The local (mostly) whitewater club has started their pool sessions and word was a couple of sea kayakers had asked about learning to roll, so 3 of us "boyz in the hoodz" (Greenland types) went to help out and try to turn them to the skinny paddle side.
Turns out the couple got the time wrong and showed up just about when it was over... maybe this week.
It was a chance to get back in my skin boat, which is too tight to use with my cold water footwear. I also got to try a "maple roll." One learning technique for Greenland rolling is to use a float called an Avatuk made from a seal bladder (or neoprene these days). This being Vermont I figured a maple syrup jug would lend a local flavor. I had a half gallon jug on hand (much smaller than an avatuk) and managed both brace and roll.
Usually we're the biggest boats in the pool, but this time there were a couple of WW canoes working on rolls.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
This arrived around 10 Saturday:
"Perkins Pier Paddle and Roll Fest
Noon Saturday Jan 16th!!"
A bit short notice, but it was sent from a phone the day before.. pony express email!
I was the first one there, so had a bit of time to wander the pier. The canal schooner Lois McClure has sprouted a greenhouse for the winter.. maybe picking up a little extra by growing some tomatoes?
Not much in the way of wind, but it's supposed to be from the south, so we head way on the hope that it will kick up for the return.
We stopped for a while on the south side of Queneska Island for water play.
And during that break the wind DID kick up, but from the north, so the return was into the wind.
Back into the harbor
"Perkins Pier Paddle and Roll Fest
Noon Saturday Jan 16th!!"
A bit short notice, but it was sent from a phone the day before.. pony express email!
I was the first one there, so had a bit of time to wander the pier. The canal schooner Lois McClure has sprouted a greenhouse for the winter.. maybe picking up a little extra by growing some tomatoes?
 |
| From Kayak2010 |
Not much in the way of wind, but it's supposed to be from the south, so we head way on the hope that it will kick up for the return.
We stopped for a while on the south side of Queneska Island for water play.
And during that break the wind DID kick up, but from the north, so the return was into the wind.
Back into the harbor
Sunday, January 03, 2010
New Years
A cold had me out of commission, at least wrt kayaking for a while in December. Missed the solstice, missed going out on the lake to watch them blow up the Crown Point Bridge.
I saw that on TV, but the broadcast did no justice to the reported 130 dB "BOOM". In this day of HD and all they SHOULD have had it in 5 channel surround sound, but the TV crew at the minimum 1000 feet just gave us a little thud. This (clearly) amateur vid on youtube had a lot better sound.
Meanwhile, back to New Years. The weather was favorable, even above freezing. 3 of us went out for a couple of hours from Coast Guard south to Red Rocks and got in our first rolls of the year.
I saw that on TV, but the broadcast did no justice to the reported 130 dB "BOOM". In this day of HD and all they SHOULD have had it in 5 channel surround sound, but the TV crew at the minimum 1000 feet just gave us a little thud. This (clearly) amateur vid on youtube had a lot better sound.
Meanwhile, back to New Years. The weather was favorable, even above freezing. 3 of us went out for a couple of hours from Coast Guard south to Red Rocks and got in our first rolls of the year.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Halloween night (redundant?)
It's ~60 and it has stopped raining. Still a slow night for trick-or-treaters.
There were a couple of years I went out with my kid and it was snowing or freezing rain. The house at the end of the block gave brandy to the parents those years. Another family in the neighborhood (since moved) had a big "wheel of fortune" thing the kids would spin to determine what candy they got. There WAS a "lose 1" position too!
In the "old neighborhood" we went 15 years and only 1 kid ever came to the house. When she was grown, she told us she'd done it on a dare because our driveway was so dark and long (~900 feet). Not worth it for a candy bar!
There were a couple of years I went out with my kid and it was snowing or freezing rain. The house at the end of the block gave brandy to the parents those years. Another family in the neighborhood (since moved) had a big "wheel of fortune" thing the kids would spin to determine what candy they got. There WAS a "lose 1" position too!
In the "old neighborhood" we went 15 years and only 1 kid ever came to the house. When she was grown, she told us she'd done it on a dare because our driveway was so dark and long (~900 feet). Not worth it for a candy bar!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Weather...
Got an email suggesting a paddle saturday.
Someone responded with the lake forecast:
".SATURDAY...SOUTH WINDS 20 TO 30 KNOTS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FEET. RAIN."
You might think.... trip cancelled, right?
Nooooo.... now the conversation is how to best take advantage of this opportunity.
Someone responded with the lake forecast:
".SATURDAY...SOUTH WINDS 20 TO 30 KNOTS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FEET. RAIN."
You might think.... trip cancelled, right?
Nooooo.... now the conversation is how to best take advantage of this opportunity.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
First weekend of fall
Yesterday there was a short notice trip starting at Kingsland Bay.
On the way there's a rail crossing with the red light blinking. A couple of cars are waiting... waiting.... waiting... no train. After a few minutes they start going forward one at a time, look both ways, and cross. Later I find out it had been blinking for at least a half hour. In a more populated area there also would have been a gate down.
I proceed, hoping I won't find the beach with a few cars and everybody gone. Not to worry, they are still there, along with a van/trailer load of kids from Middlebury (college) Mountain Club starting an intro to kayaking weekend.
Oops... Though I did make lunch, it somehow didn't get in the car, so I dump a few scoops of Gatorade in my water bottle, and Phelps says he has a couple extra bars and some apples I can have.
It's a nice fall day.. air and water both around 60, blue sky, color starting in the trees, and wind in the high teens to low 20's. Our route is pretty familiar, south almost to the Maritime Museum, cross over to Barn Rock on the New York side, lunch at the lean to a little north of that, then tack home on the increasing SE wind in a zig-zag route mixing some downwind waves with enough cross wind paddling so we DO end up back in Vermont instead of way north but still on the NY shore.
Conditions weren't what any of us would call challenging but the wind, color, and waves rolling under the nylon boat skin gave me the same sense stimulation I get from a scenic overlook on a fall hike. Fall's here, in your face, and you can't help but smile at it.
On the way there's a rail crossing with the red light blinking. A couple of cars are waiting... waiting.... waiting... no train. After a few minutes they start going forward one at a time, look both ways, and cross. Later I find out it had been blinking for at least a half hour. In a more populated area there also would have been a gate down.
I proceed, hoping I won't find the beach with a few cars and everybody gone. Not to worry, they are still there, along with a van/trailer load of kids from Middlebury (college) Mountain Club starting an intro to kayaking weekend.
Oops... Though I did make lunch, it somehow didn't get in the car, so I dump a few scoops of Gatorade in my water bottle, and Phelps says he has a couple extra bars and some apples I can have.
It's a nice fall day.. air and water both around 60, blue sky, color starting in the trees, and wind in the high teens to low 20's. Our route is pretty familiar, south almost to the Maritime Museum, cross over to Barn Rock on the New York side, lunch at the lean to a little north of that, then tack home on the increasing SE wind in a zig-zag route mixing some downwind waves with enough cross wind paddling so we DO end up back in Vermont instead of way north but still on the NY shore.
Conditions weren't what any of us would call challenging but the wind, color, and waves rolling under the nylon boat skin gave me the same sense stimulation I get from a scenic overlook on a fall hike. Fall's here, in your face, and you can't help but smile at it.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Valcour Island
Email from Sam:
"Meet at whites Beach at 10:30 am for circumnavigation of Valcour. Plan on a strong 4 hour paddle."
Note it doesn't mention a day. That was in the subject line, but one guy didn't notice that, showed up on Saturday instead of Sunday and ended up doing the paddle alone.... then came again and did it with us.
The stretch between White's beach and Valcour Island in New York is often the windiest part of the lake, and if it is southerly, nearly a hundred miles of fetch (so great waves!)
This time, not so much.. What wind there was, we were headed into. It shifted though and by the time we got to Valcour, it was downwind. As we progressed around the island, it was ALWAYS headed towards the island. A thermal sea breeze!
The east side of the island has a lot of small caves. The waves wash over the openings making a very bassy gurgling that I can only describe as whale belches.
Lunch break, looking back at the start, with Mt. Mansfield (aka Stowe ski area) in back.
West to New York (Peru and Keeseville)
After lunch, we continued around up the NY side
and decided to check out Crab Island.
Crab Island is named for the marine fossils in its limestone. I guess trilobites look kind of like crabs.
Crab Island's place in history is that there was a field hospital there in the war of 1812. There were also a few cannons placed there to defend Plattsburgh, manned entirely by invalids. ON the island now is a memorial for the battle of Plattsburgh, in which the invalids captured one of the British ships.
That battle pretty much marked the end of the war as it left the US dominating the lake so the British couldn't use the water highway from Montreal to NY (Lake Champlain to Lake George to the Hudson River) to transport troops and supplies.
After the historic tour, it was time to head home, upwind. Again, that was a thermal that died out once we got a ways from shore.
"Meet at whites Beach at 10:30 am for circumnavigation of Valcour. Plan on a strong 4 hour paddle."
Note it doesn't mention a day. That was in the subject line, but one guy didn't notice that, showed up on Saturday instead of Sunday and ended up doing the paddle alone.... then came again and did it with us.
The stretch between White's beach and Valcour Island in New York is often the windiest part of the lake, and if it is southerly, nearly a hundred miles of fetch (so great waves!)
This time, not so much.. What wind there was, we were headed into. It shifted though and by the time we got to Valcour, it was downwind. As we progressed around the island, it was ALWAYS headed towards the island. A thermal sea breeze!
The east side of the island has a lot of small caves. The waves wash over the openings making a very bassy gurgling that I can only describe as whale belches.
Lunch break, looking back at the start, with Mt. Mansfield (aka Stowe ski area) in back.
West to New York (Peru and Keeseville)
After lunch, we continued around up the NY side
and decided to check out Crab Island.
Crab Island is named for the marine fossils in its limestone. I guess trilobites look kind of like crabs.
Crab Island's place in history is that there was a field hospital there in the war of 1812. There were also a few cannons placed there to defend Plattsburgh, manned entirely by invalids. ON the island now is a memorial for the battle of Plattsburgh, in which the invalids captured one of the British ships.
That battle pretty much marked the end of the war as it left the US dominating the lake so the British couldn't use the water highway from Montreal to NY (Lake Champlain to Lake George to the Hudson River) to transport troops and supplies.
After the historic tour, it was time to head home, upwind. Again, that was a thermal that died out once we got a ways from shore.
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