Surfski Knowledge Base

Reivers Dustin
Jan 18 2020 #25889

Horses out there might be a little hefty for little old me. But I'm going. It's like 'dances with wolves' or maybe running of the bulls.

…'running of the BS?“
I'm working on my Spanish you guys. Learned a new phrase:
“Hasty Lavatories”.

Reivers Dustin
Jan 18 #25890

poop-en-heimer. I swam with the fishes for a bit this morning. Some other guys were working on their remount so me and David headed out their direction in order to gloat, er, I mean help. Except a little capper and a sharp gust popped me right outa my seat. I got to really test out my stern leash, wetsuit, which side to remount on … yadda yadda. The boat blew over my head a couple times, then stern leash would slide in and boat would settle in perfect position. I found out that I couldn't just go to my favorite side. I had to mount “goofy-side” from the right side of the boat. Not my strong side. Also, the stern leash hung up at the back once, but I saw it before my attempt and it was no big deal to organize. MG settled in upwind of me just to encourage and observe. I don't know if David saw me in the water. He said later that the conditions seemed crappy. (Thank goodness he said it.)
A dump in the water tends to zap the energy so I just did a couple laps and bailed for home. So today was not running with the bulls. It was waddling with the water buffaloes. … wimping with weiner-dogs? … falling with fishes? … messin with mudskippers? ok ok I'm done.

Denise Weeks
Jan 18 #25891

Where’s the GoPro when we need it? This could be documentation for the Wiki’s “How to Paddle Like a [Safe] Barnacle” page.

John Schwandt

Jan 18 #25893

I (future barnacle) was swimming with you. I took off from Waypoint Park thinking that no matter what the waves would push me home. About half way to the Rock Point buoy (I think that is name) a gust of wind got the best of me. Getting beamed by the wind and then having it catch the paddle is one more lesson on my list to learn. Remount was no problem but the bully wind was playing with my mind so I turned around had a nice run back. I felt like I still had some energy and thought I would take it a couple notches down on Lake Whatcom. The wind was actually blowing harder there, but hey, why not get everything washed off?

The waves were great but I had a heck of a time controlling my nose and then big gust caught the paddle to the side and I was over. WAY COLDER, but back up pretty fast. That was enough for me. I starting trying to find ways back to the boat launch but went in a couple more times and got pushed away quickly with each remount. The boat would fly over my head (with a nice “hello”) and really made me trust the leash to get it back. The last time I went in I was starting to wonder about my energy, the leash was wrapped around both my legs, and felt my core getting too cold (everything was getting hard to move) and this little jaunt was turning into something a little more serious (even though I was probably only 100 feet from shore), so instead of going for a full remount I just laid across the cockpit to keep my core out of the water. I was wearing a farmer john wetsuit and wetsuit jacket with a ski hat (neoprene gloves and booties). This position was allowing me to warm up, but now I knew I wasn't going to Bloedel. I kicked my way through the posts and docks to a beach in the middle of the north side. I was just getting ready to walk back to Bloedel when someone from one of the houses, Gene (retired sea kayaker) shouted out to me from his deck and gave me a ride back with my boat. I guess that is one of the benefits of putting on a good show, and having so many nice people living around the area.

I've been lurking on the email list for year and thought it was about time I participated a bit more. You all are such an encouragement. I'm loving getting into this sport and the community.

Cheers,
John (slow guy in the red Think Zen)

Reivers Dustin

Jan 18 #25894

Gene Davis, what a guy. He has incredible depth of knowledge and a very gentle approach to people. You would never guess from just normal conversation that this guy has a very impressive life story. I think he's the one who talked LB into doing a kayak paddle across the border into Canada in order to check out border security ability to catch kayakers.

It's funny about Whatcom. Where you were is about where I got blown off my Speedster and had to swim for it. Nobody knew about leashes back then. The macho trick was to use your paddle to swim. You could bust some incredible speed, but it took phenomenal energy/power. You should try it (with kayak paddle). And no, I was not able to catch my boat. A couple of other paddlers caught it before it smashed into those docks.

hehe. everybody does swim sessions. Sometimes when LG and I would be getting to the end of a big run one or the other would fall in from inattention or overconfidence. LG called it the “look Ma, no hands” flop.

Love this sport. Welcome to the swim team.

Saturday Paddle
Kevin Olney
Jan 18 #25892

A few skis and OCs paddled Wildcat to the harbor around 10:00. Fast clean waves up to Governors and the usual easterly push out of Chuckanut bay but extending farther north than normal. It was good and gusty by the time we hit post point where things really got sweet for about a half mile.

We had originally planned on finishing at Squalicum beach but the parking lot was a treacherous sheet of ice so opted for the harbor (only slightly less sketchy). Wind was lined up much better for the beach than the harbor so the last mile and a half consisted of sloppy beamish waves but still a quality run.

If anyone has a bag of my clothes I would love to reunite with them sometime.

KO

Kimberly Reeves
Jan 19 #25895

Paddle for the skills you have, not the skills you want.

After some honest deliberation with myself, I decided that hoping on Kevin’s trailer for the downwind was pushing my comfort zone and a survival paddle wasn’t on my to do list for the day.

After bowing out, I met with the usual suspects at MP: the Denises, Paul R and Julie V for some spectacular laps in the afternoon. Pushing up wind with rebound at barely 2 mph wasn’t much fun, but the roller coaster ride to the north made it worth it!

Kim

Reivers Dustin
Jan 19 #25896

Not being swept along is sooo hard. I should be dead for stoopid a hundred times, but oh well.

Laps are good. It's hard work but you know what you're dealing with. On those wild DW runs, you commit before you can know. And some of these dang party boys, you don't know if they would remember your name in the morning.