On January 2 Vince Dalrymple wrote: "Spent last Saturday knuckling my way across a couple hundred yards of sea >ice >against 25~30 mph. (locally higher??) head winds. >Ice of every variety: >slick "floes" (on which the Anas would spin like a weather vane as it would >be >slid backwards by the winds - only purchase to be had being the ice ridges >between the "floes"), >slick to crusty textured ice (still ~ 4" thick and impossible to break >through >with my "basher" spare paddle), >softening crusty ice on which the Anas would slowly sink into place if >stopped >for a break (had to mix knuckling with separate paddle halves as makeshift >ice >axes to achieve forward progress), >and rind ice (?) where the wave action could be clearly seen throughout >(fun >stuff - always felt safe and stable, even rotated backwards trying to put >the >spare halves away or moving through to achieve the open water beyond). >As working my way out to open water cost me about an hour to hour and a >half, >considerable skin off my knuckles under a new pair of NRS Reactor Gloves >(worked >flawlessly - no connection to the co., yada, yada), and about 50 % of my >strength reserves, my much anticipated lee shore paddling in the short, >fast, >piled up 3' chop was cut very short, about 20~30 minutes and another 10 % >or >so >of my strength. Slid back across the ice to the put in in another 20~30 >minutes >with 40 % of my strength still intact. Oh, and none of my regular end of >paddle >rolling this trip - being solo, I didn't want my ear sticking to the ice >with >nobody around to ask if I was "listening for fish". >Still though, it was a strangely satisfying "paddle" - or should I call it >alternative exercise?" Vince, If I had any regrets about not joining you on Saturday, they vanished when I read your story. And I was deterred merely by the weather forecast (temperature around the freezing mark, wind 25-35 knots), without considering possible ice conditions! Launching in those conditions strikes me as taking a life-threatening risk, especially going out solo. It's a whole lot easier to seal launch off ice into open water than to do the reverse. How did you climb back from the water onto the ice in your kayak(even if it is an Anas)? Do you think you could do it again reliably, say ten times out of ten? Even in a short, whitewater boat, with room on the water to build up full speed, I have only been able to bring off the move occasionally, when the ice is just so. In the conditions which you describe, it's easy to find oneself afloat, completely surrounded by ice and unable to paddle. I have never been able to generate significant thrust with hands and or paddle on the top surface of the ice, and if I'm "lucky" enough to find a gap in the ice to start a paddle stroke, withdrawing the blade can cause me to pry on the underside of the ice, destabilizing the boat. The last resort, I guess, is to wait until shifting currents or a change in wind direction breaks up the ice. But that's not what I call recreation. My rule for kayaking in the vicinity of ice is to give it a wide berth if at all possible. Ice is way too dangerous a playground for me in a kayak. I'm glad you made it back with no more damage than scraped knuckles. For Pete's sake, stay safe. I can't afford any inventory shrinkage in the paddling partner department. Mike Vandamm *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Mike, et all, My comments follow below. I'm kind of surprised really that I haven't taken a real flaming on this one, considering the PaddleWise venue that it was posted to. Guess everyone is thinking about warm Cuban crossings and such. :-) Michael Vandamm wrote: > On January 2 Vince Dalrymple wrote: > > "Spent last Saturday knuckling my way across a couple hundred yards of sea ice > against 25~30 mph. (locally higher??) head winds. > >Ice of every variety: > >slick "floes" (on which the Anas would spin like a weather vane as it would > be > >slid backwards by the winds - only purchase to be had being the ice ridges > >between the "floes"), > >slick to crusty textured ice (still ~ 4" thick and impossible to break > >through with my "basher" spare paddle), > >softening crusty ice on which the Anas would slowly sink into place if > stopped > >for a break (had to mix knuckling with separate paddle halves as makeshift > >ice axes to achieve forward progress), > >and rind ice (?) where the wave action could be clearly seen throughout (fun > >stuff - always felt safe and stable, even rotated backwards trying to put the > > >spare halves away or moving through to achieve the open water beyond). > >As working my way out to open water cost me about an hour to hour and a > >half, considerable skin off my knuckles under a new pair of NRS Reactor > Gloves > >(worked flawlessly - no connection to the co., yada, yada), and about 50 % of > my > >strength reserves, my much anticipated lee shore paddling in the short, fast, > > >piled up 3' chop was cut very short, about 20~30 minutes and another 10 % > >or so of my strength. Slid back across the ice to the put in in another > 20~30 > >minutes with 40 % of my strength still intact. Oh, and none of my regular > end of > >paddle rolling this trip - being solo. > > Vince, If I had any regrets about not joining you on Saturday, they vanished > when I read your story. And I was deterred merely by the weather forecast > (temperature around the freezing mark, wind 25-35 knots), without > considering possible ice conditions! Understandable. I doubt I would have "allowed" any other paddlers (you, Jim, or Greg) to go out there with me at that time due to the conditions. Would've let it go as a deterrent to anyone else toying with the idea and suggested a change of venue to the (mostly ice free) Western Shore. Only reason I did it was because I was solo. With a makeshift bow painter looped to the deck bungees in a quick knot (easily untied with the heavy gloves on), I flatly turned down an offer from a stranger on shore to "help (tow) me out." With all the boats in the area being penned in by ice, I knew before hand that I was completely on my own and thus left the VHF in the car. It was one those paddles to "help clear the cobwebs out", though. You know the kind, Mike. And I'm absolutely positive there are others on this list to which it would apply, too. Hopefully I didn't come off crowing about it as much as offering some first hand knowledge of some very interesting conditions which most here have not seen, will not try, but are curious about none the less. > Launching in those conditions strikes me as taking a life-threatening risk, > especially going out solo. It's a whole lot easier to seal launch off ice > into open water than to do the reverse. Agreed, and thus scouted the outside "edge" to see if it could be re-entered. If there had been any firm ledge visible (such as the case is with fresh water), I would not have tried it for exactly the reason you stated. > How did you climb back from the > water onto the ice in your kayak(even if it is an Anas)? The slushy ice bits congregated together enough on the outside to keep the high chop from breaking any further, thus becoming a frozen swell. I could still maneuver in this fairly easily. Closer in it all became kind of a slushy mixture where even the swell slowly dissipated. Maneuvering in this area was much more difficult - basically just forward and reverse with a few degrees leeway if pushed for. Paddle still going all the way through freely, but could certainly tell it was there. I guess if I really tried, I may have been able to partially plane the boat through this area with a heavy duty paddle (real solid blades). Eventually this gradually hardened up to the point where the kayak was planed more or less out of the water at my slow speed, but it would immediately sink down (with the surrounding ice) to a degree if I stopped (which I did at one point for a break). > Do you think you could do it again reliably, say ten times out of ten? One hundred times out of one hundred in identical conditions. Like I stated, Mike, - No ledge. > Even in a short, whitewater boat, with room on the water to build up full > speed, I have only > been able to bring off the move occasionally, when the ice is just so. I guess if I was faced with that prospect, I'd try a full layback as I hit the edge, still under full power, but would be somewhat afraid of the ice breaking further in (denying any chance of climbing up onto it), while possibly glancing the boat off sideways - which, given the forward momentum of the boat, could broach it to the ice edge while forcing a chine up, thus creating a capsize scenario in line with the ice edge. Bad news for the paddler - especially if he (I won't put she since they always seem to exhibit more common sense :-) doesn't have an off side roll and his on side is under the ice. = 8-O > In the conditions which you describe, it's easy to find oneself afloat, > completely surrounded by ice and unable to paddle. I have never been able to > generate significant thrust with hands and or paddle on the top surface of > the ice, and if I'm "lucky" enough to find a gap in the ice to start a > paddle stroke, withdrawing the blade can cause me to pry on the underside of > the ice, destabilizing the boat. The last resort, I guess, is to wait until > shifting currents or a change in wind direction breaks up the ice. But > that's not what I call recreation. My "ace in the hole" which unfortunately went unmentioned throughout the original post, was that I was never more than 8' away from the frozen rip rap the whole way out to the loose rind ice area (and used the same route back), except for a short stretch between the beach and the rip rap. If I broke through and dumped, It would have been possible to climb my way up the rip rap and out, then use the bow painter to retrieve the bow and drag it over the ice (after emptying) back to the beach via the rip rap. It's large enough stone to wedge feet in but small and angular enough to wrap fingers over or arms around. And the rip rap extended out beyond the ice into open water. The biggest reason I paddled the bridge (straight upwind from the water launch point) was to set up a drift pattern which would land me against all that rock rather than along the ice. Of secondary benefit was the fact that the bridge pilings and rip rap point had the piled up waves just hopping mad with clapotis. There were no wave sets or trains there, just semi frozen chaos. :-) > My rule for kayaking in the vicinity of ice is to give it a wide berth if at > all possible. Ice is way too dangerous a playground for me in a kayak. Ice is a very dangerous place, and so are rock gardens in breaking surf, and crossing major shipping channels in the fog, and . . . > I'm glad you made it back with no more damage than scraped knuckles. Same here. > For Pete's sake, stay safe. I can't afford any inventory shrinkage in the > paddling partner department. > Mike Vandamm Point understood, Mike. Just one of those paddles I felt I needed to do for me. "All work and no play makes Vince a naughty boy." "All work and no play makes Vince a naughty boy." "All work and no play makes Vince a naughty boy." "All work and no play makes Vince a nau " Vince *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
While on a ferry from Valdez in the summer of 86, we saw a berg break up and roll over. It made a pretty large, nasty disturbance in the water. The rolling and sloshing lasted for quite awhile before the water settled down. I took a half dozen 35-mm manually-advanced shots while the action persisted. It also brought mud up to the surface --like part of the event involved the underwater portion of the berg touching the bottom. This was way before my kayaking days, but I am sure that it would have been scary to have been in the water with that action. bob phillips SI MI where the ice is mostely flat *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
While making no judgements about Vince Dalrymple's exploits, I will offer some observations from my experiences flatwater kayaking the rivers of Michigan, in air temps ranging down to minus 14oF, and water temps approaching freezing (think Slurpee on the rocks). Maybe some of them are adaptable for open water. I carry a Hudson's Bay axe on the foredeck, with a quick-release sheath of my own design. When seal-launching from an elevated bank, my momentum may not carry me out to a point where the thin ice breaks underneath my weight. By reaching forward and sinking the axehead into the ice as far I can, I haul myself forward. It's like climbing an ice-fall, horizontally. This also works to get through impasses where the river is blocked by slab ice. Before launching, I tie a long rope to a stationary object on shore. The other end is tied to an old detergent bottle (I prefer Tide-- nice orange color). I coil the line on the afterdeck, where it pays out as I work my way to the edge. There I position the bottle so that I can retrieve it when I'm ready to haul out. Sometimes the line freezes into the ice a bit, but polypropylene, while very stretchy, works loose and allows me to pull myself onto dry land, or at least thick ice. It's analogous to ice diving: you want to come out through the same hole you went in, and have a lifeline waiting for you. In a pinch, of course, the axe trick will get you to shore, but the rope is a lot easier. Dan Harrison *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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