Kayak icebreaking is a unique phenomenon for those of us in northern latitudes, I am sure. I was wondering if anybody else out there goes out in their kayaks to ram floating ice sheets? Sounds silly, but this time of year there are large sheets of ice on our lake. They are held together very loosely and comprised of large vertical columnar ice crystals. When the kayak rams the ice sheet - the columnar ice crystals slowly peel away and sound very much like a chandelier or wind chime. Our club makes this an annual special event that is looked forward by all. Is there anybody else doing this? Anybody have preferred kayaks for this? I like my West River 180, because it splits the ice sheet nicely and maintains stability well if hung up or high centered. Taking out the icebreaker kayak tonight if the wind is right. :-) Jim Meldrum Lesser Slave Lake Sea Kayak Club Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 09:01 AM 5/22/03 -0600, Jim Meldrum wrote: >Kayak icebreaking is a unique phenomenon for those of us in northern >latitudes, I am sure. (snip) >Anybody have preferred kayaks for this? I like my West River 180, because >it splits the ice sheet nicely and maintains stability well if hung up or >high centered. Times like this, when the ice is breaking up -- or when the ice is just a skim, perhaps an eighth of an inch thick, are the times that I prefer to paddle my Old Town Heron. It has a nice square bow that does a good job of breaking the ice, rather than just riding up on top of it. It is nice to get out when the ice gets candled, and is just floating around in brash -- the ice crystals banging together and breaking up make a little tinkling sound I call "The Bells of Spring." For some reason, when there's a group of us doing this, I always seem to wind up in the lead. But - a question: what do you use for a paddle? I always have to break ice with the paddle to get a grip, and prefer not to use a good one. When ice like this is likely, I usually take the oldest beater I can find around the shop. -- Wes --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wes Boyd's Kayak Place NEW URL! -- http://www.kayakplace.com Kayaks for Big Guys (And Gals) | Trip Reports | Places To Go | Boats & Gear --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I icebreak all winter long in Michigan. Two weeks ago ice was still forming overnight on Traverse Bay off Lake Michigan. I've successfully navigated ice sheets about 2 cm thick, by carrying an alpinist's ice axe on a lanyard attached to the lifelines with a carabiner. I bury the pick in the ice and haul myself forwards, until (a) the ice breaks under my weight; or (b) I get to the other side. I call it "horizontal ice climbing." For rivers, I use my Dagger Edisto, which I like for its flat bottom, but dislike for its vertical prow. For open water, I favor my Greenland-style Valley Avocet RM, which slides up onto the ice easier, but is tippier on large thick sheets. You're right, that delicate tinkling sound is very special. And my wildlife sightings tend to be memorable, too. Dan Harrison ------------------------------ >Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 09:01:53 -0600 >From: Jim Meldrum <meldrum_at_yourfuture.ab.ca> >Subject: [Paddlewise] Icebreaker kayaks >Kayak icebreaking is a unique phenomenon for those of us in northern >latitudes, I am sure. >I was wondering if anybody else out there goes out in their kayaks to ram >floating ice sheets? [snip] *************************************************************************** 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 the spring our candleing ice sheets are around 10 - 30 cm thick. Unfortunately in the winter our ice is around 1 - 2 meters thick and paddling isn't an option. The narrow multichined hull of the West River 180 relatively easily breaks up the thicker candling ice. In answer to Wes Boyd's question - I use my Mountain Equipment Coop brand Graphite paddle - it is strong enough and thin enough to get in between ice crystals to get a good grab for the next paddle stroke. I use a homemade greenland paddle that I can sacrifice in tougher conditions. I like the ice axe idea - I use two 7" scuba knives to skim myself along ice, that I can't break through. Longer distances than 100 meters of horizontal ice climbing get quite exhausting. :-) Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: Dan Harrison [SMTP:DHARRISN_at_hfcc.edu] > > I icebreak all winter long in Michigan. Two weeks ago ice was still > forming overnight on Traverse Bay off Lake Michigan. I've successfully > navigated ice sheets about 2 cm thick, by carrying an alpinist's ice axe > on a lanyard attached to the lifelines with a carabiner. I bury the pick > in the ice and haul myself forwards, until (a) the ice breaks under my > weight; or (b) I get to the other side. I call it "horizontal ice > climbing." For rivers, I use my Dagger Edisto, which I like for its flat > bottom, but dislike for its vertical prow. For open water, I favor my > Greenland-style Valley Avocet RM, which slides up onto the ice easier, but > is tippier on large thick sheets. > You're right, that delicate tinkling sound is very special. And my > wildlife sightings tend to be memorable, too. > Dan Harrison > > [snip] *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:34 PDT