RE: [Paddlewise] beach landings

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Volin [mailto:bobvolin_at_bestweb.net]
snip
> If conditions give me little 
> expectation of a
> serene landing, I've found it best to simply fall on my side 
> as high up on
> the beach as I can, with the boat to my onshore side.  This 
> gives me the
> control of physical contact with ground, while the boat will 
> be be washed
> away from me (onshore) if a large wave gets to me before I 
> can get out of
> there.

   Just want emphasize one of Bob's points - Make sure you never let
yourself get between your kayak and shore when swimming in or making a
landing.  I made this error once early in my sea kayaking days (even though
my WW experience had taught about things like this, nothing has the "impact"
of an object lesson) .
   I had been surfing and playing in my Seaward Ascente' (not a good surf
boat) in approx 4-5 ft waves on Lake Michigan for about an hour and a half.
Some nice rides and some thrashings and swims.  Nothing any worse than I was
used to from the Lake, but I was starting to get tired.  I caught a wave and
headed into the beach, eventually broaching and turning the ride into a nice
side surf with the paddle buried in the foam of the wave.  As I got closer
to the beach I figured that I would just land on the beach, bail out of the
cockpit and scramble with the kayak in tow for higher ground.  It didn't
quite work that way......I landed on the beach, popped the skirt, started to
get out, and had a big breaker inundate the kayak - filling the cockpit area
with water, pulling me out toward the water and seriously disrupting the
"plan".  I ended up doing a wet exit (I had thrown my paddle up onto the
beach upon landing) and coming up with the kayak on the "water" side and
myself on the "beach" side.  The waves were dumping and both the kayak and I
were pushed violently towards shore - until I stopped when I hit bottom -
the kayak (now full of hundreds of pounds of water) didn't stop however - it
continued right on over the top of me - smashing into my hip, grinding my
helmetless (another error!) head into the sand in a foot of water and coming
down on my outstretched right arm.  At that moment I honestly thought that
it had broken my arm.  The only good thing was that I was now in the "safe"
zone.  It's amazing how quickly the lessons of an "Oh Shit!" incident can be
identified and burned into the mind forever.  Never let your body get
between your kayak/canoe and a hard place!

Dave Seng
Juneau, Alaska
  
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