Re: [Paddlewise] Resuce in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 11:07 PM, Doug Lloyd <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca> wrote:

>
> I don't know the area that well but enough to know any point of land
> jutting
> into current means trouble, often more so on the ebb on these inland
> waterway locations and shorelines.


Bingo! Starting out on a paddle when the water is high indicates high tide
which is, inevitably, followed by the water going out somewhere. Find a
piece of land that juts out into this and you have found a place that is
almost guaranteed to present you with challenges. Especially when the high
tide is over 9 feet and the low tide is a minus.



> I didn't rightly understand the
> difficulty manoeuvring away from trouble for someone claiming experience on
> that particular stretch of coastline and general good paddling skills. I
> didn't understand how anyone could classify a rocky coast section of that
> location as too rocky for a landing. Not there. There was a lot I did not
> understand in the narrative.


I've paddled around that point a few times and I remember it being virtually
all sandy beach with grassy dunes. A glance at Google Earth confirms that
the only rocks I could find were in the vicinity of the lighthouse which
look like rip-rap placed to make sure the sand the lighthouse sits upon
might last more than a few months. There might be no landing there but there
should have been lots of places to land earlier.

I did get the impression that turning around was difficult. Matt says that
he was not using his rudder but I am still confused about why he didn't
reverse course when he noticed that he was headed towards a nasty rip. Or
just paddle backwards to the beach. (I had to do that once when I got into a
kayak for a test ride and discovered that it would not turn around... talk
about directional stability).


> I didn't understand your point about the
> weathercocking. Maybe I'm slow.
>

My remarks about weather-cocking came from an impression that he took a long
time turning around and were directed at the possibility that all the gear
was in the forward hatch. He mentions that he noticed that the boat is
weather cocking in an area where he'd be protected from the northerly. If
his boat is weather cocking in almost zero wind and he's planning to paddle
to a place where there is almost certainly going to be a lot more wind (wind
contrary to the current) then that might be a clue to future problems.
However, as Matt indicated, I haven't paddled in a boat that weather cocked
(without being able to slide the seat forward or backwards to correct it) in
a long, long time. At any rate, I was wondering why a reversing of course
wasn't apparently possible before he got into the tidal rips.

>
> I do understand that there are a lot of paddlers out there who, like this
> gentleman, need to up their game. There's nothing wrong with solo paddling
> but the activity of paddling without the benefit of companions or a
> committed partner preclude inattention to gear maintenance and demand more
> attention be paid at all levels.
>

Airplane accident statistics suggest that there is a level of experience
where pilots are more at risk than even when they are complete novices.
Somewhere around 100 hours of flying time there seems to be a period where
they become more complacent with their skills. It would not surprise me at
all to learn that there is a similar problem with kayak paddlers. A point at
which the paddler believes he/she has encountered enough problems to be
comfortable surmounting almost anything.. This is where I think having a
good kayak club or group can be valuable. Guys like Mark and Duane and their
CKF pals always seem to be challenging each other in playful ways which are
entertaining but which also strengthen their skills.

And of course Pam's cogent remarks about going out while dressed in a
drysuit that you know leaks stand on their own merit.


Craig
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