coming out of the boat are significant.

There are 3 things I can say with conviction:
1.) Rolling is always preferable to wet exiting, regardless of how competent you are in self or group rescues.  
2.) No roll is 100% reliable so your self and group rescues need to be solid in the conditions in which you are paddling.
3.) There are conditions where coming out of your boat is not rectifiable. 

By:  John Tebbens

I am writing for those who look to this list serve for advice from the more accomplished paddlers on how to approach the wonderful sport of kayaking.

What I’d like to express here is that I began my love of kayaking on Lake Michigan at the end of one December in frigid water never having been in a kayak before and when asked to focus on torso rotation in my paddling stroke by my paddling partner, lost attention of the horizon and fell into the late December waters only to learn for the first time, from water level, in nothing more than fleece and cycling rain gear how to do a deep water T-rescue as the swimmer. 

Suffice to say I was exhilarated and not discouraged. And after that one experience, I decided that the first thing I wanted to learn how to do in a kayak was to roll it without assistance.

So I brought my enthusiasm and applied it to learning to roll. I learned to roll with a paddle, without, both sides, to the back and to the front, etc., etc. The funny thing was when I first went out with CASKA on a simple river paddle I couldn’t even paddle the boat in a straight line as all other strokes were still on the horizon fro me to learn.

When spring hit, I took advantage of a sea kayak symposium on Lake Michigan and took every class that I could get with the most diverse group of world class paddling instructors I could find.

In each and every class, when asked to try a new stroke or a different way of doing a stroke by one of these instructors, I was able to devout my full attention to the lesson at hand with NONE of my attention split to keeping the boat upright, as righting a boat was literally of no concern for me. 

I tried my first crossbow rudder, for one example, and it got caught under my bow and flipped me and then I would right myself in literally 2 seconds (I asked someone once to time it and 2 seconds is how long it takes to roll a kayak from the time your head goes under water and then comes back up for its first breath in most cases), I’d try any other stroke some for the first time without regard for flipping. 

My instructors loved this about me as a student because most had never seen someone with no other advanced skills than bombproof rolls, but mostly they expressed that they liked it because there was only 2 seconds between attempts at implementing their instruction and trying it again with their newly suggested modifications which permitted me in short order to hone in on the new skill and fully take advantage of the world class instructor before me and the short time I had with them. I was also one less person for them to worry about in their group from a timely rescue scenario in a deep water situation. Because I didn’t require the time to get back in my boat, my instructor didn’t move on to the next student so my personal one-on-one instruction time in the group was uninterrupted by a wet exit.

Eventually bracing probably did take me a little longer (having no fear of turning over) but I believe I implement my brace well and almost never go over unless trying something new like when I was learning new skills or now new for me means challenging myself at new levels, bigger conditions, or different ones and certainly unexpected ones. In fact, bracing and every other one of my paddling strokes have become less like separate strokes and more like subtle, fluid parts of a composition of strokes that has to some extent become almost second nature and less distinguishable as separate notes and more part of a melody or symphony of strokes.

My learning curve was very steep by most standards and was even met with some resistance by some old school paddlers as the new guy on the block. I didn’t do it another way so the only way I know was the way I learned kayaking and I did it quickly, “mostly” without fear, because I learned how to roll first.

By:  Jim Tibensky

I would like to second what John has said - that learning to roll early in one's paddling career can be a great thing. I was one of the instructors who had John in a class early in his paddling life.  And I loved his enthusiasm for learning and for paddling and the fact that he was not intimidated by challenging conditions.  I think sometimes people mistake enthusiasm for something else (like ego) and that's too bad because the enthusiastic paddlers often are good enough to be proud of what they have accomplished and should be commended not condemned.   Many years ago the Chicago Whitewater Association would have a club trip to the Madawaska Kanu Centre for a week of instruction.  Almost every summer a bunch of CWAers would go.  I used to teach there and it was funny what a reputation CWA had.  Because most CWA paddlers learned the sport by starting in pool sessions, they all could roll like crazy but weren't very good at anything else.  There isn't much room in a pool to do more than practice rolls. Other instructors would laugh at how backwards the Chicago folks were - they could roll but not go in a straight line.  But, by the end of the week, the Chicago folks had the respect of everyone because they learned so quickly.   The moral is: John has a good idea.  Taking fear out of the equation makes learning much easier and much quicker for most people.  John went from beginner to Level 4 Instructor pretty quickly.  Good for him, I say.

* * *

In response to a couple of emails, I thought I would send a more detailed description of Lone's death, which was also reported in Sea Kayaker magazine in, I think, April 1999. Paul Caffyn's account follows:

Lone Madsen, Danish journalist and sea kayaker, was caught by a storm on 30 September whilst paddling the south-east coast of Greenland. She and her paddling companion Tore Sivertsen, a helicopter pilot with Greenlandair, were paddling south from Angmagassalik towards Cape Farewell at the southern tip of Greenland and were crossing a fiord near Prins Christians Sund when strong winds suddenly hit them with gusts up to estimated 50 knots. They were crossing a fjord when Tore heard Lone shouting for help but there was nothing he could do. It was impossible to paddle against the wind. Lone apparently capsized and was overcome by the chill of the icy waters.

Some hours later, Tore got safely to the shore and got in touch with Narsarssuaq Airport and an overflying twin otter, however the weather was so rough that there was no possibility to attempt a helicopter rescue that evening. Tore was picked up the next morning and after 15 minutes searching, they found Lone’s body.

Lone was a regular contributor to ‘Sea Kayaker’ magazine in the USA with articles on paddling in Greenland. In 1996, Lone with two Greenland ladies, Inngi Bisgaard and Rina Broberg, paddled from Sisimiut down the west coast of Greenland to near Kap Farvel. Her account of this trip appeared in the June 1997 issue of ‘Sea Kayaker’, Vol.14, No.2.

In June this year, Conrad and I spent two days in a small hut near Kangamiut on the west coast of Greenland, while waiting for a gale to ease. The hut log book contained only three entries from passing kayakers, one of which was from Lone and her companions for 21/05/96.

Ice conditions this year on the southeast coast of Greenland were not good for paddling. We heard of two parties attempting the trip south from Angmagassalik this northern summer, Lone Madsen and Tore, and another dynamic duo Lonnie Dupre and his Australian partner John who are attempting a circumnavigation of Greenland. The latter pair were successful, but only with much kayak hauling over the ice.

The south-east coast of Greenland, from Angmagassalik down to Kap Farvel, is totally committing for a kayaking trip. There are no villages for resupply, scarce beaches for camping and the polar ice pack remains closely packed against the barren rocky coast. The deep fiords are often choked with ice from calving glaciers and hurricane force katabatic winds descend off the icecap with unbridled power. 

Newsletter No. 77 carried an article by Earle Bloomfield on the 1986 Australian expedition that set out to repeat Gino Watkin’s open boat journey south from Angmagassalik. The expedition was forced through problems with the support yacht to start in late September, and the four paddlers were extremely fortunate to survive encounters with collapsing ice bergs and gale force seas. After the kayaking trip was aborted, the support yacht was knocked down and rolled in horrendous seas. 

The stunning quality expedition video of this trip contained a graphic warning from a local Greenlander that September marked the onset of winter and for the paddlers to be very aware of the dangers of the Pittoraq, a katabatic wind which descends off the icecap. I have untold admiration for the cameraman who filmed the rescue of the support yacht by the last Danish supply vessel of the season. The stomach churning seas appear to be at least 15m high from crest to trough. 30 September was late in the season to be attempting this trip, but perhaps the ice pack opened up very late, allowing an avoidance of hauling over the ice. Even so, Lone Madsen was out there paddling in conditions that we can only dream about. Her death is a sad loss to sea kayakers all over the
world. 

Vale Lone Madsen

P. Caffyn.

Just to add my tiny bit - I have paddled the southeast part of Greenland. The katabatic winds can spring up out of nowhere, but can be more likely when a low pressure system approaches a glaciated area. The low pressure combined with the 'weight' of the cold air above the ice (and Greenland is all ice once you get a few miles inland) can cause the cold air to break loose and literally fall to the lowest point, which is sometimes the ocean.

Most of Greenland is covered by a high pressure system for much of the summer, when the sun never sets. But once in a while a storm comes up. The worst storm I have ever paddled in or camped in was in Aasiaat, Greenland. The wind forced the rain through the zipper of my tent. I won't tell the story of my paddling in the storm to get fresh water for the camp. Suffice to say I'm still here.

The thing about katabatic winds is that they have nothing to do with clouds or surface winds, so there is not any warning. One needs to be ready to deal with them whenever you paddle within a mile or so of the Greenland coast. Especially in the Fall when the sun sets for a time.

By:  John Puskar

Always enjoy reading what everyone has to say on here.  Here are a quick few pointers that I don’t think have been mentioned.

1. Keep in mind that there are several reasons people fear being upside down in a boat.
1. Drowning
2. Jellyfish
3. Aquatic plants that are not good for you (Venice , Florida had some sort of algae in the water that was detrimental to health).
4. Obstructions (submerged post outside of the Zion nuke plant).
5. Rebar from construction of a bridge/road
6. Conveyor belt thrown in river (I think the Chattanooga river).
7. Gas, water, and sewage lines that cross the river.
8. Old pieces of sewage pipe that a boat can fit in (Desplaines River).
9. Undercut rocks
10. Sea caves
11. Not called a sea wall but the one that goes out away from shore to keep the sand from washing off the beach? (Charleston, S.C.)
12. Sharks
13. 2x12 floor joist, downstream of 5 foot falls on the Peshtigo River.
14. Big a-- rocks on section 4 of the Wolf River before the gorge.

I am often asked when teaching a class if I know how to roll.  I often give the speech that I am an old paddler and like to keep my head above the water.  I figure that is better then telling them that the above is waiting to get you!  LOL

The point is that the roll is nice for confidence as John Tebbens pointed out but having a good grasp of the fundamentals to make sure you don’t need to use the roll is even better. 

In my opinion (and you know what they say about that), the younger generation of boaters do learn their roll first and rely on it very heavily. 

Also two other notes:  Teaching folks to roll with no class time on the basics makes for a really long class.

Last note.  I recently did an ICE with John Browning, and he had us do self rescues using a paddle float in rough seas.  I did not pass this section because I flipped twice while pumping my boat out and waves were hitting me from the side.  I did roll back up both times and did not come back out of my boat.  But the lesson here that I took away with is practice paddling with your boat fully flooded and also without a paddle.  Like John, I can roll on a dime but I think what John and the ACA also want is a good solid understanding of the very basics.  I almost never flip over because of my braces and boat control.  I seldom roll the boat under poor conditions and I have never practiced paddling a sea kayak in poor conditions flooded.

Good to know that you can do it all!

Film Review: Sea Kayak With Gordon Brown

By:  Tom Bamonte

A group of Chicago area sea kayakers assembled recently at Geneva Kayak Center-Lakefront for a screening of "Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown:  An Instructional Journey Along the Magnificent Isle of Skye."  This group of film critics ranged from complete novices to highly decorated kayaking veterans.  After the screening the group had a vigorous discussion of the film.  This review is an amalgam of the comments.  Any inaccuracies are those of the author.  Note that the review is based on a preview version of the film that is likely significantly rougher than the final product.  Please note the response by the filmmaker at the end.

“Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown: An Instructional Journey Along the Magnificent Isle of Skye” (preview) is a useful and inspiring new addition to the growing list of kayaking films.  Simon Willis is the director. Gordon Brown, a noted sea kayaking instructor, a principal in Skyak Adventures on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and author of the acclaimed book "Sea Kayak:  A Manual for the Intermediate and Advanced Paddler" (preview), is the star.  Many paddlers will both enjoy the film and learn plenty about paddle strokes and boat control.  

The 90 minute film is based on a four-day trip trip along the west coast of the Isle of Skye by a mixed group of paddlers.  The group had great weather and it appears that some rough water footage may have been filmed elsewhere.

The film alternates between scenes involving the group and coaching sessions with Brown alone.  The group scenes show off the beautiful scenery and give us a glimpse of life on a kayak "expedition."  The coaching sessions by Brown consist of the following:

Foundations

• Body position
• Edging and leaning

Forward paddling 

• Lower hand
• Upper hand

Turning

• Static sweep stroke
• Sweep stroke on the move
• Bow and cross bow rudder
• Braced turn

Steering

• Stern rudder

Rock Hopping

• Draw on the move
• Hanging draws
• Bow draw

Tidal Races

• Breaking in and out of moving water
• Angle of approach
• Handling confused water

The group had mixed feelings about the hybrid structure of the film.  Many found the scenes with the group inspiring.  These folks viewed the film as a welcome alternative to most training films, which sometimes seem to be so grimly focused on technique that they seem to squeeze the fun out of kayaking.  By showing the group clambering over ruins, singing in sea caves, paddling in open water and gathered around a campfire the film well portrayed what fun can be had through kayak tripping.  (The footage showing folks swatting biting insects also illustrated some of the challenges of kayak camping.)

Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult for us to understand much of what was said by the group members.  It appeared that the participants had plenty to say, but we Chicagoans could not untangle the Scottish brogue and the film lacks English subtitles.   Fortunately, Brown and WIllis, the narrator, can be understood throughout the film.

The other major criticism was that the film failed to use the group effectively to reinforce the instruction.  With a couple of short short exceptions there is no footage of Brown offering group members instruction.  The instructors in the group would have liked to have seen Brown’s teaching methods.  Others thought that the non-expert paddlers could have been used to illustrate common errors and the methods used to correct them.  

In the end, the group agreed that Brown was the star of the film and properly so.  There were many comments to the effect that Brown was an extremely accomplished and intuitive paddler who is a joy to watch.  Brown comes off as indefatigable and charismatic in an “aw shucks” kind of way.  He has a wry sense of humor and an evident affinity for kayaking.  One member of the group has taken a class from Brown and reported that the film captures him well.  

The group consensus was that the film does not stand out for its technical quality, but is clear enough and well enough put together that the filmmaking does not get in the way of the viewer.  Indeed, there were some nice features that attracted plenty of positive comment.  These included equipping Brown with a microphone so that we got his commentary in real-time as he demonstrated the techniques.  The footage of the paddling group, while adequate, did not match that of trip footage by filmmakers such as Justine Curgenven.

The group really appreciated Brown demonstrating various techniques in rough water, close to rocks and in tidal currents.  This was another example of how the filmmaker went the extra mile to capture footage that everyone felt was important to the success of the film.  The group thought that seeing these practical applications in real-life conditions helped differentiate the film from the standard how-to video shot in flat water.  When Brown was paddling in rough water near a sheer rock face and let out a joyous whoop, we were all there with him.

There were various friendly criticisms of his teaching method.  Some mentioned that Brown used terminology without providing an adequate explanation.  Some found him a bit wordy.  Some questioned his inclusion of the cross bow rudder.  The prevailing view, however, was that Brown is an accomplished teacher as well as kayaker.  There were several comments to the effect that the sequence on paddling in tidal races was “the best I’ve ever seen” and that Brown’s seamless mixing of strokes was amazing.

Another counterpoint to the criticisms was praise for the film's lack of testosterone-soaked antics. The group felt that the matter-of-fact approach Brown exhibited broadened the film's appeal in the kayaking community.  The group also liked how Brown modeled safe paddling techniques (e.g., appropriate dress for immersion) without hectoring the audience about safety.

In the end, two questions dominated the discussion.  The first was who is the intended audience for the film.  The beginners in the audience indicated that that the coaching sessions were too much, too soon for beginners to absorb in one sitting.  The more experienced paddlers agreed.  In the end, the group consensus was that the film’s target audience was advanced beginning paddlers and above.  As the film does not mark a major advance in kayaking pedagogy, this is a film for paddlers and not teachers.

The other key question came back to the hybrid structure of the film and its scope.  While most if not all of the audience found much to like about the film there seemed to be a sense that the film may have tried to do too much.  Some people clearly wanted to see more of Brown’s paddling in slow motion and in real time just to observe and learn.  Others wanted to see more about the journey--e.g., navigation, picking campsites, group leadership techniques.  The film gave both camps a good taste of what each wanted, but left both of them somewhat dissatisfied as well.  Maybe there needed to be an instruction film and an expedition film rather than the single hybrid that we have.

What must not be forgotten, however, is that this film held the close attention of a group of generally restless and opinionated paddlers for 90 minutes.  The film sparked much fruitful discussion in which no one said the film would make viewers worse paddlers but many cited both instructional and inspirational rewards the film offered.  In sum, "Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown:  An Instructional Journey Along the Magnificent Isle of Skye" is a film worth seeking out and viewing if for nothing more than to watch a talented paddler and instructor at work and even at a bit of play.  And let's not forget the hard work of Simon Willis, the filmmaker, whose vision of an inspiring kayak instructional film has been capably realized.

Geneva Kayak Center stocks both the DVD of the film and Gordon Brown’s book.  Thanks to GKC-Lakefront for hosting this review screening.

Thanks to Hether, Tom, Zach, Sarah, Peg, Rich, Fiona, Scott, Haris, Paul, Jim, John, Dave, and Tom for sharing their impressions of the film. 

* * *

Simon Willis was kind enough to supply a response to this review addressing some of the criticisms:

I'm grateful to all the paddlers who contributed such positive comments and criticism from which we'll learn when shooting Volume 2 in this series.  I'm glad it held your attention throughout, and I apologise that I could only send you a Preview Version.  This clearly caused some problems which are apparent in your review comments. 

The Final DVD has a very different menu structure to the Preview Version.  In the Final Version, the Coaching Sessions and Journey can be watched separately, or integrated in one film.  This is a key innovation for this DVD.  (Watch video clips at www.SeaKayakWithGordonBrown.com)

Viewing the Final Version would answer the 'two questions' that dominated your discussion. 

Those who felt the Coaching Sessions were too intense, and others who enjoyed the kayaking trip, would find it easy to watch more of the Journey, and then return to study the slow-motion Coaching Sessions one by one when they were ready.  Incidentally, this intensity of coaching is precisely why Gordon does not coach on the journey;  the Journey sequences provide relief from coaching and time to digest the information delivered.  This is why other reviewers have said it is a DVD to return to time and again.

The second question centred on the hybrid nature of the film.  If you had viewed the Final Version rather than the Preview, this would not be an issue.  You could choose what to watch. 

However, I'm delighted your group wanted more of both the Journey and the Coaching Sessions.  Look out for Volume Two!  

Simon Willis, Ardnamurchan, Scotland