On 11/8/06, Mark Arnold <mjamja_at_earthlink.net> wrote: > This weekend I volunteered to help out at a local kayaking expo. > ..snip... > Still it is amazing to me that I can be in an area where kayaking is so > popular and still feel like I am involved in some strange fringe sport > because my choice of equipment is so different from almost everyone else in > the area. Well, to each his own. Some of this is related to location and nature of the waters available to paddle on. Mark, you all have warm water down there. Here on the Columbia River, the average winter water temp is below 50F, sometimes edging into the high 30's, and in summer it reaches a max of about 65F on a good day. The ocean is cold all year round, running about 45-50F, typically, depending on the degree of upwelling occurring. Surf? Oh, boy! We got surf -- most of the time the open beaches here are the realm of experts (plunging waves well over six feet), and ordinary layup sea kayaks will be broken in waves if they arrive in the impact zone. Rarely, the open beaches have waves in the 2- to 4-foot range. Clever and talented paddlers use points of land as shields to get out past the monster breakers, and explore huge sea caves and the few rock gardens we have. In addition, most areas of the main stem Columbia have big fetches and can have strong wind at times. The result is that I almost never see a recreational kayak where I paddle, although there is a wealth of very protected backwaters on the Columbia where a rec kayak is perfect -- much handier than a 17-foot boat, any time. Perversely, many full-on sea kayaks here only see the water once or twice a year, the owners having "moved on" to other endeavors. -- 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Nov 09 2006 - 02:25:29 PST
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