[Paddlewise] Feeling dizzy?

Add me to the growing list of those who've experienced "kayak angst."  To 
preface, I've not yet ever suffered from sea sickness, even during a blow 
one winter night on the Sea of Cortez.  We were aboard an old fishing boat 
with a diesel-fired stove.  But for two of us, the steak and onions sent 
everyone to the rail that night.

Several people have observed that it seems to be linked to sea sickness and 
the inability to discern one's relationship to stationary objects, and I'd 
concur.  The only time I've ever experienced this feeling to any degree 
aboard larger boats is when I've been below for a period.

I think the fact that one "wears" a kayak, rather than sits on one, also 
contributes to the condition.  You're really within the air-water interface.

The one time I experienced this condition was off Point Pinos, the southern 
lip of Monterey Bay.  Some of our calmest weather comes between storms in 
winter.  Gone are the reliable northwesterlies of summer.  As temperatures 
fall and the ocean grows cooler, it becomes clearer too -- fewer little 
critters floating around.  It was overcast that day and the sea was glassy.  
As we paddled further from shore, we passed the outer edge of the kelp 
forest.  Peering down into it was like looking into a giant aquarium.

When we got to open water, we encountered a huge number of ctenophores.  
There must have been millions of them.  Also known as "comb jellies," these 
jellyfish-like animals are clear, and roughly the size and shape of 
cucumbers.  Running in longitudinal rows down there lenth are short cillia 
-- tiny hairs that seem to move in waves.  As they move, light refracts off 
of them in a rainbow of colors.  Between the overcast sky and the consequent 
lack of contrast, the clear, calm sea, and the animals floating through its 
depths, I became quite aware of a sensation of falling -- down or up, it was 
hard to tell.  My partner shared the feeling.  Capsize wasn't a worry, since 
we were in a fairly stable double.

In short, I found the sensation absolutely wonderful, given those particular 
circumstances.  Talk about an LSD moment...

Mark Paxton

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