One of my woodworking students (from my part-time-weekend job) related a story today from three summer's ago. This particular lady is a member of my Canoe and Kayak club here in Victoria, BC. She is an avid canoeist however (doesn't attend the sea kayak meetings), so I hadn't had the pleasure of really talking to her about paddling before. Three years ago she wanted to go on a nice little trip and try some sea kayaking. The following is what transpired on that first-ever salt chuck experience. Approximately nine paddlers left Sidney, BC for Rum Island (also known as Isle de Lis, a little gem of an island/marine park, popular with paddlers for its wild flowers and lilies - hence the secondary name) at the tip of Gooch Island. It is a short paddle - about 5.5 miles, replete with small island clusters that give emergent shelter when required, but also interfere with the tidal flow and add to the myriad eddylines/tide rips. Winds can come up fast, with opposing tides creating choppy conditions, mixed in with the confused seas. The route is recommended for intermediate to advanced paddlers only. Three of paddlers were fairly advanced, two or so intermediate, and three or four new at the game. The trip was an overnighter with allowance for one extra day for poor weather. The trip was not club sponsored, though many were club members. My friend, the woodworking student (Bev) and her partner brought along stable, rented singles. Two paddlers were in a double, and one particularly energetic lady was an extremely strong, athletic paddler with experience - and sort of in-charge. The least experienced paddlers never felt unsafe through the first day, due to the apparent knowledge-base exhibited by the near 6-foot female. Tidal considerations were well considered and taken into account, and long-range forecasts were good and seemingly reliable for that time of year. On the second day out, the weather deteriorated and the sea-state became disparagingly poor. By the third day, things did not improve. People, new and old-hats alike, were loosing patience. A group decision was made to attempt the crossing back to Sidney, located on Vancouver Island. People had obligations, you know. Despite the poor conditions of unrelenting wind and cooler temperatures, Bev figured, like the rest, that they could hop-scotch their way back. Let the game begin. The strategy worked well enough for the first leg of the passage, and even proved somewhat un and invigorating. The second leg is approximately from the end of Forest Island back to Sidney - about tree miles of open water, subject to the full-force of any prevailing winds. The group was keeping fairly well together at first, with the exception of two novice paddlers (not Bev or her partner). One of the individuals having difficulty could not track efficiently in the wind-tossed seas, so resorted to a wild zig-zag course in an attempt to avoid broaching and repetitive sweep-strokes. While raising the eye-brows of the rest of the group, the strategy managed to work very well, and was a reminder to everyone in the group to sometimes avoid the attempt to herd everyone into a similar pattern of movement (when appropriate and indicated). The other paddler having difficulty was a complete newbie to the entire sport of paddling, and was in a borrowed narrow British boat! A mile or so off the tip of Forrest Island, he succumbed after his boat "slew-off" a wave and he capsized. For some reason he was unable to exit immediately (possibly he got twisted in the small cockpit and/or confused over spray-deck release procedures, with a drum-tight fit). He resorted to some kind of intuitive dog-paddle to maintain breathing and continue to scream for help between culping in copious amounts of green water. The group was a bit more split-up than it should have been at that point, as everyone was running on adrenaline and goal-driven priorities. The large Alpha-female responded instantly, swinger her boat around and was able to pull alongside the paddler in distress, just as he managed to finally wet exit. The other paddlers had a difficult time once stopped. The ad-hoc paddler-in-charged yelled to the other experienced paddler to take all the other paddlers over to a small island visible within a reasonable distance (probably Dock Island or one of the islands in the Little Group). She indicated that they would meet-up there, so they should get a bunch of warm, dry gear out for the stricken paddler. The other remaining experienced paddler helped the leader to facilitate a fairly speedy assisted re-entry for the cold man-in-the-water. This experienced paddler held onto the narrow kayak in order to stabilize boat and paddler, while performing pumping operations and skirt-reattachment proceedures. The intrepid leader, being of sound mind and even sounder body, towed the tangled-two behind her, the quarter mile or more to safety. Totally awesome! A regular Xzena wave-warrior. The fellow who capsized was not dressed for immersion, so was taken in by the impromptu rescue committee, once ashore, and promptly re-dressed into warm, dry clothing. Rather than risk another catastrophe, our princess of the high seas placed the wayward paddler into the front cockpit of the available double, while she "manned" the rear, powerfully stroking her way back to safe-harbor, while the couple from the double paddled the Brit boat and the leader's boat, respectively, back in. While mistakes were made and incompatibilities realized, the trip was successful in that everyone returned alive and wiser - and available paddler's strengths and equipment/boat types were utilized to advantage to facilitate a safe return (even if the strategies _were_ a bit late). And what of Bev's take? Her comment to me this afternoon was full of certain dearth: "Well, Doug, you know, now when new paddlers tell me they are going out to the Gulf Islands for a nice little paddle, I just give my head a shake and ask them to do the same!" PS Bev's first experience at woodworking was a little less traumatic, with her completion of a well-executed Mahogany hall table today. Way to go Bev, and thanks for sharing the trip report with me. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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