It's been a quite somber week, sadly... so how about a trip report to change the mood and stir some sea kayaking related discussion? I had a fun time this past weekend on Sucia Island in the San Juans... a kayaker's wedding. Two very close friends decided to tie the knot in a non-traditional way. They and the rest of our paddling group of friends paddled out the 2+ nmi from North Beach on Orcas, though some came from Lummi Island and one came from Anacortes (18+ nmi). A 25' aluminum pack boat (www.islandsherpa.com) was used to shuttle out food, drink, canopies, dutch ovens, and non-kayakers. Two unforgettable days of merrymaking commenced... But that's not the story I want to relate, because the paddling was excellent and a story unto itself. We had a glorious calm evening paddle, a rough and wild paddle, and a mini-rescue adventure. So much fun, and I learned something too... :) Heading out to Sucia is about a two mile paddle from the North shore of Orcas Island. This shore is on the receiving of the entire length of the Strait of Georgia, so the fetch is significant and the exposure to any kind of rough weather is extreme. Still, the two miles of water is often mirror calm and Sucia island is an inviting 30-60 minute paddle away, beckoning to novice and expert kayakers alike. Currents are unpredictable and slowly swirl around the area, and Parker Reef is just to the east of the typical paddling route. Needless to say, the weather can change rapidly, and the prevaling winds will usually blow hapless kayakers onto Parker Reef - often with disastrous results. This is why Matt Broze titled a chapter "Yet Again, Parker Reef" in his safety book Deep Trouble; which recounts a tale of several novices who paddled over to Sucia in the calm and ended up paddling back in heavy weather. They were pushed onto Parker Reef, where waves that noticeably grew in height and steepness sent all swimming into the Drink. Thankfully in this story everyone made it to shore with only a few cases of hypothermia. As I write this and recall that story, it is interesting to note the many similarities to my trip. It is very easy to see why someone might become "trapped" on Sucia by a relatively common stiff breeze in the Strait of Georgia. It's such an easy paddle in the calm, and then it is easy to see how one might choose to test their limits because of the need to return to work the following Monday. That is if they even know their limits, since Good Judgemnt often only comes from the benefit of hard won experience. On this list, some require a bit more "experience" than others... you know who you are :-) The core paddlers of this trip were very experienced. Most of us paddle class III or IV whitewater and have done plenty of training and expeditions in rough water. Two even had paddled the entire exposed outer coast of British Columbia using rudderless, skegless kayaks of local Seattle design (guess what kind :). But there were also several novices along with the group, including my girlfriend who had all of four hours of previous experience paddling in sea kayaks. Fortunately, she has paddled whitewater for several years and has a solid eskimo roll. Whitewater training translates directly to rough water sea kayaking, and is the best way I know for sea kayakers to develop advanced physical boat handling skill. Still, even the most gnarly class V kayaker doesn't necessarily know the first thing about good judgement on the sea, or about navigating, reading wind and water, and performing rescues. They can survive rough water, perform countless rolls, and paddle long distances right from the start, but they must also rely on someone else's better judgment. I am writing this because in retrospect, our collective judgment was somewhat lacking, and one minor incident did occur. Kayakers who attended the wedding converged from two launching points, North Beach on Orcas Island (~2 mi), and Lummi Island near Bellingham (~12 mi). Jenn and I left from North Beach Friday evening. We launched just as the sun was setting. It was a mirror calm evening with beautiful light, and it was a magical experience that I will not soon forget. Particularly noteworthy was the abnormally strong phosphoresence, which lit up every paddle stroke with green fire. I measure the strength of phosphorescence in terms of bow wakes. It is quite strong if the bow wake is visible from your kayak, shimmering off at an angle as you paddle. That night, the secondary bow wake was visible too, which is something that I had never seen before. Also the entire waterling length of my partner's kayak glowed as she glided through the water. We paddled with LED waterproof headlamps, which were ready to be turned on should the sound of motors approach. We used them only briefly, because the light drowned out the phosporescence and the stars. There was enough ambient light to see the outline of Sucia during the initial crossing, and then there were enough boats with anchor lights to find our way into Echo Bay and meet the group on shore. The next paddling day was more eventful. We returned on Sunday, and early in the morning it was apparent that the wind was up. From our camp inside Echo Bay, there was only a moderate stirring of the air compared to the prior day's dead calm. However the wind was blowing 20 knots on the West side of the island, as we heard from another member of our party who went fishing at 6am. I didn't really think much about this, because my world was too focused on obtaining sufficient coffee and breakfast to dispell the lingering effects of the after-wedding party. I also remember thinking that it would make the paddle a lot more interesting and fun. Perhaps I've read too many stories from Doug Lloyd and have become a little envious of all the fun he seems to have in rough weather! I think the two biggest mistakes in judgment were not ensuring that everyone wore enough thermal protection and not ensuring that everyone knew the details of the crossing. I also did not make enough effort to make sure that Jenn was comfortable and prepared for the rough water. She had a wetsuit and drytop, but only wore her polypro for the crossing. She would have been very cold if she rolled or swam, though fortunately she did neither. She also did not like having to paddle with 3-4 foot waves on her beam. She never felt secure and comfortable, and was very afraid that she might capsize. Even though we had just paddled a Class III river the weekend before, including two runs down a 10' high waterfall, she lacked confidence in her ability in this new environment... and with good reason. Since she was very new to sea kayaking, she did not know how to do any kind of assisted rescue, and had never practiced rolling her boat. She was also very far from the safety of land. This added to her fear of the unknown. In the end, she managed the crossing just fine, but she wasn't happy about it. She wasn't too mad at me initially, probably because she was unaware of just how lacking in judgment I had been. She got a little more cross as I explained it in hindsight. I am a penintent man, and I deserve it! She also is a getting an autographed copy of Deep Trouble so she can learn to take care of herself without my inexpert guidance. She says she will consider more sea kayaking in the future. Whew! But that is not the most interesting story of the crossing. There were about ten of us that paddled back in a grossly spread out fashion (another error in judgment). Everyone had landed and was busy unpacking and loading gear when someone said, "Has anyone seen John?" These are not words that you ever want to hear. It didn't take long to realize that he hadn't made it into the marina at Smuggler's Cove. It quickly came out that he was indeed the last paddler in the group, and that he was last seen paddling westward about 150 yards offshore as the second-to-last person entered the marina. About 10-15 minutes had passed, and he was not visible from the shore even using binoculars. Three of the stronger kayakers went out in search, but they all went out separately. They should have gone together, and had a radio. None of them did, and mine was dead from inadequate charging. They all paddled westward, when indeed John was to the east. He did not know that we were landing in a marina and kept looking for boats pulled up on a beach. John had initially paddled over from Lummi, and I don't think anyone realized that he did not know where were going. The breakwater is also very small and easy to miss. John eventually guessed his error and paddled back up the shore and made his own way into the marina. However in the meantime we had sent three other kayakers out in the wrong direction with no way to recall them. A pre-rescue planning meeting would have been a very smart thing to do! I don't think any of us could fathom one of our very experienced members going missing, as John has done plenty of long and difficult sea kayak trips. There was a lot of confusion, and very little discussion. Next time will be different! Another interesting thing happened too. We had told the marina manager about the missing kayaker, and he went ballistic. "Do you realize that someone dies here on this beach every year?!?!" Upon seeing the three kayakers heading out, he made some comments about having sent three more people to their deaths. After asking us if we wanted a plane to be launched, he eventually went out in a little skiff with another of our group. It was a good thing he had a radio, because we were then able to let the others know that John had returned. Although apparently after having caught up with our trio of rescuers, he royally bitched them out for being "irresponsible". He was about to turn around and go home without relaying that John was safe, but fortunately one of the party asked him directly. I can't really blame him for acting that way, since rescuing a missing kayaker has not his responsiblity at all. Still, his attitude left us feeling kind of bitter about his help. I never got a chance to thank him. Well, it is getting late and I don't feel like polishing this thing up any more. I look forward to your opinions and comments! Also, I had a chance to surf a little bit on the last day, and I have some more comments on broaching that will utterly refute all dissenting opinions once and for all! But I'm afrad that will now have to wait until tomorrow... Cheers, Kevin Whilden *************************************************************************** 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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