[Paddlewise] Kittery Point, ME.

Kittery Point, Me. Memorial Day or the Smack Brace

Saturday the forecast was for 20-30 knot winds and 4-8 foot (I think)
seas with a small craft advisory so I wimped out and stayed home doing
chores :-(.  40 miles from the coast and the trees were whipping around
pretty good most of the day so that might have been a good decision.

Sunday was for 10-20 knots with 3 foot seas so I left the house at 6:30
because I had commitments for the afternoon.  I got to the putin before
8am and loaded up.  It seems like I take more stuff with me every trip.
Compass, GPS and chart on the foredeck isn't bad, but the other stuff is
getting out of hand.  Paddle float and pump, spare paddle, fleece vest
and rain coat, sp***sons and camera bag (still hoping for a submarine)
on the back deck, first aid kit and tupperware porta-potti stuff in the
aft hatch, emergency kit tucked away up in front of the pedals,
waterbottle and snacks under my legs, sponge, bailer and ropes behind
the seat, Jeeze.

I set the ramp's location in the GPS but forgot to save it.  That's ok
because I also forgot to clear the log so if I activated trackback, I'd
probably end up back at work where I had been reading the docs and
practicing with the GPS during my noon walks the past week.
 
I paddled out amongst the 20 or so new sailboats that had appeared since
I was down here a couple of weeks ago.  They were all under 30 feet, all
sloops except for one ketch or cutter (I can't tell the difference yet).
I spent a little time trying to figure out the various riggings with no
success except for the simplest.

I started working on the forward stroke as suggested by Kirk and some
other Paddlewise instructors and while it was all new when I had the
canoe out, I found I was doing most of the points already with the
kayak.  My thrusting was pretty wimpy so I started beefing that up but I
still couldn't get the upper hand to punch forward.  I'd say it was 90%
pull with the bottom hand and less than 10% push with the upper.  I
worked on it off and on most of the morning with the same results.

There was a 10-15 knot wind out of the NW and the plan was to simply
exit the harbor and head north past Kittery Point (which is at the mouth
of the Piscataqua River between NH and ME) and along the coast for 1-2
hours and then come back.  The sun was pretty bright and I was on the
upper third of a high tide as I leisurely headed north with pretty flat
seas.

There was a 2 foot swell every 30-45 seconds with an occasional 3-4
swell as I paddled along a couple of hundred feet from the waves
crashing into some 10-12 foot cliffs.  That never gets old to me.
Everything is still new enough so that riding the swells is still pretty
cool stuff (as long as I don't toss my cookies).  Glancing out to see a
3-4 footer bearing down on you can be a little disconcerting when you're
not paying attention, though.  Probably the most awesome thing I've ever
seen was during a race to Australia (on TV) many years ago and there was
a shot of a humungous wave coming at the stern of a racer.  <Shudder!>

I paddled north for an hour and a half or so, landed for a snack with
the tide surging onto a steep beach, amazingly enough, with few rocks
and real sand and then headed back with the wind at my back.

The wind picked up to 15-20 knots and I got tired of dealing with the
weathercocking so I dropped the rudder which eliminated that problem.  I
still carry a fair amount of Tetestrone and I'm feeling kinda wimpy
because of the rudder.  I try to get it back up again after a while but
it won't come and I feel too unstable reaching behind me to keep trying.
Probably because of all that junk on the back deck.  I'll have to
re-evaluate all that.  It's probably not a good idea to have the paddle
float on the bottom.

I'm paddling along, minding my own business, watching the waves break
over some ledges and trying to regain my pride when a big gust of wind
comes along and grabs my offshore paddle blade and won't let go.  I'd
heard stories in the past about wind and paddles with more or less a
"yeah, right - so what" attitude.  I think I'll pay a little more
attention from now on.

So the wind grabs my paddle, I hang onto it and start to go over.  I had
listened to the marine forecast earlier and they said the water varied
between 50-55 degrees throughout Maine.  Kittery Point is as far south
in Maine as you can get but the water was still plenty cold.  Kinda like
putting your hand into a gallon of ice cream.  I knew I really would
rather not subject my delicate bod to that unpleasantness.

So with lightning quick reflexes and incredible ingenuity I invented, on
the spot, a brand new, never before seen, let alone documented, paddle
stroke.  It's just too bad the news crews and video cameras weren't
there to record this significant event for posterity.  There wasn't even
another person around to witness this amazing feat, just a couple of sea
gulls who cawed their amazement as this event of monsterous athleticisim
unfolded.
  
As I was going over, I shifted the paddle a little (by accident, I'm
sure), spilling the wind out of the blade and gave the ocean a
tremendous smack (out of sheer desperation).  To gain full appreciation
of this feat, you must picture the Creature of the Black Lagoon rising
up from the depths of Hell 18 inches off your beam.  No, no.  None of
that Godzilla crap or any of those wimpy imatations will do.  You must
stick with the original creature to fully appreciate the situation and
gain the proper perspective.

Ok, now pretend you're scared sh**less.  Bring your blade down sharply
while tucking your elbow close to your side and smack that sucker on top
of his head.  Be aware that depending on the amount of adrenelin flowing
and the amount of force used, a second or even a third smack may be
required.  This stupendous paddle stroke will, forever more, be known as
the Smack Brace.  Be very careful, however, not to smack the Creature
too hard.  This will cause him to sink down and pop up on the other side
of your kayak where you will have to repeat the process.  The
un-initiated might think you had lost your balance the other way or
something.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful until I rounded Kittery Point
and had the 15-20 knot wind back in my face.  The waves were only a 1-2
feet or so, so I started concentrating on thrusting with my hips in a
slightly exaggerated movement and this seemed to move me along at a
pretty good clip.

I saw a pair of kayaks take a peek around Kittery Point as I was coming
in but they turned around and headed back.  Dunno why.  I think they
were the first kayaks I've seen out this year except for one guy when we
had the heat wave back in March.  I saw a couple of 'yaks on cartops but
none on the water?  I wonder if they all have some real neat secret spot
they go to while I have to paddle out here in the wind and battle seas
monsters.

Traffic was much lighter than I expected on the way back and I didn't
get yelled at (much).  Traffic was really heavy headed towards the
coast, though.  How can people sit out there for hours just to fry
themselves on a beach?  I got behind a motorcycle with a woman in shorts
on the back that must have been close to 200 pounds (the woman, not the
bike).  Boy was that attractive. :-(.

I had commitments on Monday so couldn't go out and that was the best day
of the weekend :-(.

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