Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Island - Headed back

Dan said:

<<When can we expect you  to be back online from the trip?>>

Will be in and out of town for a month...owe the family some time after
first week back :-)

<<Good Luck and have a safe trip.  Chase away the ghosts....>>

That's the plan Dan the man! Haven't been out on a remote solo multiday
for 5 years now - just group efforts. Looking forward to being Capt'n
again - no corporate decisions to make, go where I want, do what I want.
Sleep in, get up at dawn, seal land,  - you know!

<<I hope to see an interesting trip report that has no exciting sea
tales! 8-) >>

For sure. Have story, will post - even if prosaic. Only hairy part might
be the grizzlies. Then too, someone was up on one of the beaches there
last year, and a Gray whale rolled into the shore break on purpose, and
stuck around for awhile. The family camped there was able to go up to it
and make tactile contact. I'm stoked and torqued, and plan on being in
"safety mode" as opposed to "survival mode".

I need to be careful at every point on the trip, even once the longer
crossing is complete. Things could get dicey on the shorter, safer
crossing too. One always needs to keep their guard up at sea. I remember
a month prior to my first 'Storm Island trip' in 1999: I had split the
seams on my kayak in some logs, and not even realized it (got to give
you a tale, Dan).  I headed out to my favorite safe bay, after moving
the kayak with car to the other side of town. I was a maximum of a mile
offshore in 35 knot winds with heavy hail and screaming squalls (the
previous log beach had 45 knot onshore winds) when I noticed the kayak
filling up with volumes of water. It was very tough getting back in. I
rolled twice (one half roll, one full) - had to do slow maneuver rolls
with it waterlogged. I didn't have adequate reserve buoyancy in the
boat, shame on me. Anyway, to make a short story long for Joe, I shouted
out one of my favorite lines from an incident that happened to one of my
relatives (father's side, mum said it was a "tenuous link"), Sir Francis
Drake:

Sir Francis Drake was returning from one of his great global voyages,
when a dangerous storm blew up the Thames River, where he was anchored.
He was worried his ship would flounder, and was overheard to say through
gritted teeth, "Must I who have escaped the rage of the ocean be drowned
in a ditch?"

Well, I wasn't exactly in a ditch, and there were extenuating
circumstances, but the point is, the sea can be unsafe anywhere. So, be
careful out there everybody, especially you new Paddlewisers who have
just joined this list. I don't want to egg-on gung-ho novices to an
untimely end - local waters or otherwise. Gotta go pack. Talk with
you'all again.

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd (who normally does not name-drop, but I do have a legitimate
predisposition to adventure and exploring. Hey, stayed on Drake's farm
in the UK one summer as a kid - nice place!)



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