Re: [Paddlewise] Dumpers

Peter,


> "Finally, dance with the waves and sing at the top of your lungs around
> every lumpy headland. " I like the way you put that. Have a crack at
poetry some time.

Thank you Peter!

> "...how to land a loaded boat in dumpers"
> Now here's a tricky business...  What do you reckon?


In my earnestness to avoid dumpers I have become bereft of mastering them.
It is probably true that most that make this type of landing will never be
sure of a happy outcome. I think the trick is to avoid being slurped back in
during those frantic seconds when one exits the boat. With rare exception
one will land with, as you so aptly state, a hard broach and savage high
brace. Not much side-surfing but a brutal bronco ride followed immediately
by a frantic scramble out to grab the toggle.

Launching is vastly more assured if a helper can hold your bow till enough
energy has dissipated and then released for a ferocious sprint. I remember
landing with Konstantin Gortinski at Big Lagoon north of Humboldt Bay.
Trinidad Head was six nm on but we had paddled from Point St. George
(Crescent City) and opted to land. Landing in dumpers, tired after some 35
or so nm, was not a happy prospect. Who knows, those flaccid arms might
object to a shoulder dislocation. Miraculously, We each came in on top
without broaching.

However, launching in the predawn we got the yin of our yang. Konstantin
offered to give me a shove. I readily agreed, knowing how difficult it is to
enter the boat, secure the skirt and grasp the paddle before being knocked
askew to be glued in an embrace of wet sand. With an oompf from K, off I
went, in a gleefull dash and soon traversed the shorebreak. Konstantin was
not so fortunate. I watched helplessly as he and 200 lbs of boat and gear
were propelled skyward twice before he emerged flayling his paddle with a
heart rate in scientific notation and gasping for breath. I have learned
that the energy expended punching surf often approximates that burned during
a day of paddling. Hence my advice to seek harbors (around Trinidad Head).

Sid


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