Re: [Paddlewise] Turning efficiently in high winds - how do you do it?

I don't know if you will find a really easy way to turn in high winds when your
boat has a tendancy to fight you by heading downwind.  You can use the skeg as
described elsewhere or weight the boat forward or back to chance its center of
gravity.  I know someone described a sliding seat.  I have a fixed foam seat in
my Romany, but if I am out on a multi-day trip I can usually move my gear to
make the boat more bow or stern heavy as needed to conteract any tendancy to
turn up or down wind.  Regardless of if it is weight shifting or a skeg that
you use the tendance to turn up or downwind will get much stronger as you
increase the hull speed.  My Romany will turn into the wind ususally when I
paddling at a high speed, but likes to lay side ways in the steep wave troughs
when sitting still.

A someone already mentioned spinning a boat on a wave crest.  Timing is
everything here.  Quick slap stroke or sweep at just the right moment can save
a lot of effort and make for a quick easy turn.  Someone also described a bow
rudder.  I do often use a bow rudder alternating with a sweep on the other
side, but I would be leary of using a nearly vertical shaft angle as they
described.  This may be powerful way to do the stroke, but it also makes a nice
sail for a 30 knot wind gust to catch.  If you have advanced bracing skills I
prefer to use very agressive low brace rudder and an extreme hull tilt to whip
my bow up wind.  From sideways to the waves I get up as much speed as possible
do a sweep on the down wind side and lean into the next wave on the upwind side
with ruddering low brace and radical hull tilt.  By getting my boat on its rail
and digging into the meat of a wave with my low brace I can ususually get my
bow point up the wave, and with luck I can do little flick of the paddle to
spin on the wave crest to finish the turn.

Good luck and get lot's of practice.  I don't think there is really an
effortless way to fight the wind when it gets that strong, but with practice
and good timing you can make things a lot easier on yourself.

Greg Hollingsworth wrote:

> I had the opportunity to test out my skills in some difficult conditions
> this Sunday... winds were 27 knots with frequent gusts that reached 37
> knots (according to a local measurement station).
> Knowing the risks of paddling in such conditions where the water and air
> is 37 degrees F, we choose a location that was somewhat sheltered and
> safe but offered challenging conditions.
>
> We found one place where the waterway narrowed after a two mile wind
> fetch, the winds at this point seemed much stronger and the waves were
> much larger than in the more open areas.  Whitecaps were everywhere. We
> put in at a downwind launch point and worked our way upwind - we figured
> that if we got in trouble, we'd get blown back to shore.
>
> My boat is fairly new to me, so I was eager to test its capabilities
> (and mine) in the high winds.  My previous boat had the habit of
> pointing into the wind (Current Designs Sol ST), the new boat (NordKapp)
> turns downwind in these conditions.  Theboat paddled by my paddling
> partner, a Katsolano (sp?), also exhibited the same behavior as the
> NordKapp.
>
> My question is: after pointing downwind I found that I had a devil of a
> time getting the boat heading upwind again... what techniques do you use
> under these conditions to gain better directional control of the boat in
> high winds?
>
> I tried a variety of techniques: turning on top of waves, adjusting the
> skeg to different positions (up clearly worked best), sculling, boat
> tilting, bracing, sweeping strokes - nothing seemed to work well.
>
> We did a lot of paddling and did a lot of playing in the waves - I was
> able to make the turns, but only with a whole lot of work.  What's the
> secret to making turns easier?
>
> I've read that drogues can keep the boat pointing to the wind, but I'm
> not really interested in this as a solution, it's hard to play with a
> ball and chain attached.
>
>         Greg
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