Hi Doug, Thanks for all the personal Deep Trouble stories. I appreciate your willingness to let us all benefit from your hard-won experience. The most recent posting was of particular interest to me, as a companion and I just got back this week from rounding Cape Scott (we went the other way - from Port Hardy to the boat launch on the San Joseph river.) We snuck round the Cape itself in a window of 15 knot westerlies, and bolted into Hansen Bay, where we were pinned down by three days of gale force winds, perfectly safe and with lots of food and good books in our camp, but unable to go anywhere without dying. Finally we had another "window" and were able to get to San Joseph Bay. Leaving aside hard skills such as bracing and rolling, I would say that the three most important things I've learned about outer West Coast paddling over the years would be: 1. Listen to the weather radio, watch your barometer, look at the clouds, trust your gut. It is far, far better to be ashore wishing with mild frustration that you were at sea, than to be at sea in the wrong conditions, wishing desperately you were ashore. 2. Carry plenty of spare food so that you can sit out weather, and cultivate a mental attitude that will allow you to do so. Recognise that human timetables availeth nothing in relation to nature's. Don't let the fact that you "must" be back at work on Monday become an all-too-literal deadline. We were a day late getting back, and the world did not end. 3. On many parts of the West Coast, the notion of being in the "lee of the land" is a dangerous delusion. Rocks and reefs may extend miles from shore. When large swells are running (much of the time on the West Coast) you will not be able to thread among them as a kayak can in calmer water. As a result, you will have to paddle far off shore, in the thick of the wind, whether or not it is coming from "landward". And on a lighter note, don't always trust other kayakers. As we approached the surf zone at the mouth of the San Joseph river (where the outflowing river trips the incoming swells into breakers), my paddling companion, Stania, spotted two other kayakers just ahead of us, the first we'd seen in our whole twelve day trip. Knowing they must have paddled out through the surf zone, I naively commented to Stania that they must know the best way back through the break, and we should hang back and watch. "Or" Stania pointed out more sagely, "they might know piss-all about what they're doing." Fifteen seconds later the "piss-all" theory was validated as both paddlers were out of their boats and swimming. We hung back (attempting a "rescue" in the surf zone would have only contributed to the danger as our loaded boats torpedoed down on the swimmers). A few minutes later, once the others had pulled their boats ashore, we came through without incident, choosing the smallest swells and bracing as we got broached. As we paddled by the first two, the male of the pair (a real man, who didn't need a PFD, or a wetsuit; if his mackinaw and cotton shorts were good enough for walking on the beach, they were obviously good enough for kayaking!) commented "You guys must have more stable boats than we do, eh?" Yah pal, sure, that's it! Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°06' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Philip Torrens wrote: > > Hi Doug, > > Thanks for all the personal Deep Trouble stories. I appreciate your > willingness to let us all benefit from your hard-won experience. [snip] > Leaving aside hard skills such as bracing and rolling, I would say that the > three most important things I've learned about outer West Coast paddling > over the years would be: > > 1. Listen to the weather radio, watch your barometer, look at the clouds, > trust your gut. It is far, far better to be ashore wishing with mild > frustration that you were at sea, than to be at sea in the wrong conditions, > wishing desperately you were ashore. > > 2. Carry plenty of spare food so that you can sit out weather, and cultivate > a mental attitude that will allow you to do so. Recognise that human > timetables availeth nothing in relation to nature's. Don't let the fact that > you "must" be back at work on Monday become an all-too-literal deadline. We > were a day late getting back, and the world did not end. > > 3. On many parts of the West Coast, the notion of being in the "lee of the > land" is a dangerous delusion. Rocks and reefs may extend miles from shore. > When large swells are running (much of the time on the West Coast) you will > not be able to thread among them as a kayak can in calmer water. As a > result, you will have to paddle far off shore, in the thick of the wind, > whether or not it is coming from "landward". Great story, Doug -- I'm beginning to understand why you frequently paddle solo <g>. And many thanks to Philip for the three pieces of advice. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:02 PDT