have kayaks, will travel

What we carry in our PFDs

2012-01-30T20:40:00.003-06:00

Our last post about PFDs resulted in a number of queries via Facebook and email: "So what do you carry in your PFDs?

What's inside each of our pockets: Sharon (left) and Alec (right).

As we mentioned, this is a topic we recently researched through interviews with a number of notable sea kayak coaches and expeditioners. We had begun paring down on our kit, and we wondered what other paddlers were doing.

You can read about what they told us in the Summer/Fall 2011 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. What we carry depends considerably on where we are going and what we are doing. But here's what we nearly always carry in and on our PFDs. (We might add items in certain situations.)

VHF radio
waterproof camera
whistle
compass
white light
strobe
knife
snack
sunscreen
lip balm
grease pencil
very small first aid kit
very small boat repair kit
watch

And some personal things:
Alec: back-up reading glasses, hair ties.
Sharon: nose clips.

View number two, with everything spread out.

Some people carry a hydration pack, which is a convenience but adds considerable weight and bulk. That can put strain on your back and shoulders.

We were curious what our kit weighed, so we put it on a scale.

Alec's kit weighs two pounds (32 oz.), without the plate.

Our philosophy for whether something belongs in/on our PFDs or in a day hatch is this: If we are likely to need it while we're on the water, and if it isn't a burden, it's in our PFDs. But if we can reasonably expect to stop and get something from a day hatch, it can stay there.

Carrying more kit does make a PFD heavier and bulkier, which is hard on your body, diminishes flexibility, weighs you down and makes it harder to self-rescue. Those are safety considerations. But needing something you can't access is also problematic.

Like everything else, there aren't any cut-and-dried answers. It's a judgment call. But it's a good idea to reconsider what you're carrying each time you go out and adjust it for the expected situation.

So what do you carry in and on your PFD?

Product review: Kokatat MsFit Tour and Ronin Pro PFDs

2012-01-27T21:59:00.000-06:00

Eventually, even the best gear wears out. After six years of heavy use and exposure to the elements, the fabric on Alec's Kokatat MsFit Tour PFD was deteriorating, the retroreflective tape wasn't retroreflecting, and the zipper tabs were gone from the pockets. Sadly, it was time to replace it.

Nothing lasts forever, not even a well-made PFD.

We think pretty differently about some aspects of sea kayaking than we did six years ago, so this was an opportunity to consider whether a different PFD might be better. We no longer try to stash in them everything we could possibly need if we were separated from our boats and far from shore. In fact, we try to carry as little as possible for the conditions in which we're paddling. No more flares, signal mirrors, hefty first aid kits, and excessive food and water. Like many of the coaches and expeditioners we interviewed for a Summer/Fall 2011 article in Adventure Kayak Magazine, we now consider it a hazard to be overburdened with gear, so we try to carry only the essentials and ensure that many items serve multiple purposes. If we need more than that, we've really screwed up.

But some things haven't changed. Kokatat still offers terrific gear that's made in the US and backed by excellent customer service. And the MsFit Tour is still the gold standard among PFDs--another observation we made while researching our article, "The Right Stuff." So we decided to try out the Ronin Pro, an attractive vest with only one big pocket because it is designed for whitewater paddlers, and the new MsFit Tour.

The new Ronin Pro (left) and MsFit Tour (right).

Alec was the only one of us in the market for a new PFD, so we got a small/medium Ronin Pro (the smallest size for that model) and a medium MsFit Tour. Both fit Alec, who is 5'4" and 140 pounds; neither was small enough for Sharon, who is 5'1" and 110 pounds and was therefore relegated to documenting the product testing.

The new MsFit Tour features a clever pouch above the lash tab so a knife can be tucked in.

The new MsFit Tour boasts some improvements over the old one. The Gaia PVC-free foam feels comfy and broken in when it's brand new, and the zipper tabs are larger and sturdier. The two side pockets are slightly larger and have an extra zippered pouch on them. The lash tab has been moved up and the fabric pouch on the shoulder extended down to provide an ingenious spot to tuck a knife. No more intimidating students or losing $60 knives!

The Ronin Pro features exceptionally large cut-outs around the arms.

The Ronin Pro is also impressive. Like the MsFit, it is comfortable, solidly built and very adjustable. The cut-outs around the arms are larger, providing more freedom of movement, and there's foam underneath the side straps, offering additional protection from side impacts.

Alec in the Ronin Pro. A paddler with a short torso fill find it especially bulky over the stomach.

But the Ronin Pro has some down sides, at least for a paddler of Alec's size. There's a lot of additional foam on the chest because US Coast Guard regulations require Type III PFDs to have 15.5 pounds of buoyancy, and if you remove some foam from around the arms, you have to put it somewhere else. For a paddler with a short torso, this means extra foam on the stomach, where it gets in the way during self-rescues. In addition, it was impossible for him to wear a tow belt beneath it in the front.

A single pocket sounded like an attractive feature now that we carry less kit, but Alec discovered that he was always rooting around in it to find what he needed. Having three pockets, even if they aren't full, is better for staying organized. And there was no place on the Ronin to carry a VHF radio.

The MsFit has ample room in the two side pockets for more than enough gear, a designated radio pocket, and a knife pouch. (No, that's not the knife we'd actually carry.)

The MsFit, by contrast, offered plenty of external pockets, that snazzy new knife pouch, and an internal pocket for a grease pencil and glasses. Even though that pocket can only be accessed by opening the zipper, internal buckles keep the PFD safely secured. The slimmer profile was better for rescues, too.

In the end, Alec chose to stick with the MsFit Tour. It's simply better suited to sea kayakers, and especially for guides and instructors, who need to carry a certain amount of kit in an organized manner on their bodies.

Some day, we hope someone will figure out a way to add buoyancy without bulk. Or perhaps over time we'll discover that we need to carry even less kit, or that PFDs need less foam. Until then, the MsFit seems to offers an excellent combination of fit, adjustability, workmanship, pocket configuration and other features for sea kayakers. Sometimes, like Dorothy, you go out looking for your heart's desire only to find that you had it in your own back yard.

The poetry of Lake Michigan in winter

2012-01-24T20:47:00.000-06:00

These fragments I have shored against my ruins. --T.S.Eliot, The Waste Land

The lake looks like a mosaic now.

A mosaic is a conversation that takes place on surfaces.

A mosaic is a conversation with light, with color, with form.

A mosaic is a conversation with time.

--Terry Tempest Williams, Finding Beauty in a Broken World

12 New Year's resolutions for paddlers

2012-01-01T17:18:00.000-06:00

If you've outgrown your drysuit, go ahead and resolve to lose some weight. Otherwise, try these on for size and choose the ones that fit.

In 2012, I resolve to...

1. Work on skills that don't come easily to me.

2. Seek out a mentor who can challenge me in my long-term development as a paddler.

3. Join organizations that protect the environment.

4. Introduce kayaking to someone else.

5. Complete a risk assessment every time I go out on the water and file a float plan.

6. Learn to repair my boat and gear (or at least some of it).

7. Engage in a thoughtful debrief after each paddle to learn from my experiences.

8. Support my local paddlesport shop as much as possible.

9. Practice rescues in the conditions and seasons in which I paddle.

10. Learn to tie a new knot.

11. Learn a related body of knowledge (e.g.wilderness first aid, leave no trace, meteorology).

12. Paddle in unfamiliar waters (preferably outside my region).

We hope 2012 is a happy, healthy year that fulfills all your paddling desires.

Best,

Sharon + Alec

How to become a better paddler

2011-12-29T18:00:00.000-06:00

No matter what your passion, there's a point at which you're likely to plateau. That may be OK; perhaps you've become proficient enough to accomplish everything you desire. But for those who are dedicated to continued improvement and have ambitions as coaches, expeditioners or higher-level paddlers, plateaus aren't acceptable. We aren't content to see our skills and knowledge top out. We want to become better paddlers.

Leon practicing rescue maneuvers.

While we were on Orcas Island with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme, we talked about the path to becoming an expert. It is, to paraphrase them, a function of hard work, deliberate practice, and guidance from a coach who offers constructive, honest feedback.

They shared with us an 2007 article from the Harvard Business Review, "The Making of an Expert" by K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula and Edward T. Cokely, which summarizes research supporting the idea that outstanding performance is not so much a function of innate talent as it is a product of methodical, challenging practice and thoughtful, critical coaching.

Shawna challenges herself by surfing a wave while sitting on her deck.

For higher-level coaches like Shawna and Leon, this means finding hard things to work on and seeking out mentors who point out their weaknesses, even when that type of feedback is uncomfortable. The same is true for all of us, no matter what our level. We'd often prefer to keep working on the skills we already have and hear others affirm our accomplishments. But that's not the path to improvement.

While we were at Deception Pass, we saw this approach in action. After allowing us to warm on an eddy line, they suggested we try increasingly challenging moves as we crossed over into the current: edging without bracing, exiting with a cross-deck rudder, returning to the eddy as quickly as possible, rolling and static bracing on the eddy line, and self and assisted rescues in the current and whirlpools. They gave different challenges to each of us, ratcheting up the difficulty as we demonstrated we were ready for more.

Seth exits an eddy with a cross-deck rudder.

According to Ericcson, Prietula and Cokely:

"Deliberate practice involves two kinds of learning: improving the skills you already have an improving the reach and range of your skills."
"Genuine experts not only practice deliberately, but they also think deliberately...they continuously work to eliminate their weaknesses."
"The development of expertise requires coaches who are capable of giving constructive, even painful feedback. Real experts are extremely motivated students who seek out such feedback."

This is true for becoming a more skillful and knowledgeable paddler as well as becoming a better coach or guide. Improvement is less a matter of innate ability than it is about willingness to work hard, seek challenges, and accept and act on knowledgeable critiques.

Alec and Sharon practicing deliberately.

"Before practice, opportunity, and luck can combine to create expertise, the would-be expert needs to demythologize the achievement of top-level performance because the notion that genius is born, not made, is deeply ingrained." --Ericcson, Prietula and Cokely

Feeling like the Maiden of Deception Pass

2011-12-27T18:15:00.002-06:00

The Maiden of Deception Pass, after her transformation.

There's a Salish legend about the Maiden of Deception Pass, who encounters a handsome (though "damp and chilly") young man who lives in the depths of the ocean. Every time she goes to the shore, he reaches out and holds her hand. Long story short: After many such encounters (and disapproval from her family, which later yields), she agrees to move in with him.

Every time we visit the Pacific Northwest, we feel likewise torn between our roots in the midwest and the many allures of this area. We are tugged by the beauty of the land, the profundity of the ocean, the phenomenal paddling opportunities, and our wonderful friends in the area.

Jeremy on a hike around Mountain Lake in Moran State Park on Orcas Island.

Lunch with Shawna and Leon during a day paddle through the Wasp Islands.

Trees, water, trails....sigh.

Sigh.

Toto, we aren't in Chicago anymore.

Back at Body Boat Blade, Part 1: Deception Pass

2011-12-20T20:53:00.002-06:00

We're back at Body Boat Blade, on Orcas Island, Wash. with our friends Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme. Shawna and Leon recently released a new Sea Kayak Rescues DVD, filmed by Bryan Smith, a dramatic and instructive guide to assisted- and self-rescues in flat, dynamic and rough water. Some of the filming was done in Deception Pass, a place we've long heard about and were looked forward to visiting.

The Orcas Island ferry dock before dawn.

Getting there meant catching the 6:45 a.m. ferry so that we could arrive during slack tide. The day's max ebb was going to be 7.1 knots at 1:08 p.m., and we wanted to have time to play in the building current before experiencing the full force of the ebb.

Shawna and Seth paddling toward the bridge.

Compared to Chicago, the air and water were warm--both in the mid- to upper 40s. We paddled past cliffs and barnacle-covered rocks, noticing how the bull kelp indicated the direction of the current. We stopped in an eddy near the bridge, where the eddyline was growing stronger by the moment.

The group arrives in the eddy.

We spent the better part of the day here, practicing eddy turns and ferries as well as rescues in the current. As the current built, so did whirlpools and overfalls downstream. We tried to ride the upstream tails of the whirlpools to reattain lost ground, and sometimes just rode them around in circles.

Shawna spins on the eddyline.

Seth uses a crossbow rudder to turn as he reaches the green water.

Sharon rides the wave at the top of the eddy.

Leon executes the "deep diggity dig."

Alec rides a wave.

We spent most of the day in this one spot. As the current diminished, the features changed. Eventually it was time to return to our cars, load up and head for Anacortes, the town with the ferry dock and plenty of pubs.

Back at the beach at the end of the day.

There's a quote from Isak Dinesen in the Body Boat Blade shop: "The cure for everything is salt water...sweat, tears, or the sea." As we traveled back to Orcas in the dark, we felt cured indeed.

Complications of cold-weather paddling

2011-12-11T09:08:00.001-06:00

Facility closed; lake wide open.

Yesterday, we met our friend Keith Wikle at Portage, Ind. for a paddle along a portion of Indiana's notorious heavy industrial shoreline. The air was below 20 degrees and the winds were forecast to remain 15 to 20 knots out of the southwest, so we dressed and planned accordingly. Our kit reflected a sense of caution.

Cold-weather kit includes items we always carry -- food, water, first aid, boat repair, cag, blanket, VHF radio, cell phone, spare paddle -- as well as tea, hot water, spare clothing, emergency shelter, pogies, and a deck light.

Nonetheless, we questioned how long we'd stay on the lake. We felt the cold through our drysuits and thermal layers, and it was nearly impossible to keep our toes warm.

After assessing the risks and doing a calorie-to-fun calculation--a mode of decision-making we learned from Scott Fairty of Geneva Kayak Center--we got on the water and paddled out onto the lake. As soon as we were moving, we kept warm. The winds were more or less at our backs, so we planned to turn around less than half way through our four or so hours of time on the water. The rocky breakwall was just beginning to ice over for the winter.

Rock meets ice meets water.

We reached the power plant just west of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, where the warm water outflow raised the temperature of the nearshore water from the high 30s to what felt like about 70 degrees. Steam rose eerily from the surface.

Steam rising where warm water from the power plant meets cold air.

A few wave sets rolled in, allowing us a rare warm-water surfing opportunity on an otherwise cold day and lake.

Keith paddles back out after a ride to the shore.

We turned around here, expecting a longer trip back to Portage. The winds had picked up, gusting now to 26 knots. Although the air temperature was at its peak -- about 23 degrees -- the wind chill was about 10 degrees, and we felt it. Our gear began to ice up. Our spare paddle blades, short tow and deck lines, and spray skirts were coated with ice. Icicles hung from our hat brims; ice clumps dotted our drysuits. Things that were formerly pliable became stiff. We were confident in these conditions, but we talked about how hard it would be to execute an efficient rescue with our slippery boats, chilly fingers and ice-encrusted safety gear.

Things that are usually pliable, like this neoprene spray skirt, were stiff with ice.

The final stretch was less than pleasant. The wind had picked up; the sun was lower on the horizon; the wind chill made it feel as though the temperature had dropped. We were determined to get off the water before dark, and we knew we would feel even colder if we stopped paddling hard.

Dry land and cold fingers.

Over dinner, we reflected on our day. We were glad we went out. The lake was beautiful. We had assessed the risks and planned accordingly, allowing us to push our limits without getting into trouble. But we decided this was as cold as it would be safe for us to paddle. Between the hazard of hypothermia and the difficulty of doing otherwise simple rescues, even benign conditions are potentially hazardous when the weather gets this cold.

Rough water on Lake Michigan's Chicago shore

2011-11-30T13:37:00.001-06:00

Steady north winds peaking at 50 knots generated huge waves yesterday. The city closed miles of the lakefront bike path, and the park district deployed vans to discourage gawkers from getting too close to the water. The marine forecast promised waves of 15 to 20 feet . We got just close enough to get these after-dark shots.

Paddling precautions for colder weather

2011-11-21T19:45:00.001-06:00

Lake Michigan waves colliding with Promontory Point.

As the air and water get cooler and the days get shorter, we get more comments of the "you're so brave" and "be careful" sort as we unload our boats and prepare to paddle on Lake Michigan.

Sharon dressed for the day.

Is it actually riskier, or does it just feel that way? In one way, it's objectively safer: there isn't any boat traffic. We have the lake to ourselves. Sure, there's nobody on the lake to help if we need assistance, but we're happy to see empty harbors and nothing but water all the way to the horizon. In some ways, we're safer knowing that we're relying only on ourselves and assessing the risks accordingly.

Before setting out on a recent morning, we deliberately assessed the potential risks and our preparedness. There are many good tools for doing this. Our favorite was developed by Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade, and is helpfully posted by Keith Wikle at GoKayakNow.

Here is how we employed this framework on a cold, somewhat windy day in late November.

Weather
Big picture: Stable.
Wind: 15 to 25 knots, and not predicted to increase. Out of the northwest and predicted to shift to the north. Along shore, not off-shore, and shifting on-shore.
Rain/sun: Overcast with possible rain.
Visibility: Good.
Other hazards: Cooler temperatures (high in the mid-40s).
Verdict: Green

Land
Landscape: Mostly hard shoreline causing reflected waves (clapotis).
Outs: Several beaches and harbors along the way.
Landings: Small spilling surf at beaches or easy harbor take-outs.
Wildlife and other hazards: None.
Verdict: Green

Water
Waves: 3 to 5 feet from the north.
Boat traffic: None.
Verdict: Green

Group
Physical strength: Good, but Sharon just had oral surgery and was feeling low energy.
Mental strength: Good, with the same qualification.
Skills: Strong.
Equipment: Both of our sea kayaks were in good condition, as were our paddles and spare paddles. We carried boat repair and first aid kits, rescue equipment, spare clothing, communication and signaling devices, food and water, and hot beverages. Visibility was good.
Health concerns: Only as noted above.
Suitability of group to conditions: Well within our comfort zone.
Verdict: Green with a tinge of Yellow

It can appear time-consuming, but after a while the process of assessing, deciding and packing becomes efficient. We began the assessment at home, where we checked the weather and chose where to paddle partly on the basis of it. When we arrived, we looked at the lake and determined that it did not alter our plans. We decided who was bringing what as we packed our boats. And then on the water, we reassessed how we felt that day. This kind of dynamic assessment helps ensure that your assessment keeps up with changes in information and conditions.

Sharon is out there somewhere.

Paddlers land, full moon rises

2011-11-11T20:32:00.001-06:00

It gets dark early these days.

KeelEazy revisited: How did it hold up?

2011-11-03T20:01:00.001-05:00

Two and a half months ago, we wrote about applying the new KeelEazy strip to one of our boats as well as to the Delphin, a plastic boat in the Geneva Kayak fleet. We found it was quicker and easier to apply than a traditional fiberglass keel strip, and we promised to report back later in the season.

Alec, pulling his boat up on a break wall.

We don't primarily paddle in a rocky or barnacle-encrusted environment, but we don't baby our boats, either. We land on sand and gravel beaches, pull out boats up on rocky break walls, and travel to places where we do a little rock gardening. That's why we are interested in having keel strips on our boats; they offer needed protection.

We can't completely account for the abuse that the Delphin endured over the past couple of months, but it was definitely paddled on the Yorkville whitewater course.

How did they hold up? The strip on Alec's composite boat has done pretty well. It peeled a little bit in the area that had to be cut out to accommodate the skeg, and it buckled a little bit on the rocker in the stern. (As we wrote in the original post, the weather was very warm--above 90 degrees; the ideal temperature for applying it is 70 degrees.) The areas where it peeled or buckled attracts small pebbles. But it has protected the keel and hasn't peeled at either end. It's gotten a little scratched and gouged, but it has held up admirably.

The area where the KeelEazy had to be cut around the skeg peeled a bit and attracted sand and pebbles.

Although the KeelEazy buckled near the stern, the wear on the strip was comparable to the wear on Sharon's fiberglass keel strip.

The small strip we put on the Delphin didn't do so well. (We had only a few extra feet, so we couldn't apply a full keel strip.)

We applied the extra length to the keel of a Delphin in the GKC rental fleet.

Two months later, the KeelEazy had peeled off at the end and was gouged all the way through. (The impact of whatever happened was strong enough to gouge the boat as well.)

We ran our observations by Chris Mitchell at KeelEazy, who suggested the following:

If your boat has a tight radius on the stem (the portion of the keel where the boat curves up toward the deck), the strip may buckle. In that case, cut it and fold the flap over; you can use a drop of Super Glue if necessary to adhere it.
Plastic boats will generally accept the KeelEazy well, provided they don't endure serious abuse. He's put strips on the bow and stern of whitewater boats to protect them, too.
It's a good idea to use a solvent to clean any boat prior to installation; alcohol (which we used on our composite boat) or acetone (one plastic) work well. Mineral spirits will leave a residue.
Because KeelEazy is a thermal plastic, avoid stretching it too much in the heat because it will seek to return to its previous shape when it cools.
If you have trouble with a section -- as we did with the skeg area -- try cutting that section out and replacing it before you replace the entire strip.

So what do we think? If you aren't willing to spend the time to apply a fiberglass keel strip, which is a significantly messier process, the KeelEazy is a good option. It really takes only 15 minutes and no special tools. In the two-and-a-half months we tested it, it proved as durable as a traditional keel strip. Either can be damaged, of course. A traditional keel strip can then be repaired; the KeelEazy can be removed and replaced.

Wilderness Advanced First Aid....check!

2011-10-26T21:08:00.001-05:00

Alec eating lunch, single-handedly.

Alec just returned from a four-day Wilderness Advanced First Aid class, offered by Rutabaga and attended by 20 paddling instructors, guides and other people who work in outdoor recreation, particularly with kids.

This is follow-up course to the basic two-day Wilderness First Aid course many of us take to meet the requirement for maintaining certification as an American Canoe Association instructor. It can also be used as a recertification for Wilderness First Responders, of whom there were eight in this course, or as the first step toward becoming a Wilderness First Responder (the next being the four-day Bridge course).

Like other training and certification programs we've undergone, each of these first aid courses raises participants' level of skill and scope of practice (or remit). Wilderness First Aid teaches basic skills for diagnosing and treating maladies we might encounter; Wilderness Advanced First Aid provides more depth and breadth for people with a higher level of responsibility for groups of people on longer trips into more remote areas.

Wilderness Medical Associates lead instructor Sawyer Alberi places a tornaquet on assistant instructor John Browning.

The course teaches patient assessment, a system that guides the process of diagnosing and making decisions about treating people who are ill or injured. It also teaches CPR, interventions (treatments), and procedures for stabilizing and evacuating patients. There are some classroom lectures and discussions, but the emphasis is on learning through experience by means of carefully designed scenarios.

Mary, stabilized and ready fora helicopter evacuation after a mountaineering incident.

Trainings like these cost money and take time, but they're well worth it. The knowledge we gain helps us prevent some incidents and handle others if they arise. We hope to do more of the former and less of the latter.

Rough water and rocks test kayaking skills

2011-10-15T21:43:00.003-05:00

Many paddlers make a false distinction between flat-water and rough-water skills. They practice maneuvers in calm conditions that would never work in dynamic water, thinking they will learn "advanced" skills for more challenging conditions.

Dave Olson puts boat handling skills and timing to the test.

This past weekend at The Gales Storm Gathering, participants discovered that there are no such things as advanced skills. There are simply solid skills applied to advanced conditions.

Leon applies his tidal race skills to the Menomenee currents.

The wind, waves, current and rocks put everything to the test. If a rescuer didn't hold on tight to a swimmer's boat, the wind swept it away. If a bow rudder wasn't effective, a rock was decorated with gel coat. Choosing the wrong edge in current led to immediate feedback from the river.

Incident management has urgency if you are drifting towards rocks.

As Shawna and Leon told us, a five-star paddler is just applying three-star skills in five-star conditions.

The Gales Storm Gathering premiers

2011-10-11T20:42:00.002-05:00

The view from Middle Island looking toward Marquette on a calm day.

We just returned from the first annual Gales Storm Gathering, a Great Lakes rough-water symposium based this year in Marquette, Michigan. We write "based" and not "held" because while all the coaches and participants stayed in Marquette, class locations depended on conditions. One of the unique aspects of this symposium was the night-before planning: Depending on the forecast, classes would be offered on surfing, rough-water rescues, incident management, rock gardening, navigation, and long boats in current. Even the scenic tours offered opportunities to learn boat control in wind and waves.

We expected rough water on Lake Superior in early October, but were instead treated to a classic Indian summer. The days were warm and sunny, and the winds generally light. The coaches scouted the two key locations: the nearby coast of Lake Superior, with its rocky islands and shoals, and a stretch of the Menominee River that offers current, eddies and rapids.

Scouting the Menominee to find the right line.

When the symposium began, the winds picked up, but they were off-shore instead of on-shore, creating no surf. So day one began with a drive through the Hiawatha National Forest--a visual feast of fall leaves--to Manistique, where Lake Michigan was delivering waves to five feet.

A pre-surf session talk about launching and landing.

Another unique aspect of this symposium was the ratio of instructors to students. With 12 instructors and 36 students, it was possible to safely take people out in dynamic conditions and keep class sizes small. This also meant that instructors and students got to know one another well over the course of the weekend, and everybody benefitted from working with guest coaches Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade.

Shawna debriefing with her class after an incident-management scenario.

Even though we never got rough conditions on Lake Superior, the symposium managed to deliver on its promises, thanks to trips to Lake Michigan and the Menominee and creative use of rocky shorelines. It was a pleasure to work with participants who had substantial paddling skill and experience and were eager to be challenged and learn.

Cliff jumping, kayaker style.

This symposium will happen again next October, based in Wawa, Ontario--another place known for rough water in the fall, but that also has a river to ensure conditions no matter what Mother Nature delivers. We're looking forward to it already.

Paddling at night, inevitable and pleasurable

2011-09-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

The days are getting shorter; sunset comes ever earlier. We're bemoaning the loss, but we're also taking advantage of the opportunity to do more night paddling long before bedtime.

Paddling the Chicago River after dark.

It's beautiful. The streetlights and headlights are wistful; the building lights are lonely and lovely. People are working, commuting, eating, sleeping. And us? We get to paddle!

Paddling on Lake Michigan, with the skyline in the distance.

There's a lot to learn at night, too. We've discovered that some running lights are brighter than others. (Our current favorite: the Kayalite.) We've discovered that the captains of the frightening Seadog speedboats are far more friendly and professional than we thought, and that hailing them on channel 16 is an effective way to let them know where we are and make sure we aren't in their path. We've discovered that it's hard to switch to the channel they suggest if your VHF radio doesn't have an illuminated display.

We've also discovered that afterwork paddles are a great opportunity to get out with friends who aren't available on weekends. And paddling on Wednesday, in particular, is like a mini-weekend. Two days later, it's the weekend again!

A new waterproof camera for paddlers?

2011-09-25T17:32:00.000-05:00

Paddlers always seem to be asking which waterproof camera to buy. That's a symptom of two problems: we aren't thrilled with the cameras we have, and they don't hold up as well as we wish.

Our main needs are high picture quality, video quality, water resistance and ruggedness. Shutter lag is a major drawback. So we were intrigued when Nikon announced last month the imminent release of a new point-and-shoot, waterproof digital camera, the Coolpix AW100. It's not out yet, but the specs look attractive for paddlers.

Nikon's new entry into the waterproof camera market.

We're assuming that this camera is as waterproof as the others. It claims to be rugged enough to survive a five-foot drop; the recessed lens would certainly help if it face-planted when it fell, but a lens cover would have been a nice addition.

If this camera uses some of the same internal processing as other Nikon cameras, the picture quality should be as good as the specs suggest. (For the full specs, click here.) The video offers full HD as well as slow motion (at reduced resolution), which should be great for technique analysis and revisiting that great ender in the surf. Normal video is 30 frames per second (FPS); the Coolpix can capture video at 60, 120 and 240 FPS.

Shutter lag will still be an issue, but the burst mode allows you to capture three frames per second, giving you a better chance of catching the expression on someone's face when he successfully rolls up.

Since the camera isn't out yet, we can't talk to anyone who has tried it and can attest to its performance, but check out Digital Photography Review for an in-depth assessment of the information available. The comments at the end extend the discussion and provide additional information.

Bottom line: This camera lists at $379, making it the most expensive point-and-shoot, waterproof digital camera. (DPR recently reviewed them here.) Our Pentax Optio W80s are still functioning after two years, in spite of our griping, but if we had to replace one of them, we'd be tempted to try out this new Coolpix.

If anyone gets one and has a chance to try it out, please let us know what you think.

If you are intimidated by rough water....

2011-09-17T12:48:00.002-05:00

The Gales: A Storm Gathering will be a great place to learn or improve your rough-water paddling skills.

Daybreak with waves.

During one recent foray in Lake Michigan waves, a fellow coach and friend mused about how few paddlers go out on truly rough days. Are they intimidated, he wondered, or just uninterested? What would it take to bolster both their confidence and ability?

One answer is the upcoming rough-water symposium, The Gales: A Storm Gathering, which will be held October 8 through 10 in Marquette, Michigan. Over the course of three days, there will be courses in surf kayaking, sea kayak surfing, rock gardering, rough water rescues, incident management, and open-water and night navigation, along with "long boats in current" classes on the nearby Menominee River. Registration is still open. Local accommodations are very affordable. So if the following images represent the kind of paddling you'd like to enjoy, sign up soon!

Sharon gets ready to launch. Waves always look smaller from the shore. Learning to estimate wave height is a useful rough-water skill.

Punching through the surf zone requires timing and technique.

The same is true of surfing back in.

Boat control in rough water is essential.

Clapotis offers rough-water opportunities, too.

We'll be there, paddling and coaching. We hope to see you there, too!

Paddle more, pack less

2011-09-13T20:52:00.000-05:00

If you never unload the trunk, you're always ready to paddle!

A week of rough water on Lake Michigan

2011-09-09T20:45:00.001-05:00

It has been an amazing week of rough water along the Chicago shoreline. Day after day of 25 to 30 knot winds out of the north and northeast have given us large waves, massive clapotis and loads of fun.

Sharon, Bonnie and Scott playing in the clapotis near Foster Ave. beach.

The key to having fun in conditions such as these is knowing your own ability and having friends who are skilled paddlers. We were fortunate this week to get out on our own and also with our paddling partners Scott Fairty, Aaron Litchfield and Bonnie Perry.

Today, the wind had dropped. The forecast promised waves of 4 to 6 feet, but in fact the lake was much calmer. At first, we were disappointed; the lake looked relatively flat. Waves of 3 to 4 feet were still rolling into the beaches, but we felt let down. Still, there's always fun to be had if you know where to look, so we set out for some areas where the waves reflect off of hard surfaces and create chaotic conditions.

The lake was relatively calm, but the area near the break walls was rough enough. Here, Alec is practically airborne.

Bonnie amid waves.

Scott--or at least part of his boat.

Sharon--or at least her helmet and paddle blade.

Marveling at Lake Michigan from the sky

2011-09-05T18:43:00.001-05:00

Whenever we fly back to Chicago, we hope the descent will be over Lake Michigan. There's something grounding -- if you'll excuse the pun -- about returning to our home waters.

I (Sharon) was fortunate yesterday. We approached at the southeast edge of the lake. I recognized the disfigurement caused by heavy industry to Indiana's shoreline as we flew by.

Then we were out over open water on a very windy day. Whitecaps dotted the lake and there were waves as far as the eye could see.

We continued north, past the heart of the city, then turned east for our final descent.

It's hard to explain the thrill of seeing the lake from 20,000 or so feet when you're accustomed to seeing it from two and a half. It's huge, dignified, beautiful. I couldn't wait to land and spend time on its surface once more.

Something sad found floating in Lake Michigan

2011-08-31T17:39:00.000-05:00

The other day, while paddling between the Wilson Avenue and Four-Mile water intake cribs (about four miles from shore), we saw something floating in the lake. From afar, it looked as though it might be a cushion.

It turned out to be a dog, drowned and bloated. We paid our respects, took this photo, and paddled away feeling sad about the poor creature's demise.

What happened, we wondered. Did large storm waves wash it off a boat or a pier? Did it chase a stick into the lake and never return to shore? Does somebody realize what happened to it? Where will it wash ashore?

Lake Michigan is large and surrounded by a huge shoreline. It shouldn't surprise us that dogs, cats and even people drown and are found in the water or on the beaches. This poor fellow is hardly alone.

Warm water surfing in the Great Lakes

2011-08-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Paddling out through the surf zone.

Last night, the kayaking listservs were abuzz about the building waves on Lake Michigan. Paddlers arranged to meet at 63rd Street Beach in Chicago, Portage Beach in Indiana, and the New Buffalo beach in Michigan to play in the waves.

Forecasts varied, but most indicated waves up to 5 or 6 feet at the south end of the lake.

We met our friends and fellow Geneva Kayak Center coaches Aaron Litchfield and Chris Hoffman at 63rd Street Beach on Chicago's south side. The waves were three to five feet and nicely formed. The wind had dropped to 15 to 20 knots.

Sharon catching a wave back in.

Here on the Great Lakes, waves are created mainly by wind. Its strength, duration and fetch (distance it travels) determine the height of our waves. That means the ideal time to surf is immediately after the wind decreases but before the waves settle down. (You can learn a lot more about this at Go Kayak Now.) Today was made even more ideal by the warm water and bright sunlight. When the sky is overcast and the water is cold, everything feels more ominous and dangerous. Today, it was just pure fun.

Alec, Aaron and Chris paddling out to catch another ride back to the beach.

After a couple hours of riding waves toward the beach and paddling back out, we decided to explore the clapotis along the north side of the 57th Street Harbor break wall. Reflecting waves combined with incoming waves to create chaotic heaps of water. The four of us felt confident paddling in this area, since all of us are comfortable in pretty rough water, but it was not a place any of us would have gone alone or without other skilled paddlers.

Clapotis near a break wall creates chaotic conditions.

In fact, once you get comfortable with clapotis, you tend to find yourself seeking it out.

Aaron and Alec playing in another area of clapotis south of the 63rd Street Harbor.

It's a treat to get some surf practice in summer. Soon the water will be cooler and the days shorter. We'll still go out when the north winds blow, but we'll be decked out in dry suits and toting hot tea. And in early October, when the surf season is in full swing, you'll find us at The Gales: A Storm Gathering, a new symposium dedicated to rough water kayaking. This is great opportunity for anyone who wants to build skill and confidence in these kinds of conditions.

KeelEazy: a quicker, easier keel strip?

2011-08-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

Applying a keel strip to a composite kayak is a good idea. It protects the keel from wear and tear, especially when launching and landing. It's also a good introduction to working with gel coat. But it requires some skill, materials and time, and it adds some weight to your boat.

Everything you need for a traditional keep strip, which costs about $40 per boat.

Josh Tatro laying out and marking where the keep strip will go.

Masking off the area.

Applying layers of gel coat over fiberglass tape.

Sanding and cleaning up the edges between layers of gel coat.

From start to finish, it takes about seven hours spread over a couple days. And that's if you're familiar with the process.

So when we heard about KeelEazy, a peel-and-stick PVC keel strip, we were intrigued. It costs $4 per foot (for the 2-inch width), is available in black and white (as well as other colors if you buy 100 feet of it), and sticks to fiberglass, plastic and metal. It's also supposed to be easy to remove and replace if necessary.

So we did a side-by-side test. We applied a traditional keep strip to one boat, and KeelEazy to the other. The materials were certainly minimalist.

Heat gun, alcohol, glove, scissors....action.

It went on very easily, even over curved surfaces, and it was easy to cut around the skeg opening with a razor blade.

Clean the keel with alcohol.

Round the ends of the KeelEazy strip.

Attach and start peeling off the backing.

Keep pulling and peeling.

Cut around the skeg opening. And you're done!

It took about half an hour from start to finish. The only hitch we encountered was difficulty getting the backing to separate. In the You Tube video, Chris Mitchell has no trouble, but we noticed he was wearing a coat. We were in our hot back yard. So we popped the KeelEazy in the freezer for a couple of minutes...

Just chillin'.

....after which it was easy to separate.

It's been about a month since we applied both keel strips. We also applied a strip to a plastic boat in the Geneva Kayak Center rental fleet to see how that fares. So far, the KeelEazy has stayed on. It's non-marking, slides easily across other boats during rescues, and seems to be durable.We'll report back toward the end of the season, but we're optimistic that for a little more money, kayakers have the option of saving time, effort and weight.

KeelEazy and traditional keel strips, side by side.

Back from Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium

2011-07-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

Danny Mongno, Wener Paddles regional sales manager and field marketing coordinator, paddling past sailboats in the Grand Marais harbor.

The Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium (GLSKS) is a venerable event. It's the longest-running sea kayak symposium in the midwest, held annually in Grand Marais, MI, a tiny town (population about 300) that just won $40,000 in the We Hear You America contest to help rebuild its harbor breakwall.

When GLSKS comes to town, Grand Marais explodes with activity. Woodland Park Campground is awash in tents and trailers, the beach is covered in kayaks, and Lake Superior Brewing Company is packed every evening.

The symposium offers three days of tours along with two and a half days of instruction, both on and off the water. Coaches from around the midwest and far beyond come to teach, present, socialize and compete in the manic kayak race to win rights to wear the ceremonial paisley vest.

An ominous designation for a paddling destination.

We don't mind driving long distances for a good symposium, but we took advantage of the opportunity by adding a visit to Whitefish Point, the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" and home to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. With Keith Wilke, we learned about some of the famous and not-so-famous wrecks that lie just offshore--some under just 20 feet of water. Interestingly, wrecks in this area were not solely caused by storms and shoals, as they were in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. Here, many were caused by collisions as shipping traffic converged to move through the relatively narrow channel between Lake Huron and Lake Superior.

We couldn't resist getting on the water, of course.

Sharon and Keith prepare to paddle around the tip of Whitefish Point.

The beach, too, looked like a graveyard--of driftwood, not ships.

From there, we drove to Grand Marais. The next day, we led a group on an 18-mile trip along the west side of Grand Island, which is accessible only by ferry or boat. We paddled along the coast, beneath waterfalls and through arches, admiring the clear water and stunning painted cliffs.

A calm day on the west side of Grand Island.

Then the symposium began in earnest, with nonstop classes and activities. For students, this is an opportunity to learn from a variety of coaches; for instructors, it's a chance to work together and learn from each other. For everyone, it's time on the water, which is always good.

Steve Scherrer teaching a course on boat control for wind and waves.

Each symposium has its own personality. This one's character is highly influenced by Bill Thompson of Downwind Sports, whose enthusiasm, energy and openness make everyone--instructors and students alike--feel welcome and appreciated; and by Kelly Blades, who possesses a unique blend of wackiness and seriousness. Kelly is one of the main proponents of learning through play, but his dedication to students is earnest.

The race course, explained in graphic detail.

The end of the second day featured the kayak race: 23 instructor/student teams, many of them volunteered by "friends" after they left the Werner Paddles wine and cheese social the previous night--just going to show, once again, that kayaking and alcohol are a dangerous combination. The race featured sabotage, arbitrary rules, collisions, confusion and all the other key elements of a successful competitive sport. The contrast between our race and the highly organized and respectable Greenland games--the subject of the presentation by this year's guest, Helen Wilson--was dramatic.

What keeps us coming back, year after year, to symposia like this one? Partly the camaraderie of an amazing community of coaches; partly the opportunity to give back to a sport that's given us so much. And partly because it's inherently rewarding to share the pleasure of paddlesports with people who are as into it as we are.

Choosing new drysuits

2011-07-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Hanging out with our drysuits, old and new.

After six seasons, our drysuits were shot. Seams were leaking; holes were spontaneously appearing. Everything has a lifespan, and after six years of heavy use, our drysuits had reached theirs.

We didn't reflexively choose to purchase Kokatat drysuits again. Before replacing them, we examined the materials and designs of drysuits from various manufacturers and talked to paddlers who own them. But in the end, we chose Kokatat drysuits again because we were happy with our old suits as well as the customer service every time we needed advice or a repair. We liked the front-entry zipper (some manufacturers place the entry zipper in back), the high-quality Goretex, and the option of a front relief zipper for women. And the fit was great. (Kokatat is also willing to customize suits for a reasonable extra charge.)

There are a lot of options beyond manufacturer. Here's what we chose and why:

Style: We chose to go with the GMER again -- the Goretex Meridian drysuit with a tunnel and boots but no hood. For us, this is the best combination: Goretex has a longer lifespan than Tropos; the tunnel is great for keeping water out of the cockpit during rough-water paddling or play; the boots keep your feet dry and eliminate the need for an additional gasket around your ankles; the flap over the zipper protects that essential and expensive part; and we prefer to wear a separate hood, not one that's attached when we need it and when we don't.

Zippers: Men have just two choices: zipper or no zipper. Having no zipper means you have to almost entirely take off the drysuit every time you need to pee, which is a hassle in the best of circumstances and unpleasant in the worst. It means exposing the dry layers beneath to the elements, and also exposing your latex gaskets to sunscreen as you pull them over your face and hands, which hastens the deterioration of the latex.

Women can choose no zipper, a drop-seat zipper, or a front-relief zipper much like the men's but lower down. (The latter requires the use of a female-to-male adapter, of course.) After trying drysuits with a drop-seat zipper and talking to women who have them, Sharon chose the front-relief zipper, mainly because the drop-seat zipper adds bulk to the suit and isn't any easier for her to use than the front-relief zipper.

Color: Alec chose a mango-colored drysuit again because it's the lightest color available, and therefore least likely to cause him to overheat when paddling hard in cold conditions. (Light colors reflect more heat than darker colors.) Also, mango shows up well on the water. Sharon chose a black suit because she is too cold more often than too warm. And besides, she was sick of mango.

New (left) and old (right). The mango color faded over time. Note the change in the cuff design. The older suit has a Goretex cuff with a Velcro closure over the latex. The new one has a neoprene tube over the latex.

Care: Like all gear, drysuits require some maintenance, so we called Adam Knoeller in Kokatat's design department to ask a few questions about how to help our new drysuits last as long as possible. His advice:

Rinse them in clean water to get rid of dirt.
Dry them out of direct sunlight.
Make sure they are dry before storing.
Hang them on wide suit hangers that support the shoulders. Avoid creasing them.
Avoid getting sunscreen, lotion and insect repellant on your gaskets.
Use 303 Aerospace Protectant on the gaskets periodically.
Lubricate the zippers with beeswax.
Don't force the zippers; make sure they are aligned before pulling them open or closed.
Protect your Goretex boots by wearing something over them at all times.

Just add paddlers. The new design includes a mesh-lined chest pocket.

Always check the weather

2011-07-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

Today we intended to go paddling with Hannah and Josh. We gathered our gear at the crack of noon, then looked outside, where the trees were bending in the wind. "If it's that windy here, it has to be nuts on the lake," we said. So we checked the wind speed at the Harrison Street crib.

We knew there was a storm on the other side of the lake, where Keith was hoping to spend the day paddling.

But a check of the wind speed on this side of the lake confirmed our observations: at 1 p.m., the peak winds were 61 knots.

So we unloaded our gear and headed down to the lake. The sky was ominous, and lightning crackled in the sky over the lake.

The winds were intense, and the waves were washing over the revetments.

12th Street Beach was closed when we arrived, and numerous would-be bathers gazed longingly at the waves. After awhile, the sky began to brighten and the lightning moved south, so the lifeguards decided to raise the green flag, which meant they needed to launch the row boat.

We felt fortunate to catch the winds at their peak. Since they were out of the southeast, where the fetch is shortest, they died down quickly. It was a good day for watching waves and taking photos. We'll paddle tomorrow instead.

Surprise birthday party for Scott Fairty

2011-06-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

Scott, surfing a wave at the Geneva Kayak Center's Yorkville site.

All good conspiracies are grounded in a solid motivation. Last night's conspiracy to host a 50th birthday party for Scott Fairty was no exception. When Scott was hired as Geneva Kayak Center's general manager a few years back, Chicago paddling instructors knew our students wouldn't be the only beneficiaries. We, too, had a new mentor--one who soon also became a paddling partner and friend.

Part one of the conspiracy was the party, attended by various local paddlers as well as Scott's three kids and his father, Jack.

Caitlin, Gordon and Tara Fairty.

Jack Fairty, who drove in for the occasion.

Part two was the gift: Dozens of instructors, students and friends pitched in to buy Scott a new whitewater boat: A Pyranha Varun. (A huge thanks to Kelly Blades and Pyranha for facilitating the purchase.)

Scott begins to realize something is up when the card contains about 40 names....

...then finds, inside a small box, a model of the boat that will arrive in a week or so.

No 50th birthday party would be complete without a little ribbing from the kids about Scott's age. "Over the hill!" the cake declared. "Happy birthday, you old fart."

Caitlin serves Scott a choice slice of cake.

There may be nothing magical about celebrating the actual day on which a person was born, but it's a great opportunity to celebrate the person. Scott has brought a lot to the Chicago-area paddling community. We're looking forward to many more years on the water with him.

Annual trip to Adventure Crafters

2011-06-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

The new Adventure Crafters space at CBEC (Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center).

Every summer, we spend a weekend teaching at Adventure Crafters in Maryland, a paddle center with a heavy emphasis on instruction and a loyal following of long-term students as well as a continuous influx of newer paddlers. For us, it's an opportunity to paddle and teach on salt water, try out some of our coaching ideas in a new environment, and reconnect with owner Robert Schrack, his family and the paddling community Adventure Crafters has nurtured.

Robert Schrack in his office at Adventure Crafters.

This year, we arrived early enough to meet Robert at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware for a day of paddling on the coast, where we were treated to a sweet tidal race. Then we returned for two days of classes in Queenstown, Maryland.

Two students in the "Yes, You Can!" women's class, celebrating a successful assisted rescue.

Somehow, no matter how we bill a particular class, we always end up returning to fundamentals. Students at every level seem to benefit from a review of the essentials of successful paddling: posture, connectivity, torso rotation, edge control, paddle grip and angle, and basic strokes. Small instructor-to-student ratios enable us to address these simultaneously for students with various levels of proficiency.

If all that sounds like work, it shouldn't. We include lots of games and activities--everything from clambering on the deck for balance, to cockpit basketball for maneuvering--to develop skills on a less conscious level. This concept is neither new nor unique to us. We owe a debt to the BCU (British Canoe Union) and a myriad coaches with whom we've worked who've emphasized the importance of games and activities in learning.

We end every visit with a rousing rodeo event, which is just plain fun.

Racing a raft of kayaks, a new rodeo event we learned from Kelly Blades.

Time flies when you're having fun. We spent our last day paddling again with Robert, reflecting on our classes and spotting eagles and herons along the banks of the Chester River. Long-term paddling relationships are special, whether they're with students, fellow coaches, friends or family members. Those of us who have a mix of all four are fortunate.

Final day of paddling in Maryland. We'll return in 2012.

Brief stop at the Kayak Centre of Rhode Island

2011-06-17T06:38:00.005-05:00

The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island in Wickford, RI.

En route from Toronto to Delaware, we paid a visit to Matt Bosgraaf, who wears two hats: inventory manager for the Kayak Centre of Rhode Island, and east coast sales manager for GRO (Great River Outfitters, the east coast importer of Valley and North Shore boats)--two completely separate enterprises. Fortunately, we were able to pry him away from both for a couple of hours on the water.

A quiver of kayaks.

The Kayak Centre has a large showroom and offers classes, tours, rentals and repairs. The Warsick location carries between 120 and 140 boat models, including sea kayaks, recreational kayaks, sit-on-tops, fishing kayaks, racing boats and more. We took advantage of this extensive inventory to try out a few boats we'd never paddled: the Valley Etain 17.5, the North Shore Polar, and the North Shore Atlantic LV.

Alec and Matt in the harbor near the Kayak Centre.

Switching boats midway through our paddle.

The immediately environment is remarkably diverse. Within 10 miles of the shop, there are all sorts of conditions: calm water, rough water, current, surf, rocks, and even a tidal rip. We didn't have enough time to explore beyond the bay on this trip, but we'll be back. After all, we have another 117 boats to try out.

MEC Paddlefest Toronto makes a splash

2011-06-14T07:17:00.003-05:00

One beach, two days, 600+ new paddlers.

We just returned from MEC Paddlefest Toronto, an "urban celebration of all things paddlesport related" run by Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Canadian equivalent of REI (more or less). "Celebration" hardly begins to describe this astonishing event. Over the course of two days, Paddlefest offers land and water clinics on sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, canoeing and stand-up paddling, complete with all necessary equipment, for people who register in advance or sign up on-site. Sponsors and clubs staff informational booths, vendors provide demo boats and gear, kayak polo players shoot baskets, and dragon boats zip back and forth. For two days, Sunnyside Beach is awash in a wide diversity of boats and people.

The master organizer behind Paddlefest Toronto is Liz Burnside, who didn't seem nearly as frazzled as she ought to have been. Chalk it up to some magical alchemy of experience (she's run this event five times before), talent and temperament; the event ran remarkably smoothly.

Liz Burnside, keeping the event on track.

Before the festival began, about 20 instructors took advantage of a "mini instructor symposium" organized by Erik Ogaard, a Paddle Canada Instructor Trainer and head of paddling instruction for the Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre. This provided an opportunity for us to meet some of the energetic Canadian coaches and for all of us to get an instructor update.

David Johnston, fellow coach and blogger, and Keith Wikle's Canadian doppelganger.

Dympna Hayes, the infectiously energetic co-owner of learntokayak.ca.

Michael Pardy, co-founder of SKILS and Senior Instructor Trainer for Paddle Canada (one of his many outdoors and paddling certifications), shared some of his "detection/correction" strategies for helping instructors improve students' strokes. Kelly Blades, who defies description, showed how games can help to develop balance and boat control.

Erik, ensuring that everyone fuels up.

Michael and Kelly, strategizing about our instructor update.

The fest itself was eye-opening for us. Classes were 90 minutes long, and most students had signed up in advance, paying just $10 for each on-water course and $5 for each land-based course. In defiance of the idea that people who pay less care less, these students could not have been more committed. They showed up in whatever clothing they had -- often nothing more than quick-dry shorts and tops -- eager to get on the water, which was still in the mid 50s. We quickly found them boats, PFDs, skirts and paddles and took off, wondering how long they would last once they got wet. But they were tenacious; they wanted to get everything they possibly could out of each of us. Even our rescue and rolling clinics, during which participants were immersed most of the time, didn't dissuade these avid students.

Many participants lacked appropriate paddling gear, but that didn't stop them.

They spent time working on strokes, rescues, rolling and more.

The concept behind Paddlefest is to introduce people to paddlesports. It's a taster, and its success is best measured in the enthusiasm of the participants and their eagerness to learn more in the future. From every thing we saw and heard, this year's fest accomplished those aims. Hundreds of people discovered the pleasure of getting out on the water in a human-powered craft. That's a pretty hefty accomplishment for one weekend.

Rediscovering the Chicago shoreline

2011-06-04T17:55:00.000-05:00

We recently completed and delivered a presentation called "Paddling in Chicago," a historical journey down Chicago's manmade coastline that explained why and how today's familiar features were created. In the process, we learned things we didn't previously know, and rekindled our own interest in our local shoreline.

Today we returned to one of the places that fascinate us most: the far South Side, where the shoreline is built of cast-off relics from the demise of the US Steel Southworks plant. At its peak, the plant employed 20,000 people and produced beams that were used in the Sears Tower and other skyscrapers. When it closed in 1992, it left behind a pile of twisted steel and concrete boulders, weeds and imporverished neighborhoods.

A peaceful docking spot.

And yet, this section of the shoreline is lovely. The massive slabs of casting material look like volacanic boulders; broken-up hunks of concrete buildings and staircases seem like strangely sculpted rocks.

Elsewhere this might be a lichen-covered rock. Here it is a steel-impregnated casting slab.

A piece of rebar stands in for a sturdy root or belay rope.

That "standing in your boat" game turns out to have a practical application.

Chicago's shoreline is anything but natural, and sometimes we mourn the lack of wild spaces around here. But after industry leaves, nature starts to take over, and there is a pleasing, post-urban quality to this stretch of shoreline. The more we learn about it, the more we appreciate it.

Whitewater, WMCKA, waves and more

2011-06-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

Spring finally arrived, and with it a range of pleasing water levels at the Yorkville whitewater course, the annual West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Association symposium, and waves on Lake Michigan.

Flower blossoms herald the season.

Blame it on the season; we were too busy to post. But not too busy to paddle. We experienced the Yorkville whitewater course at fun levels between 2,300 cfs and 3,600 cfs, as well as the not-fun level of 6,800 cfs, when nearly all the features were washed out and we chose not to attempt a first descent of the sidewalk.

Hannah, back from college, reunited with her kayak.

We also had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of the whitewater course, now named the Marge Cline Whitewater Course in honor of the Chicago Whitewater Association's "River Mom," who died in 2007. We even got to take the Mayor of Yorkville and a few aldermen down the course in a raft.

The cold start to the spring was caused, in part, by weather patterns that were still bringing cold air to Chicago from the north and northeast. Here that means waves, and we had plenty of autumn-like surfing days early in the season.

By Memorial Day weekend, we were ready for warmer weather, which slowly arrived during the annual West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Association symposium.

The event was abbreviated this year by an afternoon thunderstorm, which kept everyone off the water all afternoon on Sunday. But we had the good fortune to have two stellar fiddlers among us -- sisters Carrie and Emma from the Upper Peninsula -- who kept our spirits up when the weather threatened to douse them.

Next up: the Toronto Paddlesport Festival. Stay tuned!

Whitewater weekend with Geneva Kayak Center

2011-05-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Alec leads the group onto Section 3 of the Wolf River.

We spent the past weekend at a staff retreat for Geneva Kayak instructors. We pitched our tents in a rustic site near Langlade, Wisconsin, and spent our days doing some swift water rescue training and some whitewater paddling on the beautiful Wolf River.

Water levels were high, thanks to a combination of recent rain and snow melt. It was running at about 900 CFS, so many rocks lurked just beneath the surface. But at this level, it provided some nice waves, solid eddies and a lot of fun.

Aaron paddles through Gilmore's Mistake.

At this time of year, there's no question about dressing for the water temperature. It was essentially the same as the air temperature--about 40 degrees--and the wind made it feel cooler. But as long as we wore plenty of thermal layers and kept paddling, we stayed warm.

Scott catches a wave.

The same could not be said of the campsite, where it was difficult to stake our tents in some places because the ground was frozen and strong winds threatened to blow them away. Still, we managed to enjoy a campfire most nights and mornings and practiced tying bowlines and setting up Z-drags.

When it wasn't too windy, the campfire kept us warm.

There's a huge value to staff retreats. In addition to the training, they provide opportunities to build camaraderie.

Haris, Paul and Greg at the campsite.

Jeremy and Emily help prepare breakfast.

Ryan picks blueberries.

And for those of us who paddle sea kayaks more than whitewater boats, they provide an opportunity to have a steep learning curve once again.

Sharon smiling--a look typical of all of us.

Easter Sunday paddle, with a pleasant surprise

2011-04-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

It was a cold and blustery day...

Easter morning dawned overcast but seemingly calm, so we set our expectations accordingly. A 20-mile paddle starting on the South Side, past two of Chicago's water intake cribs, with a stop for lunch at 12th Street Beach, and back again along the shoreline would be pleasant, a nice spring-time warm up for longer paddles to come.

The sky was overcast and the water was calm as we left the harbor.

And, in fact, the winds were a mere 10 to 12 knots--a Beaufort Force 3 to 4--and out of the north. Not enough to slow us down much, but enough to sustain waves of 2 to 3 feet that must have built the previous day, and to create scattered whitecaps. They weren't apparent until we passed the break wall outside the harbor. "Ha," we said. "This could be an interesting paddle after all!"

Not that paddling isn't always interesting, but calm water does tend to get more tedious than the bumpier varieties.

Approaching the second crib.

The trip out, cribs and all, took four hours. The last leg back took less than 90 minutes. Which goes to show that you never know what you'll find until you get on the water. We had looked at the forecasts, the radar, the clouds and the wind speed (the forecast was 5 to 10 knots), and we thought the lake would be close to flat. And to our delight, we were wrong.

Waves building on Lake Michigan

2011-04-15T21:38:00.001-05:00

Last night, the wind began to blow out of the north, shifting to the northeast and then to the east at speeds of 20 to 30 knots.

A low pressure system moves in, bringing wind and waves.

Here on the southwest corner of Lake Michigan, that translates into considerable wave heights.

Wind data from a water intake crib off shore.

By noon today, the waves were surpassing the break walls and things were getting pretty chaotic.

At Montrose Beach, one of the best surfing spots in Chicago, the waves were 5 to 7 feet, with clapotis in places adding a few more feet.

If this front moves through as predicted, the wind should be out of the south tomorrow, and the waves should clean up and provide some good surfing, though the water temperature will still be in the low 40s. Local paddlers are already making plans to take advantage of this early-season surfing opportunity.

Getting up to date on First Aid and CPR

2011-04-11T20:38:00.000-05:00

The American Canoe Association requires instructors to be certified in First Aid and CPR--a knowledge base that we've made use of on more than one occasion as coaches.

In the past, we've taken the two-day Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course offered by Wilderness Medical Associates, and we've long been interested in the Wilderness Advanced First Aid and Wilderness First Responder courses. But with time and money as limiting factors, we haven't yet managed to attain those certifications.

With our WFA about to expire, we set up a one-day American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid course with John Browning, an ACA Level 4 Sea instructor trainer, emergency medical technician, and instructor with both the American Heart Association and Wilderness Medical Associates. This set-up allowed John to tailor the usual Heartsaver curriculum to a class mainly comprised of kayak instructors, and to add some additional wilderness and paddling-related elements.

Cap'n Browning, at the helm of the First Aid course.

The Heartsaver curriculum is very urban in its orientation. It's geared mainly toward workplace safety, and assumes a quick response from emergency personnel. By contrast, the WFA course is geared toward guides and outdoors enthusiasts on short trips away from civilization. So while the Heartsaver course emphasizes how to perform CPR (some of which recently changed) and how to staunch bleeding while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive, the WFA teaches participants how to evaluate and stabilize a victim far from help.

The course was not without its surreal moments. It is taught with the help of a slick video featuring workplace and urban scenarios that are then repeated in a studio by sweatsuit-clad actors.

Gloves, projector, action!

Even the mannequins seemed sleepy after a full day in a small room.

Zzzzzzzzz.

There's no question that staying current on First Aid is valuable, and we especially appreciated the additional outdoor content John provided. (His reading list alone was worth the price of admission!) But taking this course motivated us even more to get additional training in Wilderness First Aid, because most of the incidents we encounter happen outdoors.

Kent Ford comes to Yorkville!

2011-04-04T21:35:00.000-05:00

Kent Ford.

We just completed a three-day whitewater Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) with Kent Ford, one of the most respected instructor trainers in the country, who has competed and won titles in international whitewater slalom racing, coached the US Olympic kayak team, published books and produced videos about paddling technique and instruction, and continues to coach paddlers at every level.

Despite all his credentials, experiences and accolades, Kent is a remarkably laid-back, open-minded guy. (Once again, we're struck by the fact that most of the rock stars of the paddling world don't let their prominence go to their heads.)

The course was hosted by Geneva Kayak Center and taught at the new Yorkville whitewater park, where Geneva just opened its new paddle shop and instructional center. Kent, no stranger to whitewater teaching venues, was highly impressed by both the shop and the park. "It's pretty darn amazing," he told us. "It's the most teaching-friendly of the whitewater parks I've been to, but there's still plenty for a real strong intermediate or advanced paddler. It's like five miles of class two river features jammed into 200 yards of city park."

We had visited the park earlier with our kids, who did find plenty to do with their considerable whitewater skills.

This IDW was our opportunity to get some formal training on how to teach whitewater paddling, as well as some top-notch instruction and critique of our own skills.

We're still processing the experience, but some things are already clear to us:

Coming from our sea kayak background, some aspects of whitewater technique are familiar and comfortable while others are foreign and awkward. Both the similarities and differences are valuable, and build our paddling skills.
As we develop as coaches and paddlers, we realize that being knowledgeable and capable in various types of boats is essential to becoming graceful and skilled in any type of boat. Certainly, the coaches who impress us most with their technique tend to paddle more than one craft.
Geneva Kayak Center is poised to transform paddling in the Chicago area by being located at this great venue and offering all sorts of training opportunities in canoe, whitewater kayak and sea kayak for students and instructors. They brought Kent Ford to Yorkville! We're grateful for the opportunities they've provided and look forward to the ones to come.

Fun with bodies, boats and blades

2011-03-29T18:05:00.000-05:00

So that's why they're called performance boats!

Just for the record, in case anyone was wondering, high-level sea kayak coaches know how to have fun, on the water and off. If we were in Great Britain, we'd likely have spent many hours in the pubs, being reminded that smaller paddlers can't hold their liquor as well as large ones. Fortunately, we were on Orcas Island with a couple of coaches who enjoy playing on their boats. So we did, too.

Leon comes in for a landing.

Shawna takes standing on the boat to a new level of complexity.

Interspersed with the fun--and often during it--we talked about the hows and whys of various techniques. The experience was true to the BCU approach, which incorporates games as an integral part of learning.

We're still processing the experience (and trying to get used to urban life again), but we know this: Shawna and Leon's playful, inquisitive approach to sea kayaking is inspirational to us as paddlers and coaches, and we definitely plan to return when we can.

Getting accustomed to the simple life

2011-03-26T23:29:00.001-05:00

Making tea by the light of the rising sun.

We're accustomed to camping, but there's something quite different and delightful about waking up in a building where candles provide all the light and a wood stove most of the heat. We boiled water on the Magic Chef stove for tea, and retrieved our soy milk from the cooler. The silence was more profound for the lack of appliance hum. No refrigerator, no furnace blower, just birds singing outside the windows.
Shawna and Leon's house was a short walk down a moss-covered path through a stand of trees, or along a wood-chip path that took us past their compost pile, organic garden and outdoor hot tub. Either way, we passed the whale-friendly lawn. We didn't see any whales, but we're sure that they would have approved.

Over the hill and through the woods.

The pesticide- and fertilizer-free lawn benefits creatures of the sea.


The simple house is built of wood milled on Orcas Island, with a steel roof common to the area.

When they don't have visitors, Shawna and Leon are voracious morning-time readers. With no internet access in their house, they are able to satisfy their curiosity reading books and discussing what they've learned. It was a reminder to us of how distracted we are by our 24/7 access to the internet and the expectations of uninterrupted communication, which often prevent us from delving more deeply into topics of interest to us.
We worked hard during the day. But that didn't keep us--or them--from taking advantage of the beauty of the area. We were able to get out for walks as well as paddles, and it was clear that they had not lost track of how remarkable it is to live in an area with such natural appeal.

A walk just outside of East Sound.

A paddle to Obstruction Island offered opportunities to play in eddy lines and ferry across current.

This little guy was hanging on by a thread.

By the time we returned to our home in the barn, the sun had set and it was time to light the candles again. It's a life we could get used to, and over the course of a week we started to feel as though we had.

Arriving at Body Boat Blade International

2011-03-26T12:35:00.003-05:00

Seattle's Pike Street Market.

We had only 24 hours in Seattle -- just long enough to visit Snapdragon and Werner and wander around a bit in the historic Pike Place Market. On Thursday afternoon, Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade picked us up in their canoe-topped car and we drove to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Orcas Island, where they and their business are based.

Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, located in northwest Washington state just east of Vancouver Island, Canada. Nearly 58 square miles with a year-round population of about 5000 people, Orcas is a quaint and quiet place where you can paddle in a full range of coastal conditions. It's home to Moran State Park, with its mountain lakes, hiking trails and observation tower atop Mount Constitution. And it's home to Body Boat Blade International, where we had come to work on a project with Shawna and Leon.

Body Boat Blade International galactic headquarters.

The small shop is well-stocked with high quality boats, paddles and gear.

Shawna at the helm.

Shawna and Leon have carved out an unconventional life here. By day, they offer a full range of instruction at all skill levels. But when they're away from the shop and off the water, they live almost off the grid. They put us up in the apartment above the barn, where they lived while building their current house. The barn is filled with boats, not animals. After blowing out the candles, we fell asleep to the sound of wind blowing through the trees.

Our temporary home, lit by candles inside and the rising moon outside.

Field trip day two: Werner Paddles

2011-03-18T12:04:00.001-05:00

The Pacific Northwest is still home to many great paddlesports manufacturers, including several of our favorites. We couldn’t resist a visit to Werner Paddles, which have propelled us all over the Great Lakes, along parts of both coasts, and down several rivers and whitewater courses.

The road to Werner.

Even the drive there is beautiful, with snowy peaks in the distance and drive-through espresso shacks every few miles. At the recommendation of Werner rep Danny Mongno, we stopped at the Sultan Bakery, where we saw the largest “bear claws” ever.

We recommend the apple-cinnamon muffins.

You could easily drive by the Werner faculty without noticing it, not because it’s small but because it’s nondescript.

Welcome to Werner.

Inside we were greeted by Shannon Davis, who warmly welcomed us and handed us off to Keith Krueger, production manager, for a tour. Werner has spent decades perfecting its paddles and the procedures by which they are made, so understandably we were asked not to photograph the actual production processes. The surprise, for us, was how much of the process is still done by hand.

Shannon in Customer Service.

Keith, Production Manager, holding what will soon become a paddle blade.

Werner employs about 50 people in this factory. During the winter, they build up inventory. In the spring, he says, “It just starts rocketing out the door.”

Paddles, ready to "rocket out the door."

Stand-up paddling has been good for Werner. “The sport has taken off,” he notes, and Werner now offers several models of stand-up paddles.

We walked through the process with him, from the making of straight and bent shafts (if you wonder why bend shafts are so much more expensive, here’s a quick fact: a worker can make 60 to 70 straight shafts in a day, but only 13 bent shafts), to the blade production area, to assembly, to finishing and quality control, to shipping. In parts of the factory, the workers wear ear protection, and in others they wear coveralls, but nearly everywhere they wear smiles. “It’s a great culture here and a fun industry and a cool end product,” Keith says.

End of the line: Shipping.

The women in customer service share that enthusiasm, and talk about the customer loyalty they see when people send a paddle in for a retrofit years or even decades after purchasing it. As loyal customers ourselves, we realize how easy it is to overlook the value doing that.

Field trip to Snapdragon headquarters

2011-03-16T22:50:00.001-05:00

We've long been fans of Snapdragon spray skirts. We still have our first skirts from years ago; they show their age, but still work well. Since then, we've purchased more Snapdragon skirts as our various boats with their many cockpit sizes have called for new ones.

So when we had a one-day layover in Seattle, we decided to visit Richard Wilson, the founder and owner of Snapdragon Design, at Snapdragon World Headquarters.

You are here! Snapdragon World Headquarters!

OK, so it's a small shop in an industrial strip mall, where five long-time employees and Richard himself produce about 5,000 to 8,000 skirts per year. The air smells like adhesive and neoprene, and the shelves are chock-a-block with the raw materials. This is hands-on, small-scale manufacturing of the most earnest and endearing sort. "We're the small guys," he says.

The shop is small; every inch of space is in use.

Richard began sewing skirts in the 1980s, when he got into paddling and couldn't find a skirt he liked. He's still at it, making skirts for whitewater and sea kayaks as well as new products for recreational boats. He also makes neoprene hatch covers and poagies. But the economy has taken a toll. Boat sales are down, and with them sales of spray skirts. The booming part of the paddling world--Stand-Up Paddling (SUP)--doesn't require any neoprene. That's been tough. "Right now, it's about survival," he says. That plus a commitment to avoid laying off any of his employees.

Patterns hang behind a sewing station after the employees have left for the day.

But look around the shop, and it's just exciting. Richard is willing to make a custom skirt for just about any specific purpose. On one table, a couple of splash jackets are being retrofitted for integral spray skirts. On another, kevlar decks await their tubes. He's also recently come out with a sun deck for warm-water paddlers who just want sun and splash protection, and a breathable fabric skirt--both with pockets. "We're always building stuff," he says.

Skirts in the production process, with one of the seam-taping machines standing by.

Richard is a living piece of paddling history in the Pacific Northwest. He has watched the business boom, from the 1970s, when he and his friends had to make their own boats, through the 1990s, when paddlesports were flourishing and business was booming, through today's contraction. He's still in business because he believes in quality and customer service. "We do everything here in our shop and we stand behind it," he says. "If there's ever issues we can deal with it, and we use the best possible materials."

Visiting Richard reminded us of what a small world kayaking is, and how the businesses that supply it frequently are owned by people who have long been a part of the community. We would buy Snapdragon skirts even if we didn't know that doing so supported a small business committed to the sport. But knowing that makes us even more happy about closing that circle.

Completed skirts, ready to ship.

Richard, seeing us off.

Canoecopia 2011 kicks off the paddling season

2011-03-14T23:11:00.000-05:00

At the Valley booth, with boats all around.

We've written about Canoecopia before. It's the largest paddlesport expo in the world, held in Madison, Wisconsin. It attracts about 20,000 people who come to see the latest boats and gear, hear the presentations, and connect with paddling clubs, environmental organizations, and the community of fellow paddlers.

Every year, there's something new on the gear front. This year, we were eager to check out the P&H Delphin and the Valley Etain--especially the Etain LV, which was air-freighted in for this event. We're hoping to test the Etain this summer on something wetter than carpeting.

Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme showed a trailer from their upcoming sea kayak rescue video.

Canoecopia offers nonstop presentations--a dizzying choice of about eight per hour, hour after hour, for three days. Choosing which to attend can be tough. We attended one by Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Body Boat Blade, and another by Keith Wikle on surf kayaking. We also gave a couple of T-rescue presentations in the tiny pool. It was kind of like rock gardening, only without the moving water and with hard linear surfaces in lieu of craggy ones.

Eighty enthusiastic people survived the heat and humidity in the pool area to see if we would scratch the new boats Valley lent us for our T-rescue demonstrations.

We spent time wandering through the expo hall, catching up with friends and checking out the cool new stuff.


We're always happy to see Cindy Scherrer of Confluence Watersports.

Hanging out with Keith around the campfire.

The hallway was filled with tables staffed by clubs, organizations and nonprofits. The CASKA table got lots of traffic, as did others.

Chuck and Tom at the CASKA table.

Canoecopia feels like the true start to the paddling season. We see a lot of smiling people, and always leave happy.

Whitewater and sea kayaking in Yorkville

2011-03-05T12:25:00.000-06:00

Panoramic shot of the whitewater park and the new Geneva Kayak Outdoor Center.

Most of the time, we drive east to paddle on Lake Michigan. But yesterday, we went west to Yorkville, Ill. to check out Geneva Kayak Center's new Yorkville Outdoor Center on the also-new Glen D. Palmer Whitewater Canoe/Kayak Chute.

It's a nice location: the whitewater course is right outside the door of the outdoor center, and a concrete walkway allows paddlers to easily carry their boats from the bottom of the run back up to the top. The landscaping isn't yet done, and Geneva Kayak is still putting finishing touches on the shop, but both are ready enough for action.

Sharon and Bill Burton putting in at the top of the chute. Mounds of debris and cement blocks testify to the recent completion of the chute and the work yet to come on the landscaping.

The river was high and the current was fast -- about 3,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) -- so we felt comfortable running it once in a fiberglass boat. From there, we headed down the Fox River.
One of the appeals of Geneva's Yorkville Location is the easy access to a lovely section of the Fox. You can paddle various distances to a number of easy take-outs.

At one point, we heard rapids and saw a horizon line ahead of us--the tell-tale signs of what could be a low-head dam. We knew that there was a broken-out dam at this point on the river and that it was runnable, but we decided to get out and scout anyway.

Getting out to scout ahead.

It turned out to be a broken-out dam of no significance, which we happily paddled through.

All that sound didn't signify much.

With air temperatures in the lower 50s, water in the upper 30s and a 90 percent chance of rain, we knew it was going to be an interesting weather day. And it was. At various times, we enjoyed rain...

and fog...

and even encountered a few small ice bergs floating along. But mostly, we enjoyed a very quiet trip down a pretty section of the fox.

When we returned to Geneva Kayak Center, it was getting cooler and starting to rain more heavily, but we hopped in our whitewater boats and spent some time playing in the features.

The view at 3,000 CFS

There were plenty of nice surf waves along with wave trains and squirrelly eddy lines. A serious play boater might find the offerings limited, but we appreciated the opportunity to paddle hard and tune up our rusty whitewater skills in our newer shorter boats.

We drove home in the dark and the rain, reflecting on how wonderful kayaking outdoors makes us feel. We appreciate the connection with the natural world and the physical pleasure of paddling our boats, and we always go home happy.

At last! A spray skirt that keeps the cockpit dry

2011-02-12T13:24:00.003-06:00

The Avocet LV

Every boat has issues; part of being a paddler is troubleshooting your boat's quirks. For me (Sharon), the Valley Avocet LV is an almost-perfect boat for coaching, day trips and playing in the waves. But I've never been able to get a good seal from any spray skirt on its curvy coaming, so I always end up with a cockpit full of water.

I've tried several solutions, including spray foam, roll foam and various skirts, with no success. Then a friend suggested I try a whitewater skirt in which the neoprene extends beyond the bungee and might deflect the water that continues to sneak in.

We've always loved Snap Dragon skirts, so we checked out what that USA-based company offers first. Sure enough, its Lip Lock EXP whitewater skirt had the feature we were looking for, but it was sized for whitewater boats and not for the unusual coaming size and shape of the Avocet LV.

This is one of those times when small is beautiful. Despite its large stature in the paddling world, Snap Dragon is basically a little shop outside Seattle. Rich Wilson began the company in the 1980s because he needed gear he couldn't find, and he's still there and very hands-on. We called Rich and described the problem. He asked us to send him the exact dimensions of the coaming.

The photo we sent, along with dimensions.

A couple of weeks later, a custom Lip Lock sea kayak skirt arrived in the mail.

Got the skirt. Where's the boat?

It's not the season for putting s skirt through its paces in rough water here in Chicago, so we took it to the pool and spent a couple of hours bracing and rolling. The cockpit stayed dry! The skirt has all the qualities that have endeared us to Snap Dragon: a 3.5mm neoprene deck, sewn-in cord, and seams taped inside and out. They've proved very durable, and I'm looking forward to many seasons with a dry cockpit.

The Lip Lock skirt covers over the curvy park of the deck and the gap between it and the coaming.

It's worth pointing out one of the morals of this story: Small paddling companies are very responsive to individual paddlers' comments and requests. Sure, it helps if you're a coach (and probably also helps if you have a blog), but these companies know that theirs is a very small and dedicated market. They appreciate hearing how their products are working out, and they're often willing to help solve problems that affect some number of their customers.

Last-minute holiday gifts for paddlers

2010-12-19T22:36:00.002-06:00

Too late to shop. What are you going to do?

OK, there are only five days to Christmas. You waited too long to order anything, and you don't want to go the mall. And besides, you're sick of the whole corporate gift-giving thing anyway, right?
Don't worry. We've got you covered with many perfect gifts for the paddlers in your life.

1. A gift certificate from your local paddle shop. If you don't have a local paddle shop, buy them a membership at OutdoorPlay, which will entitle them to 15% off and free shipping for life. Couple it with a year-long membership to Paddling.net so they can sell their old gear.

2. Subscriptions to paddling publications. If your favorite paddlers are members of the American Canoe Association, they'll get their pick of Rapid Media publications (Adventure Kayak, Kayak Angler, Rapid and Canoeroots). Other great sea kayaking publications include Sea Kayaker, Ocean Paddler, and Canoe & Kayak.

3. Memberships in your local paddling clubs. These clubs offer training and outings, and many host lively online listservs. Like public radio, they rely on people to become members to support them. Membership is typically only $15, yet many people who benefit from the clubs don't bother to join. Supporting your local clubs helps them build the local paddling community and advocate for access to local waterways.

4. Memberships in sanctioning organizations that promote paddlesports, water safety and access, and set standards for quality instruction and assessment: the ACA, the British Canoe Association and Paddle Canada. These are the bodies that liaison with governmental bodies.

5. Donations to environmental organizations with a water-protection focus. These include local and national chapters of the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council. If there are groups working on stewardship and access in your local area, support them, too. Here in the midwest, consider the Alliance for the Great Lakes. And if you're in Chicago, consider Friends of the Chicago River.

6. Registration for a summer symposium, where your paddler can learn new skills, meet other paddlers and get to know some of the top coaches in the country or the world. Early-bird discounts are available now. Suddenly, you aren't behind in your gift-giving; you're ahead of the game!

High winds, big waves, spectacular ice

2010-12-15T08:10:00.003-06:00

Sunday's winds kept us off the water, but they didn't keep us away from the marine forecast. We were riveted by the prospect of 22-foot waves. What would they leave behind?


The marine forecast on Sunday promised some of the biggest waves we've heard about on southern Lake Michigan.

The biggest waves weren't forecast to hit the shores at Chicago, but Indiana looked like it was getting pounded.

The wind continued on Monday, causing hazardous road conditions. But on Tuesday, we set out to see what the waves had created at the beach near Portage, Indiana. It was like a sculpture park, with ice that looked in some places like wax and in others like glass. The combination of freezing spray and wind created icicles with odd twists hanging at unlikely angles from some surfaces, and draped over others.

The Portage Beach building was closed for the season.

The walkway on the break wall was coated in ice.

We were astonished to see two surfers paddling out to try to catch some waves.

Checking out the Chicago Harbor Lock repair

2010-12-10T16:00:00.001-06:00

The Chicago Harbor Lock is a monumental structure. Designed and built in 1936 to 1938, it was part of the remarkable engineering feat that reverse the Chicago River so that the city's sewage would flow away from Lake Michigan, not into it. These days, the lock opens and closes for 40,000 ships per years--commercial vessels, tour boats, pleasure crafts and kayaks--according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which operates it.
Or rather, it did until it was closed on November 1 so that its aging gates and hydraulics could be replaced.

McHugh was awarded the nearly $15 million contract to repair the Chicago Harbor Lock.

We've paddled through the locks many times, so we couldn't resist the opportunity to check out how the job was going. Everything was on a superhuman scale.

Two of the four new structural steel sector gate leafs.

Still life with construction equipment and skyscrapers.

The project is due to be completed by Tax Day 2011, which seems appropriate for a taxpayer-funded project. Between now and then, we'll check on its progress.

Now that's an icebreaker

2010-12-08T21:27:00.001-06:00

You know that uncomfortable feeling when you walk into a room and you aren't really sure whom to talk to or what to say? What you need is the USCGC Mackinaw, designed to ram through 32 inches of solid ice or ten feet of brash ice, and to fully penetrate a ten-foot pressure ridge in less than half an hour.
Or maybe you don't need that, but the Coast Guard does, and it's mighty proud of this five-year-old vessel, which was docked next to Chicago's Navy Pier this morning, after distributing 1,200 Christmas trees to low-income families and retrieving buoys for the winter.

The USCGC Mackinaw.

This is a luxury liner of a Coast Guard vessel. It boasts a 3133-square-foot heated buoy deck as well as two-person staterooms for its 55 crew members. And it has "multi-mission capabilities," meaning it can be used for search-and-rescue, buoy-tending, ice-breaking and even oil spill containment, as well as continuing the nearly 100-year-old "Christmas Ship" mission.

Now there's a conversation starter!

Whitewater kayak class is in session

2010-12-05T16:48:00.000-06:00

John Karch explaining whitewater basics to a pool full of students.

This is week nine of the first of two 10-week whitewater kayaking courses offered by the Chicago Whitewater Association in the West Cook YMCA swimming pool. After the winter and spring sessions, the club offers a series of beginner trips on increasingly challenging local rivers. It's a wonderful way to learn to paddle.
This is our spawning ground. We started learning to paddle here eight years ago. We were awestruck by the skill and generosity of our instructors, who volunteered their Sunday evenings teaching us to paddle and roll and let us borrow their boats and gear.

A few months later, they were out on their first river trips.

Culminating in a trip to Wisconsin's Wolf and Peshtigo Rivers.

This year, we are the lead instructors at the West Cook Y. (Full disclosure: We're substituting for our our whitewater mentor, John Karch, who isn't available every Sunday this year but whom we expect to take the course back from us when he can.) It only took us nine weeks to realize that we could post our handouts on our blog, saving paper and ink and making the material more widely available.
So that's what we're doing here. Below you will find handouts on hypothermia, safe river kayaking, gear checklists and more.

Hypothermia - from the Wilderness Medical Associates Field Guide.

The American Canoe Association "Paddler's Checklist."

The ACA's Guidelines for river paddling.

For those who want to assess how well their skills align with river classifications, the ACA offers these skill assessments:

We just created a resource list for our students. We'll post it here soon.

A midwinter day's paddle

2010-12-04T09:21:00.004-06:00

As winter settles in, opportunities to paddle on Lake Michigan gain a certain urgency. Perhaps it's because we don't know how much longer we'll have safe access to water in its liquid state; perhaps it's because once we get out of the habit of bundling up and venturing out on bitter cold days, we'll find it easier to make excuses for staying indoors.
Either way, yesterday's paddle with Keith Wikle and John Flemming from Saugatuck to Holland, Michigan, and back again was winter paddling at its finest.

Cap'n Wikle wants you to put on your dry suit.

The parking lot was nearly abandoned, except for the occasional wistful boater who considered the season over but drove by to look at the lake.

A light dusting of snow covered the sand.

We loaded our boat and dressed quickly, trying to retain the heat from our cars in our fingers and toes as long as possible.

Ours were the first footsteps to disturb the surface.

We wore pretty much every layer we owned.

Ordinarily we would have welcomed the three- to five-foot waves that were predicted, but given the sub-freezing air temperature and 40-degree water, we were fine with relatively calm water. We headed north, toward Holland.

Sharon punches out through the minimal surf while John finishes attaching his spray skirt.

By the time we got on the water, everybody had lost feeling in their toes and several of us had cold fingers. But paddling warmed us up. First we removed our neoprene hoods; next we felt the blood surge back into our toes. This is one of the pleasure of winter paddling: You can stay warm as long as you keep moving. And if you have the right experience and equipment, you can be safe.

Paddling along the dunes.

You never know who you'll meet on the water. This time, it was either a squirrel or a rat that had seen better days.

When we arrived at the Holland channel, we contacted Scott Fairty of Geneva Kayak Center and asked him to look for us on the Spyglass Hill webcam. He took a screen shot.

The view from the water.

The view from the webcam.

By now, the air was cooling and the light was fading. We paddled south toward Saugatuck, hoping to make it back before dark and barely succeeding.

Back on the beach, just after sunset.

We loaded up quickly, trying to keep warm while putting away wet boats and gear. Our two-piece paddles were frozen into one-piece paddles. The quick-release knots in our short toes were ice balls. Touching anything metal was painful. But our warm cars rewarded us for our quick work in the cold.
This morning, we awoke to the snowfall that was predicted to fall yesterday. Our kayaks were blanketed in snow, dreaming, no doubt, about the previous day's journey.

In search of surf

2010-11-28T15:33:00.002-06:00

As winter approaches, we get more Canadian air in Chicago. When the winds are out of the northeast, Chicago gets the big waves; when they're out of the northwest, Lower Michigan gets pounded. And in either case, some of them bend south toward Indiana.
Friday's Force 7 winds subsided considerably overnight. By Saturday morning, Indiana was the beneficiary of lovely, well-formed waves. Even though the air temperature was around freezing and the water temperature was in the mid-40s, the combination of sunshine and light winds made for perfect paddling conditions near Portage, a nice midway point for paddlers from Illinois and Michigan.

Keith Wikle, representing Michigan, dons his neoprene, dreaming of the Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival.

Hauling the boats down the hill.

There were icicles on the railings along the pier, but as long as we kept moving, we stayed pretty warm.


Warming up before heading out onto the lake.

After about two hours, everybody was ready for some hot tea and dry clothes. We loaded our boats and gear, emptied our thermoses, and drove off to the east and the west, grateful for another good day on the water.

The parking lot, post-paddling.

A little night paddle

2010-11-12T11:38:00.000-06:00

Lately, a variety of things (school, work, family, events) has forced us to do most of our paddling in the late afternoons and evenings. With the recent time change, that means it's hard to get on the water before dark.

Lights, camera, paddle!

Last night, the sun set shortly after 4:30. By the time we finished loading our boats, it was completely dark. We were the only boats in the harbor.

Paddling out of the harbor.

We were also the only boats on the lake, aside from the freighters making their way up and down the shipping channel many miles away. Familiar as we are with this area, it felt different in the dark. It was quiet, peaceful and solitary.

Paddling among the pilings half a mile off shore.

It felt creepy at first and a little confusing. Our sense of distance was altered, and our sense of hearing was especially acute. But it was also absolutely lovely.

Nearer to shore, the city's street lights cast an eerie glow.

Three hours of after-work paddling felt like a mini-vacation. We landed, loaded up and drove away in the dark, and hung up our gear to dry by moonlight.

Good night, moon.

Heavy industrial paddle in the Hoosier state

2010-10-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

The southern shore of Lake Michigan is a testament to what goes wrong when industry runs amok. Factories and refineries clog the shoreline and pollute the air and water. Several even reach right into the lake, creating artificial peninsulas of industrial byproducts bordered by steel break walls. Every now and then, a short stretch of sand dunes suggests what this area was like before the titans of industry took it over. It's depressing, but fascinating.

We began our heavy industrial paddle in Portage, Indiana, where a former acid pit was recently remediated and turned into a park, complete with a LEED-certified building. Bathers on the nearby beach frolicked against a background of smokestacks and power lines.

The put-in near Portage is beautiful, with native wildflowers reclaiming the land.

We paddled for a couple of miles past dunes and beach houses, already within view of the upcoming industrial corridor.

It wasn't long before we reached the first of several industrial compounds.

At that point, there was really no place to land--which was fine with us, because we wouldn't have wanted to. It was noisy and the air smelled foul.

At one point, we had to go around an enormous spit of reclaimed land where a steel company took over what had been part of the lake. For about six miles, we paddled along a steel break wall. Behind it, behemoth trucks dumped material and belched smoke that blew into the water and our faces.

The navigational lights provided rare photogenic moments.

If all of this sounds unappealing, it was. But it was also fascinating. Foul as it is, this coastline is a reminder of the environmental consequences of a modern, industrial economy. We drive cars, but how often do we visit refineries? We walk on sidewalks, but how often do we see a cement plant? We work in skyscrapers, but how often do we see a steel plant?

As the sun set, we crossed the border into Illinois...

...and landed at Calumet Park.

Most of the time, it's nice to paddle in places that are a little more pristine, or at least a little less polluted. But sometimes it's good to paddle in a place that reminds us that consumption has consequences.

A good day to explore the Chicago shore

2010-09-04T11:18:00.001-05:00

On a day with strong off-shore winds, the lake looks calm.

Yesterday's marine forecast went beyond "small craft advisory" to "gale warning," meaning winds between 34 and 47 knots (or 39 to 54 miles per hour). Those winds were coming straight out of the west, so the lake looked flat but we knew that paddling on it would be a challenge.

When the wind is out of the west, the waves are in the east.

     We have enough experience by now that we know what we can and can't handle. Years ago, we would have stayed off the water on days with such strong off-shore winds, but now we're pretty confident that we can paddle against winds of 40 knots or a little higher, and even enjoy them up to about 35 knots. Since these winds were right on the edge of that range, we decided to mostly stay closer to shore.
     There's plenty to do on a near-shore day. You can play in the the harbor, using the dock ramps as an obstacle course.

Sharon sneaks under a ramp, avoiding the hoses, lines and chains.

Alec makes the process look effortless.

We stayed near shore most of the way down to the former US Steel South Works Mill, which was closed in 1983 and is now a strange amalgamation of post-industrial waste and opportunistic greenery. The shoreline looks like boulders, but when you paddle closer you see that it's all concrete slabs, slag and rebar.

The unnatural landscape near the former US Steel South Works Mill.

That's not to say it isn't fascinating and even beautiful in its own odd way. We spent some time taking photos of the material put here deliberately and the stuff that has washed up on shore.

      Then we paddled back, taking a more direct route and exposing ourselves to more of the wind. By now, the peak winds were 40 knots (46 miles per hour), and paddling into them required some concentration. At one point, we noticed that we weren't weather-cocking at all, which surprised us until we realized why: we weren't moving fast enough to create a bow wake.
     Some days we like to paddle long distances. Some days we like to paddle hard. But some days it's just nice to be out on the lake in whatever conditions arise, putting no pressure on ourselves to do anything more than enjoy the fact that we have access to this local treasure, a lake that is both natural and terribly altered by humanity.

2010-08-29T17:45:00.001-05:00

Sharon paddles along the break wall, past a light marking the entrance to the Calumet channel.

     There's plenty of traffic on the Chicago coast during the summer months. We share the water with tour boats, yachts, motor boats, sail boats, fishing boats, coast guard vessels, jets skis and more. On a summer weekend, it can get pretty busy--and sometimes pretty scary.
     But there's one type of boat we're always happy to see: Great Lakes freighters. These monumental vessels remind us that Chicago owes its existence to the convenience of sending cargo by sea, and that its maritime role extends to this day.
     Today we paddled down toward the heavy industrial area on Chicago's far south side. While eating lunch at Calumet Park, we saw the Philip R. Clarke as she approached the Calumet River. We knew she was coming long before we saw her because her captain announced her arrival an hour in advance on channel 16, which we monitor any time we are near or crossing shipping channels. So we paddled out to a nearby buoy to watch her turn once to get into the channel, then a second time so she could back into the river.


The Philip R. Clarke and the Avocet LV.

We stopped to take pictures, of course.


Alec brings out the serious camera.


The 767-foot freighter, capable of hauling more than 25,000 tons of cargo.

These Great Lakes freighters command respect. They make all the little motor boats look ridiculous. They're predictable, they follow the nautical rules of the road, and they're just plain amazing. We think our kayaks, given a choice, would come back in another life as Great Lakes frieghters.

Sex and the single paddler

2010-08-07T13:09:00.002-05:00

OK, the title of this post is a little misleading. We just wanted to see how it would affect our analytics. But this is a post about sex -- the female sex -- and the issue of all-women's classes and symposia.

Ladies of the Lake, the spirited midwestern all-women's symposium, begins shortly.

Over the years, Sharon and Hannah have taught a number of classes that are specifically billed as women-only. We've written about this before in greater depth, but in our experience, women-only classes offer opportunities to address:

woman-specific paddling issues, such as having less upper-body strength and more upper-body bulk than most male paddlers (not to mention how to pee while on the water);
woman-specific insecurities, such as dealing with a male paddling partner who is faster/stronger/bossier or has a different set of expectations for a day on the water;
woman-specific strengths, including our ability to encourage one another while we overcome our fears and learn new skills.

   Some symposia have a women's track or some women-only classes. But the upcoming Ladies of the Lake (now in its seventh year), sponsored by Downwind Sports, is a women-only symposium.
   Just because this is a women's symposium doesn't mean it isn't every bit as exciting and challenging as a mixed-gender symposium. We work on strokes, rolling, braces, navigation and incident-management, and if the surf's up, we go out and catch the waves. And just because it's a women's symposium doesn't mean we think we can only have this kind of fun with women. In fact, many of us instructors love paddling with men, learning from men, teaching men and even competing with men. We're sure the same is true of many of our students.
   But there is something very powerful about gender camaraderie, especially for a gender that has historically been discouraged from pursuing physically challenging activities. And if registration numbers for this year's Ladies of the Lake symposium are any indication, the appeal of women-specific kayak classes is still strong.

Developing some wisdom about the weather

2010-07-28T19:22:00.001-05:00


A foggy morning at 63rd Street beach. The breakwall 100 feet to the right is invisible. (Photo by Lyn Stone.)

   This has been a season of extreme weather. We've had torrential downpours, heat waves, gale-force winds and thick fog--sometimes all in the course of 24 hours.
   Paddlers need to pay attention to the weather, but looking at the all-purpose local forecast is rarely enough. We start there, but then we turn to a combination of regional radar, marine forecast, nearby weather reporting stations, and good old-fashioned observation to get a more sophisticated sense of what conditions we'll experience on the water.
   Some of these sources are easy to identify. In our area, they include:

The Weather Underground forecast for the Chicago Lakefront.
The regional radar that shows what might be coming.
The near-shore marine forecast.
The current and recent conditions reported at the Harrison Street crib, for what is actually happening on the lake.
The Great Lakes wave forecast.
The model of projected fronts and temperature gradients that suggests how the weather may look up to 5 days out.

We've also acquired a small library of books that help us understand the weather and decode the evidence around us.

Five of our favorite weather books.

These sources are only as useful as the context you put them in, however. We compare what they suggest to what actually happens, and over time we're developing a pretty good ability to know what's coming and get off the water in time if it's something bad.


Ominous clouds.

Another afternoon when we got off the water before the storm hit--this time with 70-plus-knot-winds.

The Eisenhower Canal, at last!

2010-07-25T07:04:00.001-05:00

The Eisenhower Expressway (left) and the Eisenhower Canal (right).

For years, the Illinois Department of Transportation has been threatening to widen the Eisenhower Expressway (I290), and local residents have been arguing that it would be better to extend public transportation. We strongly support the idea of more trains and fewer cars, but we've always dreamed of a canal between our home and downtown Chicago. Imagine water taxis taking commuters to and from work. Imagine Venetian-style gondolas at night. Best of all, imagine paddling downtown in our kayaks!
Yesterday our dream nearly came through. Oak Park, where live, got 7.89 inches of rain in 24 hours, flooding the Eisenhower (which was closed to traffic for several hours) and creating a lovely canal around the train tracks.

Another view of the canal (photo courtesy of Lyn Stone).

Water access and guerilla landings

2010-07-24T09:32:00.001-05:00

Adam Goss, of Spirit of Space, talks with Alec about paddling in Chicago.

   Yesterday, we agreed to participate in a video for a firm that's developing a plan for Chicago's Northerly Island. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this man-made peninsula, it is the former site of Meigs Field, a single-strip airport much beloved by VIPs and others, that Chicago's mayor, Richard M. Daley, destroyed in the middle of the night in 2003. Today the main terminal building is a Chicago Park District facility full of little kids in matching t-shirts, and the island itself is the site of the Charter One Pavilion and acres of prairie grasses.
   This left us in the unlikely possession of free parking for the afternoon in one of Chicago's most expensive and restricted lakefront lots, so we took advantage of the 45 minutes before a thunderstorm rolled in to paddle around Burnham Harbor.
   It was the day before the 2010 Race to Mackinac, so the harbor was full of visiting vessels, including the famous Beau Geste.


Sharon in a position that wouldn't be safe 24 hours later.

We always enjoy prowling around harbors, admiring the creative names people give their yachts and enjoying the fact that we don't have to spend thousands of dollars to dock our little boats.

With the sky growing dark, we decided to forego the low docks and scale a wall instead.

The sky looks blue in the background, but at this point we were watching heavy cumulonimbus clouds coming our way. In typical summer paddling fashion, we loaded up and drove away just as the storm hit.

Weather can change quickly in the summer. This photo was taken moments after the previous ones.

In search of the perfect paddling shoe

2010-07-21T13:09:00.009-05:00

Lately we've enjoyed walking into paddle shops and expos and saying, "Wow! We don't really need anything." Then we browse anyway, admiring new versions of familiar items and assorted new items that we kind of want but don't really need.
Inevitably, we find something that tips the balance from want to need. Both of us have been frustrated lately with our paddling shoes. Alec goes through a pair of NRS Desperado Shoes at least once a year; Sharon loves her Wavesport Neobooties for their low profile and wide toe bed, but their soles aren't grippy and they appear to be discontinued.
This year at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium, we found a new paddling shoe we both like: the NRS Sasquatch Water Shoe. It has a grippier and thicker sole than the Neobooties (though not as grippy or stiff as the Desperado Shoes), some heel and ankle protection (though not a lot of support in the sole), and a wide toe bed. It's low profile, and the neoprene cuff keeps sand and pebbles out.

Sharon's Neobootie next to her Sasquatch; Alec's Desperado Shoe next to his Sasquatch.

Alec's Desperado Shoe is faded and worn out above the heel and below the ankle, where it rubs on his boat. The Sasquatch looks sturdier in that area.

The Sasquatch (left) has a thicker sole than the Neobootie (center), but thinner than the Desperado Shoe (right).

We've only worn them for one weekend, so we'll see how well they hold up and whether the soles offer enough protection on rough and jagged surfaces. But they're comfortable, and we're both optimistic.

Great times at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium

2010-07-19T20:37:00.007-05:00

We just returned from the 26th annual Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium (GLSKS) in Grand Marais, Michigan--a tiny town on the southern shore of Lake Superior. This is the oldest of the Great Lakes symposia, and it has a storied past. It was begun by Stan Chladek, founder of Great River Outfitters (GRO), who ran it for many years before handing it off to Riverside Kayak Connection. This year, Downwind Sports (which began and still runs the annual Ladies of the Lake symposium) picked it up. Bill Thompson, co-owner of Downwind Sports, organized the event, recruited the sponsors and vendors, and kept the coaches fed and watered. Kelly Blades, force of nature, recruited the coaches, restructured the courses and ensured the proper balance of safety and mayhem as well as plenty of laughs.

Bill Thompson and Kelly Blades model good communication skills.

This year, the symposium offered three days of guided tours along the scenic coastline and islands of the area. Participants could choose to paddle anywhere from 8 to 18 miles, past the colorful limestone bluffs and dramatic sand dunes of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. They got to try some rock hopping, poke into sea caves, and paddle under waterfalls and through arches.

The cliffs on the west side of Grand Island.

An arch on the north side of Grand Island, below the light house.

On Friday, when the symposium officially began, students chose classes with unconventional names but very practical purposes: Going Forward (forward stroke), Not Going Forward (turning and draw strokes), Staying Dry (bracing), Getting Wet (rescues), and so on. On day two, the wind kicked up in time for Bumpy Water Boat Control, Rough Water Play and Surfing.

The onshore waves built to about three feet, creating surf on the beach and clapotis near the break wall.

That day ended with the traditional Pasty Dinner (an Upper Peninsula delicacy) and Freya Hoffmeister's "Race Around Australia" presentation. The final day featured a Blessing of the Boats by the paddling pastor, Doug Van Doren, and a wacky race past squirt-gun toting kids and insult-hurling spectators.

Racers survive the Tunnel of Doom en route to the Valley of Insults.

Every symposium has its own personality, and its character changes over time. The GLSKS began with an emphasis on providing BCU training and certification for American paddlers and evolved into a tour-and-classes symposium that offered more courses for higher-level students. Under Downwind Sports' management, it continues that tradition while adding a sense of humor and a stronger presence by sponsors and vendors. And the kids' program was bigger, better and free with adult registration. (A shout-out to our daughter, Hannah, who ran it, along with her able assistant, Aidan Van Doren.)

Midwestern paddlers and coaches have many symposia to choose from every year. This continues to be one not to miss.

Little boats for little people

2010-07-06T08:48:00.005-05:00

Sharon in her Avocet LV. With nothing in the front or back hatches,

it sits nicely in the water.

   When we began paddling seven years ago, there weren't many serious sea kayaks for seriously small paddlers. Our first boats were a Valley Avocet (Alec) and a P&H Vela (Sharon). They were terrific boats for the early part of our learning curve, but too high-volume for our low-volume selves. (Alec is 5'4" and about 140 pounds; Sharon is 5'1" and about 110 pounds.)
   We think of that time as preLV. Since then, several boat manufacturers have come out with true low-volume kayaks--boats specifically designed for smaller paddlers. They are narrower (typically less than 21 inches), have lower decks (typically less than 13 inches), are lower volume overall (so they have an appropriate amount of freeboard for a low-weight paddler), have more aggressive thigh hooks (better for shorter legs), and forgo some of the cockpit volume by placing the front bulkhead further back. Because they are truly designed for smaller paddlers, many of these boats make up for their shorter length by having comparatively longer water lines, so they aren't slower than their regular-volume siblings. And because they're shorter and lighter, they are easier to move around on land as well as on the water.
   Today's low-volume boats--meaning those that are actually well-suited to paddlers who weigh as little as 140 pounds--include:
SKUK Pilgrim
SKUK Pilgrim Expedition
SKUK Explorer LV
Valley Aquanaut LV
P&H Cetus LV
P&H Scorpio LV
P&H Quest LV
Eddyline Fathom LV
Rockpool ISEL
Seaward Silhouette
Wilderness Systems Tempest 165 or Tempest PRO 165

   These boats are good down to 110 pounds (unloaded), in our experience:
SKUK Romany LV
Impex Force 3
Valley Avocet LV
Valley Avocet RM
P&H Capella 161
Current Designs Rumour

   Many low-volume kayaks perform better for smaller paddlers with some weight in the front and/or back hatches. And, of course, personal fit and paddling skills and preferences have a large effect on boat choice. There's no substitute for test-paddling, preferably in the conditions you prefer.
   We're currently paddling the Pilgrim (Alec) and the Avocet LV (Sharon). At our weights, these boats allow us to do the full range of things we want to do in our kayaks: teach, surf, play, paddle long distances, and keep up with the pack. But we're also spending as much time as possible in other people's low-volume boats to become more familiar with the range of options for smaller paddlers.
   Have a low-volume sea kayak you love? Let us know! Post a comment or email us at bpfamily (at) gmail.com.

Alec in his Pilgrim. (Yes, it says Romany LV. The label was attached before Nigel Dennis named the new boat.) After seeing this photo, Alec decided to move his seat forward and carry a bit of weight in his front hatch.

Looking backward, looking forward

2010-07-05T20:09:00.001-05:00

Some of our favorite Maryland students: Fabian, Betty Lou and Alicia.

One of the pleasures of coaching is working with students who might never cross paths anywhere else. While we were at Adventure Crafters, one class included a neuroscientist, a truck driver, a leadership consultant, an at-home mom, a merchant marine engineer, a title company owner and a manager of mergers and acquisitions. They were a particularly lovely group of people--something we credit to co-owner Robert Schrack, who tends to attract people who appreciate skillful instruction paired with a low-key attitude. Several of them were students we knew from previous visits, who came out specifically to work with us. It was a pleasure to see how much more skillful they had become since last year.

David crosses the finish line in the final-day rodeo using Mike's boat and paddle.

   This coming together of diverse people isn't unique to Adventure Crafters. At Geneva Kayak Center, we've taught gym teachers, auto mechanics, pilates instructors, airplace pilots, electricians, software developers, elementary school principals, insurance salesmen, and plenty of people who never mention what they do when they aren't in our classes. Sometimes we see direct connections between their workplace orientation and the way they learn; sometimes we don't.
   But in our highly stratified society, where people tend to socialize with others who share their values and their rung on the socioeconomic ladder, it's refreshing to watch everyone on the same playing field, working together to learn something new to all of them.
    They always bring something new to us, too. That's actually the secret benefit of teaching: students ask questions that make you reassess what you know and what you do, and in the process make you a better coach for the students who follow them. And because some of the students at Adventure Crafters come back for more instruction every year and do a considerable amount of paddling and training between visits, they challenge us to come up with a weekend of new classes appropriate to higher-level students.

Our happy band of full-moon paddlers, long before sunset.

The same group a few hours later.

We truly appreciate the opportunity to work with these committed students year after year. They inspire us to work on our coaching skills so we'll continue to have something to offer.

Lake Michigan marine life

2010-07-03T16:42:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago, while paddling the heavy industrial area in northwest Indiana, we came across a piece of driftwood that turned out to be a fairly large snapping turtle.

No joke! A snapping turtle near the BP plant in Indiana.

Today we encountered a few more marine animals, but they turned out to be inanimate.

This poor iguana isn't going anywhere under its own power.

This alligator doesn't pose much of a threat to our friend Bonnie.

This whale seems to be in dry dock.

Banana invasion

2010-07-03T06:43:00.000-05:00

We encountered this frightening apparition as we entered the Allegheny Tunnel on our way home from Adventure Crafters.

Catching up

2010-07-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

   With all due respect to Socrates, who declared that "the unexamined life is not worth living," we didn't find our two-month hiatus from blogging about paddling too detrimental to our enjoyment of the sport.
   On the other hand, we're darn glad to be back online. Our unexamined paddling was definitely worthwhile, but we missed the discipline of reflecting on what we've discovered in the process.
   Warm water came early to Lake Michigan this year. In addition to spending a lot of time on the lake, we taught at the 21st annual West Michigan Sea Kayak Symposium, participated in an instructor update with Nigel Foster, and taught for Geneva Kayak Center in Illinois and Adventure Crafters in Maryland. We also participated in the Chicago Whitewater Association beginner trips, took part in a couple of Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association paddles, and finally visited the Wausau Whitewater Course in Wisconsin.
   In the spirit of "a picture is worth a thousand words," here are a few images from the past few months:

The children's graduation at the end of the West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Symposium.

Nigel Foster's instructor update focused on discovery learning.

An all-day paddle with other Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association members

included a visit to a bell buoy on Chicago's South Side.

We got off the water another day before 80-knot winds blew through Chicago and flooded our basement.
This was the first of several powerful and damaging storms in June.

Our annual stint as guest instructors at Adventure Crafters in Maryland began with a full-moon paddle.

Sharon and a Pyranha face off before heading to Wausau with Jeremy.

Nope. The unexamined paddle is still worthwhile, but we certainly don't document it as well (in photos or prose) when we aren't blogging about it.

Spring cleaning

2010-04-24T21:17:00.005-05:00

Every couple of years, the sand and silt in Chicago's harbor mouths need to be cleaned out. We lose shallow spots we enjoyed for teaching and surfing, but the big ships that pay to dock have more clout. This is Chicago, after all.