A lot harder than med school...

Okay: med school was four long years and just the begining of an arduous task, but I was younger then and more of my brain cells were alive. Now, with old age creeping into every joint of my body and hyaline plaques forming on my brain, I am faced with the most difficult intellectual task I've known. Nothing, to me, is more challenging.

I can work out the blood gasses in cases of mixed acidosis and thread a catheter into a coronary artery with little or no effort. This is different. You see, I have never really trained for what faces me. Oh, I have done it before, but let's just say I got away with a so-so level of performance. In fact it was often the acts of others that made it all work in the end. But this is my fate, my destiny...my personal challenge; and I am readying myself to do it all on Friday.

That is the day I have to figure out what to take and how to get it into my car for a paddling trip.

Paddle safe...
DS

Alabama bound...
Any of you on the coast down there have any suggestions for launch sites, areas of interest, etc.? Coming down next week.

Paddle safe...
DS

Now we know:
According to a facebook report relayed from the police, the young man who drowned while kayaking had on a pfd but
no immersion clothing
no real history of taking lessons
no float plan

He was no expert. He was unprepared. A senseless death that will probably make impressions on the public who know little of our sport.

Paddle safe,
DS

Another Tragedy...
I have been at Canoecopia all weekend (posts to follow) and bunked with JB. We woke this morning to the news that a kayaker in his mid 20's had died on Lake Michigan just off Port Washington (15 miles north of Milwaukee). He was described as an "experienced paddler who went out 2-3 times a week". His kayak was never found. There was no information on what he was wearing. Later today, a rumor floated that he was an instructor.

As we learn more, perhaps we will come to understand how this young man lost his love doing the very thing we love so much. Perhaps he had a medical condition. Perhaps he fell in without proper clothing (lake temps are probably < 35F) and succumbed to hypothermia. We just don't know. We do know that he went out alone on a windy day with waves reportedly being up to 5 feet.

Until we get the details, let's remember the inherent danger of our sport and prepare properly. I don't want to lose anyone I know or someone I don't know to the water.

Paddle safe...
DS

It's different alone....

I'd say I do the majority of my paddling alone. It's how I get my exercise while enjoying a sport I have come to love. Whether going out for an hour or a multi-day trip, I always take the same gear (first aid, radio, etc.). I do so to develop habits so I won't forget something when it really counts. When alone, I tend to take slow, short paddles and practice strokes, braces and the like a lot. This morning Ken joined me for a 32 degree (F) paddle on Lake Michigan. The offshore wind gusted to about 15 when we crossed the bay. Ken was interested in photographing the snowy owl I had captured (see previous blogs) and wanted to paddle over to Lake Shore State Park.

(Ken caught this shot of me today)

Ken is younger and better looking and paddles at a nice clip so, what the heck, I just paddled faster than usual...for two hours. We never saw the owl, but we did see a bob cat on the rocks at the state park. Ken went right up to it before getting out his camera. In fact, he got unbelievably close when his boat thumped against the rocks and the cat decided to walk away. No picture of a bob cat. On the other hand, I did some paddling that was a bit more aggressive than I do alone. I didn't practice strokes, but I got a nice work out. It was a good day on the water.

Paddle safe...
DS

Working with newbies...

...can be interesting.

Paddle safe...
DS

Practice, practice, practice...

In the old joke, that's how the cab driver answer's the musician's question, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" It's pretty much the same with paddling. New comers, anxious to have the perfect forward stroke and bomb-proof roll, often ask how to achieve these worthy goals. We all know the answers.

First: BIB: Butt in the boat. You have to spend time paddling, even if in circles or out and back to the same place over and over. With repetition comes muscle memory as we travel the path from a, not knowing and not knowing we don't know to b, knowing we don't know to c, consciously capable to d, unconsciously capable at a skill. Even then, it is easy to slip back a level when there are long periods between paddles. The idea here is to be able to unconsciously and quickly execute that brace, edge or roll in conditions when it really matters.

So good paddlers (at least the ones I know) often start their time on the water just going through the strokes and basics; and they do it in conditions when ever the opportunity is there. The question now is, what can you do on a moments notice? Are you sure? Do you know what you don't know?

Paddle safe...
DS

Hands...

They are tough to keep warm. Let me say that another way. It was hard for me to find something that will keep my hands warm and allow me to use them in a meaningful way (such as putting the skirt on the rim). A while ago I posted about a poorly made (in my judgement) NRS glove. It's stitching fell apart early in its life. This is the other side of the NRS coin.

 I use their mittens for really cold weather. They are neoprene and the only thing that keeps my hands warm. Problem is, I have to remove them to get the skirt on the boat, and my hands freeze. Lately, with temps above freezing, I have worn their fingered Titanium glove with Reeds long glove coverings. I can get on the skirt with the gloves on, then add the Reeds and go paddling.

Both the fingered gloves and mittens now come with a snug cuff that really works. One, however (according to the folks at Rutabaga), has to be careful not to pull the glove off by the fingers lest one tears the cuff from the glove. I  presume and use the same precaution with the mittens. Good stuff.

Now, give NRS a hand.

Paddle safe...
DS