This past weekend, I took a 3 hour paddle in and around my normal "afternoon paddle" areas. But, something was different this time and I want to ask about it. This is my second year as a kayaker (ie: still a beginner with a lot to learn), and I've been to this one section at least a dozen times. Just off the coast (maybe 1/4 mile) is a series of islands, none of which are bigger than maybe 300 yards across in any one direction. Two of them are about 100 yards apart, and the water gets shallow in between - goes from maybe 10 feet deep up to a few inches (at low tide, anyway). At the time of this story, sea gulls were standing in it, so it was maybe an inch or two. This past wekend, the wind was very strong - strongest I've been in yet, and at times couldn't make any forward progress at all when heading into the wind. I had spray and wind waves galore, it was an unusally low tide, and the wind was blowing from land out to sea, in a direction that would pass right between the two islands. As I got closer to the area that ran between the two islands, the water changed very noticably. Previously, the wind waves were consistantly blowing from left to right (land out to sea), but in a section that covered about 40 yards in all directions, and within maybe 10 yards of the sudden change in depth, the water was MUCH rougher, and was moving in every imaginalble direction. It was extremIey noticable, to the point where you could easily draw an imaginary line around this area and clearly see it's boundaries. As I got into the middle of it, I was being tossed and turned in every imaginable direction. I got out of it as quickly as possible, and then stuck around to watch it for awhile, and couldn't quite figure it out. If it were simply a sudden change in depth, and a funneling effect between the islands, I'd of thought the water would at least be moving in the same direction, but I was getting wet from ALL directions. The best ways I could think of to describe it was that it was like being in a hot tub with all the jets open and at full blast (only rougher, of course). Or, like the water was "boiling", or, like a school of very large fish were having a feeding frenzy on the surface. So, what's the deal here? Why such a confined and definable area, and why so rough in so many directions? Any ideas? Rick *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> As I got closer to the area that ran between the two islands, the water > changed very noticably. Previously, the wind waves were consistantly > blowing from left to right (land out to sea), but in a section that > covered about 40 yards in all directions, and within maybe 10 yards of the > sudden change in depth, the water was MUCH rougher, and was moving in > every imaginalble direction. Not knowing for sure, but it sounds like typical wave dynamics, constructive and destructive interference from several different wave patterns moving into one area, their magnitude enhanced by the area of shallow water. Richard Walker Conroe, TX http://people.txucom.net/~rwwamtek/kayak_log.html *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Rick, What you experienced was a tide rip. It is a pocket of turbulence caused by a shallows that the tide current runs over. It's whitewater, in a sense. Once you get used to the idea, you'll actually find them to be a lot of fun to paddle in. Personally, I take off into them to play whenever I can. Wayne -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Wayne Smith wsmith16_at_snet.net Check out my sea kayaking & homebrewing page: http://pages.cthome.net/wsmith16/home.html *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Rick Sylvia wrote: > > This past weekend, I took a 3 hour paddle in and around my normal "afternoon > paddle" areas. But, something was different this time and I want to ask > about it. > > [snip] I've been to this one section at least a dozen times. Just off > the coast (maybe 1/4 mile) is a series of islands, none of which are bigger > than maybe 300 yards across in any one direction. Two of them are about 100 > yards apart, and the water gets shallow in between - goes from maybe 10 feet > deep up to a few inches (at low tide, anyway). > > This past wekend, the wind was very strong - strongest I've been in yet, and > at times couldn't make any forward progress at all when heading into the > wind. I had spray and wind waves galore, it was an unusally low tide, and > the wind was blowing from land out to sea, in a direction that would pass > right between the two islands. > > As I got closer to the area that ran between the two islands, the water > changed very noticably. Previously, the wind waves were consistantly > blowing from left to right (land out to sea), but in a section that covered > about 40 yards in all directions, and within maybe 10 yards of the sudden > change in depth, the water was MUCH rougher, and was moving in every > imaginalble direction. It was extremIey noticable, to the point where you > could easily draw an imaginary line around this area and clearly see it's > boundaries. As I got into the middle of it, I was being tossed and turned > in every imaginable direction. I got out of it as quickly as possible, and > then stuck around to watch it for awhile, and couldn't quite figure it out. > > If it were simply a sudden change in depth, and a funneling effect between > the islands, I'd of thought the water would at least be moving in the same > direction, but I was getting wet from ALL directions. The best ways I could > think of to describe it was that it was like being in a hot tub with all > the jets open and at full blast (only rougher, of course). Or, like the > water was "boiling", or, like a school of very large fish were having a > feeding frenzy on the surface. > > So, what's the deal here? Why such a confined and definable area, and why > so rough in so many directions? Any ideas? Without more knowledge of the geometry of the islands' placement, it is tough to nail this down. One poster said "tide rip" which might fit. Another said "an area where the waves constructively and destructively interfere ..." (or words to that effect). I suspect the second explanation is correct. It is likely the area of confusion is an area where the dominant swell is focused from two different openings between islands (or, around one island) to coincide at the rough spot. If you check out some of the books on sea kayaking (I think Dowd has this) or Willard Bascom's Waves and Beaches (best source, if you can find it), you will see diagrams of how this focusing occurs around an island to make the in-shore (away-from-the-wave-source) side of the island such a rough spot .... rougher than the swell-side of the island! See if you can recollect the geometry of the islands and maybe you have a "textbook esample" of such a situation. (Aren't waves cool!) -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Rick, have you read the book _Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble: True Stories and Their Lessons from Sea Kayaker Magazine_ by Matt Broze (Contributor), George Gronseth, and Chris Cunningham (Editor)? Several stories in it explained weird combinations of wind, tide, land, and current that caused confused seas and treachery for sea kayakers. I recommend it highly, even to paddlers like me who ordinarily stay on lakes and rivers. On a safety note, I have a new idea for the 2001 paddling season. I am going to print "Float Plan" business cards at home with Avery business card stock. They will have my name, emergency contact info, color of boat, color of PFD, and a line where I can fill out a date and time of my estimated time of return. These will be handy to give rangers when I paddle at a county or state park. -Bob Matter Hammond, IN ----------- "If we don't go outside, it stops our brains." --Caroline Bowden, 1st Grade *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 2/13/01 2:04:45 AM Central Standard Time, rjmatter_at_PRODIGY.NET writes: > On a safety note, I have a new idea for the 2001 paddling season. I am > going to print "Float Plan" business cards at home with Avery business card > stock. They will have my name, emergency contact info, color of boat, > color of PFD, and a line where I can fill out a date and time of my > estimated time of return. These will be handy to give rangers when I > paddle at a county or state park. > > That is a great idea. I think float plans are one of the most overlooked safety devices. We have had a couple of instances of fishermen and sailboaters that spent very bad nights stranded not really that far from help, but nobody new where they were. The coast guard had to spend hours searching across wide areas that could have been eliminated if they had left some sort of plan. *************************************************************************** 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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