Maine Paddling

Thursday, February 21, 2013

2013 Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium

Three weeks have passed since the 2013 Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium in the San Francisco Bay Area. The vibe was right-on this year with a healthy mix of personality, positive attitudes, a relaxed atmosphere & abundant sunshine. It was a great place to make friends and do some paddling.

After a brief period of contemplation, we've decided to do it all again in 2014. My goal next year is definitely to spend much, much more time on the water. Maybe even do some coaching! I want to give a huge 'thank you' to the many sponsors, volunteers, staff, coaches & participants that came out for the celebration.

photo by Roberto Gutierrez

The morning drive to the launch. photo by Roberto Gutierrez

photo by Roberto Gutierrez

Love this classic bridge shot. photo by Roberto Gutierrez

Saturday, January 12, 2013

New Years at Baldface Lodge

Powder skiing is my favorite thing in the world.

A few days after xmas, Haley and I flew to Spokane, rented a pickup truck and drove into Canada. We arrived at the airfield in Nelson, British Columbia around 2pm, organized our gear, squeezed into the helicopter and ascended into the hills. Barely 10 minutes later we were scurrying across the helipad through a frigid downdraft surrounded by winter at Baldface Lodge.

The next four days were my most memorable days on snow ever. We rode top-to-bottom untracked powder almost every single run and started 2013 in the best possible way I can imagine. Here are some pics:

Our guides RC & DW were total pros in the mountains.

snowbow

in the cat

on the way up, Kataoke was born...

The CREW

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Surfing the Bark Expedition

Just before noontime on Thursday I got that stir-crazy kind of feeling like If I didn't get out of the house soon, I was gonna go nuts. The surf was reported to be small, but clean and ridable and a perfect day to surf longboats. Kayak surfing hasn't been on my mind though - the fourteen foot standup board has. At 14 feet it's pretty darn long for a surf outing but I figured if I can handle long kayaks surely I can handle this huge board. I tossed the log on the car and motored towards the coast.

After maybe 30 seconds of watching the waves I was assured they were perfect for the equipment I brought. "Let's go, we're burning daylight" I said to myself out loud while jogging back to the car.

The Bark is a reasonably fast board, but it's heavy and that makes it really slow to accelerate. It takes a few strokes to get up to speed and that's not a desired characteristic in the surfzone. After a few warm up rides on the far shoulder, I worked my way into the uncrowded lineup where four others were surfing the peak on regular surfboards. I spent the first few waves sliding down the wave like a sea kayak, rather than carving. I wasn't yet used to the weight of the board, wasn't engaging the rail properly and had to use low braces to stay on the board. It was fun, but I wasn't in control. Then it clicked. I worked the rails more, got used to the weight and was nothing but smiles the rest of the day.

By now, the other surfers had paddled in, leaving me alone in the lineup with a few curious seals and a dimming sun getting closer to the horizon. Before getting shark-fever I paddled to the next break and joined two other guys. This time I just jumped in when a nice wave came to me. It was twice the size of the others and really fun until it closed out on the sandbar. I repeatedly got lured into the sandbar trap, staying on waves that were too fun to peel off of before they closed out. After 30 minutes I caught my wave of the day, shoulder high and peeling. That's what it felt like, at least. I'm sure it looked ridiculous from the beach, but who cares. That wave alone was worth the long drive. It was exactly what I needed to get out of my morning funk. I'd completely forgotten about whatever it was that had me crazy this morning and was re-energized. So nice. As the sun set, I replayed that wave over and over in my mind, slid my sandals off and drove the curvy roads a bit faster than I should have. So fun..

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Paddling "the maze"

Today I was looking for mellow and that's what I got. I paddled out of Emeryville and along the normally shallow, marshy shoreline from the 80/880/580 interchange to the Oakland Bay Bridge toll booths, affectionately referred to as "the maze". Like most residents of the greater Bay Area, I've passed this cove in a vehicle hundreds of times and never once paddled it. On a normal high tide there's less than a foot of water, if any, and it's not worth challenging the getting-stuck potential. This morning's 6.9ft high tide brought the entire cove into play and gave me a reason to stay local.

Looking back towards the "maze"

80 West

The cove is full of evidence that suggests it was a happening inlet back in the day. Weathering piles, dilapidated duck blinds and boathouse remains fill the cove with nostalgia and give a slow, quiet feel to an area normally experienced at 50 mph. Nautical debris lines the shoreline while land that is usually high & dry is a foot under water. The water is close enough to the highway to read license plates in the commuter lane. It's an odd place to paddle, but I feel strangely connected to it and will be back during the next set of spring tides, if not sooner.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Lumpy Waters Symposium

Paul Kuthe and the crew at Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe go far out of their way to make sure everyone has a good time and I'm pretty sure that was the case. For me, it was 4 solid days of paddling this, paddling that. Talking about paddling, actually paddling, reconnecting with other paddlers & meeting new ones. There was a wonderful fresh energy this year dominated by first-time attendees, some of them having only gotten into kayaking this summer. Considering the less-than-ideal conditions for new students, I'm greatly impressed with their stamina and positive attitudes in rainy conditions. I didn't hear one complaint the entire weekend and, to me, it was refreshing to see everyone just enjoying their time around other paddlers no matter what the conditions. The majority of folks were highly appreciative and understand all the work that was done to give them this opportunity to learn.

Well done Alder Creek!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Treasure Island Paddle

Yesterday morning I made the paddle from Berkeley out to Treasure Island, around it and back. The planning was perfect, as was the weather. What I was looking for, however, was the 15-25 kt wind from the west that was forecasted but never materialized. The idea was to get out to the far side of TI as the winds picked up and then ride the wind swell back home with some surfing excitement. Unbelievably, the wind was stronger at 9am when I launched than it was at noon on my return. Oh well, it was a nice paddle nonetheless and one I've been wanting to do on a standup board for awhile.

It's been quite fun re-paddling many of the San Francisco Bay routes that I've done previously in sea kayaks. Planning for tides and currents is a bit more important on a board since I can't quite sprint as fast as I can in a kayak. On this paddle the crux move was paddling up current just north of the Bay Bridge where it hits the west side of Yerba Buena island. With a bit of swell crashing on the rocks at YB I couldn't quite stay in the eddy and was forced into the main current for a few minutes. Even though the flood was racing through, it was barely 2 kts and quite manageable.

As I look out across the bay today, it's whitecaps as usual. The typical scene that we get almost everyday. I'm still baffled that the one day I'm really hoping for strong wind, I get ignored and find glassy conditions at noontime.