User Tools
Sidebar
Big Wind Outings?
Denise Weeks Oct 26 #30376
Some of you are on islands or are across the country, but what about the rest of you? Any outings on these big days? Besides Saturday's P4Food adventure? Paul and I had a good run down Lake Whatcom yesterday. Seemed like it was ESE, SE, WSW, ESW, ABCDEF, and a little bit more. Luckily it lined up nicely with our takeout at Bloedel.
Reivers Dustin Oct 26 #30377
Fresh water. No rinsey the boatey. nice when it hits, but I've been skunked so often on the lake. But I guess you gotta factor in getting you vehicle broken into at Wildcat. Today is going to be a good day on the bay. Going for loops at MP at 10am.
rd
beau whitehead Oct 26 #30379
Collin Smiths video from yesterday (Monday) …. Burley.
Paul Reavley Oct 26 #30380
We've been lucky so far with our Lk. Whatcom runs. If it's 35+ mph and SE we're looking at it. We drop off our shuttle car at Bloedel-Donovan and it has to look good direction and size-wise there for a go. But every time so far each run has been somewhat different.
Yesterday we were in and out of the wind at various points. For a good part of the run from the south fire station (we like starting there because it is relatively protected and we get a good warmup) the wind was more concentrated on the far side. You could see the whitecaps running right to left closer to the far shore in Blue Canyon so we paddled up the canyon a bit and over to the far side then had wind and waves to Reveille Island. We chose to stay left through the middle of the lake and missed out on some of the stronger wind and waves there that were farther out, but it was nice to be more out of the gusts which were kind of obnoxious at times. Caught some funky rebound at Strawberry Pt., but Denise was on a good wave and zipped right through that. Then the waves started to build again for the nice finale at Bloedel with a quick turn across the waves at the end to land near the boat ramp - good place to practice beam paddling on a day like yesterday.
Reivers Dustin Oct 26 #30382
I heard there was a couple folks pulled out of the water this morning. So, like, this isn't for making anyone feel bad or anything. But it would be great if we got a “lessons learned” post out of it. Now if it was me or one of the larry's or especially David that would be a big old shame-fest. Like, I would be really embarrassed if I acted like one of us guys. Uh, maybe not very much. I mean, shit ahoy guys. I dun every dumb thing you can do on a boat maybe. hehe. jaysus, shit me an LG done in our younger dayz. uh.
uh, maybe I should be sober when I post this sutff.
So. But really. This still a new sport compared to skiing or pong, Or running. We are none of us that far from death out there. Paddling bigs, that is. When it's rocking, we are close to reality. Which I love, by the way. I have come to realize how that is what makes it a good day. just a little edge, makes it good.
But what I was talking about before I interrupted myself was how about the folks that took a swim today? What did you learn? Can I learn it by reading, or what. Would love to hear a story.
Reivers
Paul Reavley Oct 26 #30385
uhmmm - I learned I don't really care for a nose leash:
I was also enlightened to the fact that my surfski technique is not yet up to the level of the technical on the Bay we had in the early afternoon. And my life jacket was too loose. And my paddle was levered out of my hand one time by my boat necessitating a quick grab to get it back - a paddle leash might have been a good idea for me today. I was not pulled out of the water, but I did wind up pulling myself back into my surfski 6 times.
And my apologies to my paddling partners for slowing them down on a day when they otherwise would have been rocking it.
Reivers Dustin Oct 26 #30386
There’s a booger.
Tatum Nolan Oct 27 #30391
I'll bite.
And to be clear, I'm a beginner, so this may just offer you humorous recollection of some of your early lessons and things that are so intuitive that you forgot you knew.
I had a quick session on Padden yesterday. Some laps up/downwind, and then some practice paddling across the wind. Although Padden has been buffered from some other storms we've had, it had strong wind yesterday.
1. I love that Mike Tyson quote 'everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face.' True for paddling. Any semblance of technique or muscle memory I have (thanks to Ana/Neil/Jamie) disappeared in my effort to stay afloat. I was all arms, no rotation, and no legs.
2. My whole body was clinched when I was beating upwind. I remember wondering why my face was all scrunched up, and I was amazed at how much I was doing that wasn't really necessary.
3. Maybe because of 2, I was utterly whipped after a very brief session.
4. I wasn't even surfing anything, but going downwind sure was fun. And at least from a balance standpoint, it was the easiest of all.
5. Who knew that the paddle would want to blow out of my hands. I have been gripping lightly because of some tender skin, but no longer.
6. The best balance practice was just some cross wind figure eights where I could focus on balance and hip mobility while beginning to work back proper technique, but without having to worry much about propulsion.
7. Getting the boat onto the car was a bit hairy. I ended up driving up to the entrance to the parking lot and loading the boat behind the hedge to escape the wind.
tatum
