WMCKA Sea Kayak Symposium 2008 My Home is the Sea

Every year I attend the WMCKA Sea Kayaking Symposium it takes me a few days to absorb the impact of what it means to me. It is easy to say this happened and that happened. It is also easy to say this is the one thing that it meant, to go for the grand recit. What is infinitely harder is to say what it meant in smaller terms that make up the big picture. For my part WMCKA means a lot to me, as it is a culmination of planning efforts and coordination with the Symposium Committee, the WMCKA governing board, and a governing of my own desires for a great symposium.

I’d been trying to get Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme to come to our symposium since about 2005. Finally this year it worked out for both parties. This alone made me very happy in my heart. We decided to plan an instructor update prior to Symposium. This event was very well attended by our instructor group.

Shawna and Leon suited up and got us all out on the water asking us to paddle across Duck Lake and turning upwind. Their approach was to allow us to find our own way. They asked us to find five ways to turn upwind and simply let us paddle. We all came back with about seven ways to paddle upwind. The objective here it seems was to give us an objective, and allow us to interact with our environment, and then come up with our own conclusions. Based on the level of skill and experience each person has, they will come up with a variety of ways to deal with the environment. Only after we had tried a few things did Shawna and Leon call us in to have us give our ideas about what worked and what didn’t. Then after we had told them what we thought, they finally gave us their input. It was a really interesting way to teach a class. They barely spoke and allowed all of us to teach ourselves, each other, and finally when all that was done they gave us some pointers.

Derrick and a lot of the instructors were very juiced up about the bracing and rolling progression Shawna and Leon were sharing. This progression starts in a low brace, then high brace, and finally rolling. It focuses on starting the paddler on their back. Shawna and Leon have been using it with a high success rate in Washington. I would love to see a video of this progression a couple more times.

One of the more interesting points of the instruction for me was a paddle power demonstration. Shawna and Leon had us pair up with another paddler and link in tail to tail with another paddler on a contact tow. One paddler would use a euro paddle, the other would use a wing paddle or a euro paddle. The objective was to see who would tow who with the different paddle. I was paired off with Alec Boyd Peshkin who is my size and of equal power and skill. We started out with my carbon fiber greenland paddle and his werner shuna. Invariably the euro paddle would quickly overpower the Greenland paddle. We switched back and forth with the same results. We then used an epic wing and the Greenland paddle. It was dead even on these two paddles, I was surprised by this. We then switched to the wing and the euro. Again the euro paddle started dragging the paddler with the wing around.

I’ve held a not very scientific or empirical bias that the Euro and the Greenland style paddle were pretty much the same under these conditions. But after this I am not convinced. Doug Van Doren and Steve Bailey experienced the same results. Though Steve Bailey is a very powerful paddler and much bigger than Doug. Food for thought!!

A few of us headed out to Lake Michigan to paddle in the wind and waves afterwards. My inguinal hernia let me know pretty quickly that it was too soon for this type of exertion. I was left in the dust within a few minutes. I managed to take a few pictures regardless.

This was the point of the weekend where my mental state went in the drink. As a person I am competitive, gregarious, and outgoing. I found it very hard to be the slowest man on the water. It was a knife like jab in my belly to be unable to lead the pack when there was wind and waves to be had. My greatest joy in life is to be flying down wave with the wind at my back. To watch others easily out pace me felt like a clumsy root canal from a sadistic dentist with no anesthetic. I find I am a very poor spectator.

Once on sight at the Symposium in my spectator status I observed that the energy and enthusiasm Shawna and Leon exerted was as palpable as the pollen in the air. They were the first to be suited up to paddle and often the very last off the water. They were omnipresent and engaged in a way I have not seen any other instructors behave. You could tell that they loved being on the water, loved kayaking. And this enthusiasm melted over to the instructors, and the participants.

They also participated in the rodeo, and I saw kindred spirits, (I love a rodeo) in their competitive fun loving nature in the races, rolling contest, and passion to be involved, in the thick of things. Leon may have been channeling my wounded spirit when he and two other racers tackled one another into the shallows. What more could one ask for besides a rugby style tackle in a drysuit?

My grand recit for the weekend was observing Shawna and Leon as a couple. They spent every moment happily in each other’s company. I can say with some authority that this is very rare. You rarely saw one without the other. This sort of affection and dedication was so genuine one could hardly not feel it’s contagious gravity. I found myself more calm, more open towards friends, Laura, and the symposium in general. It seems to be the sort of bond you only read about in books, or see in movies. And perhaps this is not unlike kayaking, where you only get out of it what you put into it. And if this is any indication, the relationship and their kayaking seemed to have an effortless grace. Meaning there has probably been a lot of hard work on both ends.

Their slide show presentation on the Queen Charlotte Islands or Haida Gwai was fantastic. This expedition took place on the inside and outside of this island group. The outside is right on the edge of the continental shelf. The unbroken Pacific Ocean has no barrier between swell generation and the islands. So the full force of the world’s largest ocean breaks on these islands. Justine Curgenven went with Shawna and Leon and filmed the trip, so look for it in the next installment of This is the Sea.

One of Leon’s opening statements about the trip has been firmly cemented in my mind.
“You will never have enough money, you will never have enough vacation time, you just have to go.” Too bad that is too big to get as a tattoo.

I actually had many many participants and beginner paddlers come up and tell me how great the presentation was. That was a first. It is further proof that the energy you give to something is very real and palpable.

I hope to be able to find someone, or somebody as dedicated, enthusiastic and as skilled as Shawna and Leon for next year. I know there are some folks I would like to ask to visit us on Big Blue Lake. Some small part wonders if this may have been the proverbial summit of our little symposium.

I will leave you with a song by Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) that probably explains the energy we all feel about kayaking, instruction, and a life full of adventure, either small or big.

My Home Is the Sea-Bonnie Prince Billy Lyrics

I have often said
that I would like to be dead
in shark’s mouth

a woman swimming under
her warm breath sendin’ a thunder
on two parts south

and love is stripped and frayed
and duty is delayed
until next life

someone has my mind
holding yes so kind
it is my wife

and my home is the sea
my home is the sea
look not for me

my home is the sea
disaster flies upon me
and i sleep
we can see the house lights
colored from a distance
for a party as a dream

my tongue will into me
my arms unfold these seeds
cause im a strong man

and do not love my tummy
is round and firm and funny
and thats what i am

my home is the sea
my home is the sea

i am under your spell
you will have me i reckon
and the drowning this town
as a drowning i welcome

i know nothing and im over joyed
i know nothing and im over joyed
i know nothing and im over joyed

god gave you life and thought
now its ours to waste
i have the finest love
and the finest taste

see her when im home
i am home

you are home

Kayak Surfing Santa Cruz

I was fortunate enough on my SMX west conference to swindle two days of kayak surfing near Santa Cruz into the mix.

I did some research about where to rent a surf kayak, but then remembered the flippant offer from world surf competitor Sean Morely to give him a call if I wanted to surf. I managed to get a hold of him and he offered to take me out, but it didn’t work out, and he had a class to attend for a new ACA surf instructor certification. So he benevolently lent me a carbon kevlar Valley Rush and a paddle.

Sean gave some advice that Davenport, about 10 Miles north of Santa Cruz would probably be the best place to try as it is more paddle surfer friendly. Laura and I loaded up the surf kayak on our tiny rental car and drove north along California Highway 1. The drive is beautiful with a dramatic coastline and lots of open space unlike a lot of Southern California. We found Davenport Landing quite easily. I walked down the beach and checked out the break. A medium size swell was breaking in a manageable fashion off of some offshore rocks. But the waves came right up to some cliffs and rocks. On the other side of the break and further out, there were some very large faces that appeared to be more dumpy. I was clearly not going to go near that.

Day 1 Davenport Landing

I suited up and headed out. Again, paddling out on flat water is always a treat for a midwestern boy! Once out I was quite cautious because of all the rocks. but once I started catching rides I calmed down a bit. I caught a number of excellent rides and scooted off the back before they crashed into the onshore rocks. Faces were 4-6 feet at most. I managed to only wipe out once or twice. I can say that I had forgotten how awful it is to use a straight shaft white water paddle for rolling, the indexing is very iffy and I felt pretty rushed to get some air a few times.

Day 2 Davenport Landing

This day was far windier than the first. Wind was peaking at about 20 knots. This is more what I am accustomed to kayak surfing on Lake Michigan. The faces were smaller and harder to catch. I still caught some great rides. I even managed to paddle with some other kayak surfers, which is a first for me. And as it turns out fortuitous. I had the bum luck of a dumb swim. The wind and the rip carried me to the far end of the break, and I had to stand cold, tired, and feeling a little stupid on the beach. The surf was not even as big as it had been on Lake Michigan on days when I had stayed in the boat. I keep reminding myself that for a beginning kayak surfer on Great Lakes Surf with no training, maybe I should be more forgiving of my follies. Hopefully I get to make a few more mistakes!

The Valley Rush Surf Kayak

The kayak was excellent! I’ve never surfed such a fast surf craft. Once downwave this boat was unbelievable. It’s far and above the sweetest ride I’ve had yet. The power pocket tail was really helpful in getting a good takeoff. Though it seemed a little loose in the tail on some turns where I got squirted out of the whitewater. I think the fin placement could have used a little adjustment to the back to allow me to grab a little tighter.

Many Thanks to Sean for the opportunity to paddle the Rush!

Check out the picasa picture gallery:

My forward forward rolls have been suffering it seems from a lazy form. I finally hit the sweet spot this weekend by really tucking in tight to the fore deck. By not coming as far off the deck of the kayak when I initiate the sweep for my hand roll I was coming up with more ease than in the past. I think after another session I may be able to begin working back towards using a mitten and not the norsaq.
Cheri Perry had cautioned me against the commonplace arm thrust on this roll and to concentrate on the abdominal crunch and tuck.

Lo there did I feel the tummy burn on this roll…

I spent last Saturday in the pool in my sea kayak. It was a frustrating couple of hours relearning skills. I considered myself someone who spent the time in the seat working on their skills. And there I was having to relearn some of the harder rolls I thought I’d already mastered. I hit maybe 5 forward-forward hand roll attempts out of 20. I could not cross arm roll at all, my spine roll wasn’t even close.

Needless to say, I will have to get back in the pool again after Christmas and work hard towards regaining lost ground.

I am more accustomed to the smell of chlorine these last few weeks than the smell of fresh air. The lakes have finally started to freeze over. I am blessed with three pools to visit. Two of which allow kayaks, the third being the YMCA.

The WMCKA pool sessions are fun, but crowded. We are planning the 2007 Sea Kayaking Symposium in Grand Rapids. WMCKA is a very family oriented club with a lot of kids in the pool. Some of the kids are getting pretty skilled in their kayaks. I managed the kids program last year at the symposium which was a hoot. I look forward to working with the kids again this year.

I drove up to use the pool and got these shots of the kids in the pool. I also got a video of Margaret Fishback’s roll.

Her mother Barb worked with her in the pool to get her this far. I think it looks pretty solid.

Aidan Van Doren is also making progress on his balance brace as well. He has the same instructor I did for teaching Greenland skills, so I think he should be in fine shape!

Seeing the kids work on skills in the pool is pretty amazing. No telling what they will try. Or what they will be able to do unless they are turned loose. From my experience with Gabriel, some good some bad, I have to say that building their confidence is crucial. Believing you are capable of doing something is key. When they lose interest, you drop it and come back to it later.

This is a full size image of Andy for Paul!

The forward recovery handroll has been my nemesis since I’ve started to learn it. The roll is basically a very swift ab crunch and vigorous hip flick almost simultaneously. I have the Norsaq assist part down pretty tight. I finally hit a few in the pool this week without the Norsaq. Of course they were not filmed…..

I hope to get a few more rolls filmed. I don’t fancy myself as a Greenland Tuiliq Guru. I think seeing myself perform these rolls let’s me compare against the form of others. Namely those who are much better. It also keeps me out of trouble.

One thing on this roll that I noticed at Qajaq Training Camp, Dubside when he demonstrated this roll for me started a lot further underwater than what I am in this video. His hand never broke the surface. I’d like to see his video!

Thanks to Jim Viviano for filming this and for the loan on the Dagger Transformer. Sweet pool practice boat.

I saw the wind was dropping off. After my beating earlier in the week, my pride was fanny smacked, and wanted another shot at the title. So I saddled back up to head out. I unloaded at South Haven south beach again. The wind was further out of the northwest this time. The waves were peaking at about 7-8 feet on the big ones, the average was more in the five foot range. I stowed my gloves, (no pogies yet). I broke all the way out to past the pier with relative ease. 15-20 knot winds being well within my realm of strength. I turned and started watching for a wave to catch. I was immediately taken over by a big dumper that I hadn’t been looking for. I got my paddle to the surface and swept, felt my back clear the afterdeck of the boogie and I popped right up. But I had that pit of dread in my stomach that hadn’t been there before. It took a few more clean rides down large spillers to start to feel like myself again. By the end I seemed looser and ready to roll.

Confidence is definitely a two edged weapon that cuts evenly against either party. I think confidence is essential in order to surf at all. If you don’t believe you can roll in 8-10 foot surf you will swim every time. If you believe you can do it, you will more than likely come up every time until you are so exhausted you either go in, or you have a swim. Unfortunately you may have a day where your confidence for lack of a better term hands your arse to you.

I think having one of those days within some realm of safety is a good thing. For my part I see way too many complaisant paddlers who do not push themselves at all. The reverse of that particular medal may be that they live long, safe, but not particularly interesting lives. I always remind myself when I beat myself up about missing a roll, that I was out that day, no one else would go; and mainly because no one else wants to challenge themselves. For whatever modicum of daring and skill I possess, it is from continually trying to take on larger and larger challenges. I may have found that balance where I can now say that I know what the outerlimit is. 14-17 foot waves and 35 knot winds on Lake Michigan is pretty out there, and I feel no shame in having said I met my match. To those that would laiugh at my sudden turn in fortune, I say he who dares wins.

Rarely in life do you get what you pay for. I got a super deal on a brooks tuiliq. Went out yesterday on Lake Michigan. Beautiful calm day. Garment as expected was a little warm! But as my paddling buddy and I played, I managed to finesse my way through my repetoire of rolls with ease including my forward recovery handroll. Interesting how not wearing a lifejacket changes your mobility. I would never venture out in surf without it, but for a calm play day, why not. Just don’t tell the BCU…

Leaving a great Cuban themed work party was hard, mohitos on the lawn of the Kellogg’s mansion beckoned. Bocce ball and other diversions abounded just prior to departure for Qajaq Training Camp. I sucked in my temptation to indulge my vices and drive up late in the dark.

I just managed to squeeze in to the event by the grace and effort of Nancy Thorton. So I felt pretty lucky to be driving up to Frankfort at all on a Friday. The weather had turned a little gloomy but my fully loaded Volvo thrummed happily northward up highway 131.

I arrived right at dusk on Lower Herring Lake. Lower Herring Lake is a small inland lake just east of Lake Michigan. I was told the camp could only be reached by boat. So I came prepared to paddle in with all my gear in drybags. I loaded my kayak with the little remaining daylight. I launched my Silhouette and began scanning the shoreline for Camp Lookout. Mist settled over the surface of the lake. It seemed a perfect beginning to the weekend. It seemed like my dream of a summer camp from childhood. A place to go where all the other kids wanted to play the sort of games I wanted to play. It is a lost-boy like camp separated from civilization, insulated for a time from problems. I spotted the camp pretty easily by the 50 or so kayaks piled on the beach and the dock of the camp. Lights were on in the lodge and I heard shouting and cheering. I pulled in and unloaded my “kit”. I walked up a winding set of tree fort like steps to the lodge. I stepped in, feeling like a character out of a bad fantasy novel where the hero (we all picture ourselves as such don’t we) steps into the rowdy tavern just at dusk. I was greeted by a few friendly faces. Alex Pak, Henry and Barb, Dianne Carr, and Nancy Thorton.

Nancy was good enough to show me up some more windy steps to my Cabin, the Eagle’s Nest. She quickly gave me the lay of the land. I changed and headed back down to the lodge for pie.

The events of the first evening entailed a presentation from Dubside, which focused entirely on the Greenland competitions. He also retold a bit of the story of Maligiaq Padilla who did not compete this year due to a boat accident. I was really interested in how interested Dubside was with Maligiaq. He seemed to idolize him in a way that a lot of kids do other sports stars. Maligiaq for all intents and purposes is the Pele or Zinedane Zidane of paddling; he is the first child star of paddling. And he has sort of fallen from his lofty perch by not competing in the last two competitions. And he stated he will not compete again next year. I wonder if Maligiaq is just losing interest, or if maybe he just doesn’t want to be the paddling star anymore? But I think I learned more about Dubside from that presentation than I did Maligiaq. I wasn’t sure what to think at first. He is really small, like Bono. He’s shorter than you think. He is very quiet, very polite, didn’t drink, didn’t eat a whole lot, and didn’t speak until spoken to; unless it was about ropes or rolls. He watched me on Saturday while I was in the water with Cheri Perry doing my forward-forward hand rolls, a cross arm roll, and a spine roll. About every five minutes he would yell to me to come over to the dock where he sat with his camera to give me a few pointers. All of them helpful. I’m not sure I saw anyone else getting that help, so I am not sure if I piqued his interest because of my Silhouette which is larger than the skin boats and the majority of the home built boats, or what. But nonetheless, I appreciated the help. Dubside may be that fantasy warrior we all want to be. The guy with one name, drinking a glass of warm milk in the tavern, waiting for someone to speak to him. Not surprised when the locals gang up on him. The hero then dispatches those violent locals with minimal kung-fu effort and grace.

Saturday morning I tried out a few skin on frame boats with minimal success. A few of the skin boats that folks brought are rolling specific. The paddler is expected to hyper extend their knees in reverse in order to gain entry. When I first tried Alex Pak’s Pete Strand rolling kayak I didn’t think I could get in, and Alex in his casual way says, “You just gotta believe.” With a little further faith in my body’s elasticity I wedged in. Aft laybacks were easy as pie, but forward recovery with my hamstrings being as tight as they are was an impossible dream. The Harvey Golden East Greenland replica was by far my favorite. The upsweep on the stern really makes it turn easily into the wind. Most likely to aid in hunting. Yes, apparently seals can smell. I really enjoyed paddling this boat as it seemed like you really were sitting in another man’s shoes from hundreds of years ago in a way that the other rolling kayaks don’t.

I worked through the morning excitedly with increasing success on my forward recovery handroll. A tuiliq loaned to me by Williard really helped loosen me up. After some thunderstorms in the midmorning, I watched Harvey Golden sew a skin on the Derjip (sic?) kayak. By the afternoon, we were back on the water, and I was getting a lot of help from Cheri Perry, (as stated above). Her main message about my rolling is getting the core torso and abdominal muscles working. Relying on the arms is a weakness that limits rolling. Although she said it in a nice way, it is a common failing of men to rely on their arms. As a result teaching core muscle activity is easier with women, they just, “get it”. I took her lesson to heart and pretty quickly I was rolling up in that forward tuck, nose to the deck with one arm wrapped around the hull. The forward-forward roll sensation went from my earlier one of a floundering hopeful slap, hip snap, and twist, to one of a fluid sweep, crunch and tuck. I think her instruction is pretty good, and watching her work in the water for the rest of the afternoon left me more impressed than I expected.

Dan Segal whom I did not have much of an opportunity to work with also seemed great on the water with students. He listened attentively despite numerous interruptions and bizarre arguments from one student and managed to get the student started on what he needed to work on. His handling of the situation seemed so effortless and so direct that I recognized what I lack as an instructor at times, which is a total focus on the other person and what their needs might be. I asked him later about the situation and he said, “I don’t even hear the words really, just the need.”

Later on while near the dock I watched another instructor giving a demo of side sculling. I was totaled baffled by the instruction, and watched as the student floundered and failed to really effectively side-scull. I noticed that the top hand grip was being reversed intentionally for some reason. Which to me made little sense as it would be the only stroke on the Greenland paddle where your grip really changes. Even from a pure paddling standpoint it removes the ability to link strokes and transition to a brace if need be. The woman who was floundering looked at me with a sort of pleading expression and said “what am I doing wrong?”
So I walked over and showed her how to keep the standard paddling grip, rotate her torso and then slice back and forth. She seemed uncomfortable doing it, and then the instructor who had been distracted for a few moments looked at me, and said, “This isn’t the BCU Keith.” I looked into the water, felt foolish for getting involved, and walked away wordlessly. I recognized immediately that I had walked in-between a husband/wife instructor/student situation. It had nothing to do with me, but I was amused nonetheless at the instructors approach to get me to back off.

Saturday night was a gas. I spent a lot of time with Williard from Massachusetts. We talked a lot about family. We talked about being young parents and how isolating it feels at times, all your friends are still out drinking, partying cavorting, spending money on what they like, when they want, traveling etc; while we go to jobs, have mortgages, and loose sleep over stress, kids, and life. The paddling community is particularly hard on marriage from my limited observations. There are quite a few divorcees. It’s an engrossing hobby with a lot to offer. But at a certain point some folks state boundaries. They say “well this is as far as I can go without pushing the wife/husband over the edge”. Others might cave in and deduce the husband/wife is the problem, get divorced and then discover the whole cycle starts over. Others perhaps really do find happiness with the spouse that shares all their hobbies. I don’t know, certainly I’m not placing any judgement on people who get divorced, but I think I recognize that I push Laura pretty hard at times due to paddling. Williard told me, (perhaps idle flattery and speculation) that he sees someone in me who could easily be as good as anyone, if they had the time to spend. But that I can’t or won’t invest the time. Maybe that’s true, certainly my wife would disagree with both. I am not THAT good, and I have certainly put in a LOT of time already. We shared some single malt scotch. We enjoyed an excellent dinner prepared by Michael Gray and Nancy.

I managed to spend a lot of time talking with Harvey Golden. Harvey is as smart as he seems, if not smarter, he is the pocket genius of the Qajaq USA crowd, someone who really has spent way more time than you can even think about, looking at, drawing, and just speculating on traditional kayaks. We had a great discussion about the Norse in Greenland, Jared Diamond’s book Collapse and its failings, and then a lot of trivial smart-alecky jabberwocky. Due to our similarity in height, weight and lack of hair, I had a lot of people coming up to me and asking very good, detailed kayak history questions. It took all of my willpower not to mislead them with the information I do have about U-Boat types and Napoleonic Age of Sail information. Harvey told me later that I really should have explained to every person that all kayaks were originally designed to have a conning tower with a periscope made of sea ice.

Sunday I spent trying to further perfect some of my other rolls. I tried a few more skin boats too. I sat in on a few lessons with Turner on the continuous storm roll. I managed to give a real bow rescue to one student who got very disoriented during continuous capsizes.

Pretty soon I was water logged and wanted to really paddle. I needed to go somewhere and see something. So I managed to find some folks from Yonkers who wanted to paddle Lake Michigan. Four of us went out to the lake. As we crossed out of the stream from Lower Herring Lake into Lake Michigan we were presented with a beautiful panoramic view of the lake. Bright blue water with a fresh breeze that pushed small whitecaps along the surface. A small swell was building from the north. Along the dunes hang gliders were launching from the peaks. I immediately went into a strong forward stroke push. I felt all my muscles thanking me for pushing forward and my kayak glided over the water and slapped down the back of the waves. I quickly separated from the crowd and had to hold myself back. The others really weren’t up for the ride into the wind and decided to turn around. I pushed on until I could feel myself sweating from the effort and my legs pumped like pistons inside the cockpit. I had made it about halfway to Frankfort in pretty short order. I looked at my watch and turned around. I was rewarded with a beautiful gliding ride back to the beach interspersed with brief intense sprints to catch waves, then edging hard to keep from broaching, coming back online with the wave, and then sprinting again until the nose started spilling water perfectly down wave. I realized how much I love paddling, and that rolling is really more about a means to an end for me. I love the skill building and the challenge of learning all the rolls, but what I really love is paddling. I like having the wind in my face and the open lake in front of me with no one telling me which way to go.