[Paddlewise] Suddenly Kelped

Conditions were mild.  Less than 10 knot winds, four foot swell (slightly
over my head) and a bit of chop left over from higher winds earlier.
Cruising at my usual 4 knots, the bow of my Solstice GTS would go under
slightly every once in a while.  As usual I  did not pay much attention to
the floating kelp in front of me.  But a larger than usual swell coupled
with a small but rogue wave put my bow just under the kelp.  I came to a
sudden and complete forward whiplash stop with several thousand pounds of
kelp draped over my bow.

Luckily, in my emergency kit, between my marshmallows and 1956
Rothschild/Lafitte champagne and long stemmed glass (which I always carry
strapped to my body so I have access to it even if I lose my boat), was a
Laser Kelp Atomizer of my own design.  Unluckily, I had not checked the
batteries so I was forced to back out from under the kelp.  This turned out
to be more difficult than I would have thought.  The kelp liked sitting on
my bow.  In fact it refused to get off for a good 2 or 3 minutes despite
vigorous backing and forwarding.

Now, if I were in my Mariner Express this would never have happened since
the bow of that boat almost never goes under.  (Especially going into the
wind, as I was.)  But still the Solstice GTS is a vast improvement over
previous Solstices in that it is actually quite dry because of much added
flare in the bow.

So if you have a slicing rather than lifting bow, beware of angry kelp.

Jerry

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