Oi! Don't miss out on the fun Sunday as the SDCA takes Lake Alvin paddling. Come to try a boat out or talk paddling or ask a few questions. Lots of kayaks and canoes, a few people with some experience, and a lot of fun.
If you know anyone who paddles or who is a member of the SDCA and is not a regular visitor to this site, call them and remind them or invite them, please.
Weather reports are positive, and this year, you could be the person in the cockpit, come out!
Annual SDCA Paddling Fair
1-3 p.m. Sunday June 1
Lake Alvin, west end (free) dock
Directions at www.sdcka.blogspot.com
or e-mail me.
Jarett Bies
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pool pounded
Laura and I had a good time during the two hours at the pool Saturday, and I ended up going for it a bit too much, as I have a number of bruises and scrapes.
Laura had fun in a more playful fashion, but I tried to self-rescue with my QCC boat and failed to do so. I think a number of people executed assisted rescues together, I know Rick and several others took time to roll practice.
I wanted to thank Pete Larsen for making it a good lesson for many of us, and thank everyone who went for keeping out of the swimming lane. The Y staffer said he would be glad to have us back.
This was the first time I had ever dabbled in rolling, and it is hardest to set the mind, thinking upside down is tricky for me.
More photos later,
Jarett
Laura had fun in a more playful fashion, but I tried to self-rescue with my QCC boat and failed to do so. I think a number of people executed assisted rescues together, I know Rick and several others took time to roll practice.
I wanted to thank Pete Larsen for making it a good lesson for many of us, and thank everyone who went for keeping out of the swimming lane. The Y staffer said he would be glad to have us back.
This was the first time I had ever dabbled in rolling, and it is hardest to set the mind, thinking upside down is tricky for me.
More photos later,
Jarett
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Hard to explain; paddle review
The photo shows the paddle I used Saturday, Rick Johns brought an extra and let me use it, don't let the narrow blade width fool you, it worked like a charm and felt featherlight, yet at the same time, hefty. It did take a little getting used to, but props out to Rick for bringing it and letting me use it. If one of his boats is a leap, his paddles are a nice first step.
My friend Jim and I paddled with aplomb on Saturday, but at one point he caught a tree trunk or something, caught it amidships and was a bit panicky, but he settled down nicely and didn't tip or anything.
But those things were everywhere on the river. It was really quite neat, a bit of wildness to the slow meander downstream. There were times, when I looked closely at these massive logs and the water ripping past them, where I thought, man, I would not want to run into that when I was busy gawking at an eagle or something.
Shallows played some games with us, too, but every once in a while there would be some big, bobbing hunk of something in the water, and it felt primal a bit, like my boat was a trifle compared to this waterway, as I went cruising by the thing.
Much like night kayaking, I think being on the Missouri River alone would be a bit scary. There is so much water, so much sand, so much tree debris. Being on the river at night would be doubly scary, but full moon paddles are fun.
Rick should organize one of those, or we'll just do this stretch again. But needless to say, even with the high gas prices, I can't wait to see you again, Missouri River.
Jarett
My friend Jim and I paddled with aplomb on Saturday, but at one point he caught a tree trunk or something, caught it amidships and was a bit panicky, but he settled down nicely and didn't tip or anything.
But those things were everywhere on the river. It was really quite neat, a bit of wildness to the slow meander downstream. There were times, when I looked closely at these massive logs and the water ripping past them, where I thought, man, I would not want to run into that when I was busy gawking at an eagle or something.
Shallows played some games with us, too, but every once in a while there would be some big, bobbing hunk of something in the water, and it felt primal a bit, like my boat was a trifle compared to this waterway, as I went cruising by the thing.
Much like night kayaking, I think being on the Missouri River alone would be a bit scary. There is so much water, so much sand, so much tree debris. Being on the river at night would be doubly scary, but full moon paddles are fun.
Rick should organize one of those, or we'll just do this stretch again. But needless to say, even with the high gas prices, I can't wait to see you again, Missouri River.Jarett
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Looks pretty, no?
Rick Johns led eight of us down the Missouri Saturday, and it was amazingly picturesque, if you like pictures in the rain.
It was a steady downpour all day, really never let up. Winds doubled just as we were shuttling and loading boats. We were glad we weren't on the water at that point.
We left at 12:01 p.m. and the lead paddlers in our group made the take-out around 3:15 p.m.
More photos and such here and on www.sdcka.blogspot.com, pronto.
Jarett
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Vermillion, Saturday: Pack a rain jacket
Hey crew, hope you are coming out to the event on Saturday in Vermillion. Visit www.sdcka.blogspot.com for more information. Should be raining, but still fun, we hope.
Cheers,
Jarett
Cheers,
Jarett
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Lake Benton, May 4
May 4, Sunday afternoon, and we finally got back to our paddling adventures. The wind was somewhat mild and the temperature was almost 70 degrees. My sweetie and I though we should finally get out and paddle Lake Benton, since it is only 10 miles away from our house.
On our way over the ridge we saw lots of pelicans on the water, so were excited to get out there. We only saw one motorboat on the lake, and the lake is big enough that we only saw it once.
We drove right up to the boat ramp and unloaded our boats. We brought our new boats and figured we would try them out since it was such a mild day. Jarett paddled the gray kayak, a Necky Looksha IV, and I paddled the red one, a Current Designs Sirocco.
The red boat is a lot more slender than Penelope, my 15-foot Perception, so it felt more “tippy” to me.
Since we were new to the boats, we decided to hug the shoreline around the lake. We saw some pelicans off in the distance and we decided to see how close we could get to them. We got about 20 feet away before the birds got up and flew away.
We also saw some blue herons, egrets, some least terns and several jumping fish.
After the birds flew away we decided to turn around and head for the starting spot. We thought we might head south and explore that side of the lake a bit once we got back to our put-in.
On the trip back, I started feeling more comfortable in the new boat and started drifting away from the shoreline. I was really impressed by how much faster the boat seemed. With less effort than I use with, Penelope, I was able to go faster.
I guess that is when I got a little over-confident. I went to take a big scoop in the water to move my boat faster and leaned over a little further than I should have leaned. I tried to lean the other way to get balanced again, but it was too late, I knew I was going into the water, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it!
I’ve never been able to roll my kayak, let alone this brand new (to me) one, so I had to do a wet exit. Plus we were not wearing skirts, so boom, I was in the water.
It was so cold I felt all the air rush out of my lungs. When my head came above water it was hard to breathe, the ice-cold water tightened my whole body. It felt like a million needles and pins stinging me. I’m very thankful that Jarett and I are fanatics about always wearing life vests. I remembered to stay calm, and I did not let go of my boat or my paddle. So everything would be fine, except I was a good 60 yards from shore in 40-degree water.
Jarett quickly came to my rescue but unfortunately at that point, there wasn’t much he could do.
He offered to help me with an assisted rescue but since I had never done that in this new boat, I didn’t know if I could or if it would just be a waste of energy. I didn’t think I would be able to do it because my body hurt so bad from the cold water. I started swimming back to shore and the swimming was kind of slow as I was trying to push my overturned boat and drag my paddle. Jarett had me put my arms on his boat while he tried to paddle all of us back but that was pretty slow moving too and I just wanted OUT of that water! I felt like a sopping wet kitty, I was not happy, but I was OK!
Somehow Jarett was able to take my paddle and tow my boat back to shore without falling out of his. I really appreciated this as it made a much faster swim to shore. I don’t know what I would have done without him.
When we got to shore, unfortunately we were on the opposite side of the campground from our car, so I got to do a wet walk of shame through the campground.
I learned the lesson (the hard way) that this new red boat is a lot different then my lovely yellow Penelope. In her, I got used to putting my whole body into my stroke to make it go fast. In the red boat, that was defiantly a mistake.
Oh well, we made it home safely and the little swim definitely made the trip memorable. It’s a good reminder: ALWAYS PACK DRY BAGS WITH CLOTHES. And remember to go slow and close-to-shore as you develop familiarity with a new watercraft.
Laura
But hey, the pelicans sure were pretty!
On our way over the ridge we saw lots of pelicans on the water, so were excited to get out there. We only saw one motorboat on the lake, and the lake is big enough that we only saw it once.
We drove right up to the boat ramp and unloaded our boats. We brought our new boats and figured we would try them out since it was such a mild day. Jarett paddled the gray kayak, a Necky Looksha IV, and I paddled the red one, a Current Designs Sirocco.
The red boat is a lot more slender than Penelope, my 15-foot Perception, so it felt more “tippy” to me.
Since we were new to the boats, we decided to hug the shoreline around the lake. We saw some pelicans off in the distance and we decided to see how close we could get to them. We got about 20 feet away before the birds got up and flew away.
We also saw some blue herons, egrets, some least terns and several jumping fish.
After the birds flew away we decided to turn around and head for the starting spot. We thought we might head south and explore that side of the lake a bit once we got back to our put-in.
On the trip back, I started feeling more comfortable in the new boat and started drifting away from the shoreline. I was really impressed by how much faster the boat seemed. With less effort than I use with, Penelope, I was able to go faster.
I guess that is when I got a little over-confident. I went to take a big scoop in the water to move my boat faster and leaned over a little further than I should have leaned. I tried to lean the other way to get balanced again, but it was too late, I knew I was going into the water, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it!
I’ve never been able to roll my kayak, let alone this brand new (to me) one, so I had to do a wet exit. Plus we were not wearing skirts, so boom, I was in the water.
It was so cold I felt all the air rush out of my lungs. When my head came above water it was hard to breathe, the ice-cold water tightened my whole body. It felt like a million needles and pins stinging me. I’m very thankful that Jarett and I are fanatics about always wearing life vests. I remembered to stay calm, and I did not let go of my boat or my paddle. So everything would be fine, except I was a good 60 yards from shore in 40-degree water.
Jarett quickly came to my rescue but unfortunately at that point, there wasn’t much he could do.
He offered to help me with an assisted rescue but since I had never done that in this new boat, I didn’t know if I could or if it would just be a waste of energy. I didn’t think I would be able to do it because my body hurt so bad from the cold water. I started swimming back to shore and the swimming was kind of slow as I was trying to push my overturned boat and drag my paddle. Jarett had me put my arms on his boat while he tried to paddle all of us back but that was pretty slow moving too and I just wanted OUT of that water! I felt like a sopping wet kitty, I was not happy, but I was OK!
Somehow Jarett was able to take my paddle and tow my boat back to shore without falling out of his. I really appreciated this as it made a much faster swim to shore. I don’t know what I would have done without him.
When we got to shore, unfortunately we were on the opposite side of the campground from our car, so I got to do a wet walk of shame through the campground.
I learned the lesson (the hard way) that this new red boat is a lot different then my lovely yellow Penelope. In her, I got used to putting my whole body into my stroke to make it go fast. In the red boat, that was defiantly a mistake.
Oh well, we made it home safely and the little swim definitely made the trip memorable. It’s a good reminder: ALWAYS PACK DRY BAGS WITH CLOTHES. And remember to go slow and close-to-shore as you develop familiarity with a new watercraft.
Laura
But hey, the pelicans sure were pretty!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sneak preview experiment
P5040080
Originally uploaded by Iron Bieso
We hit Lake Benton Sunday for a sweet afternoon on the water. Laura's cooking up the entry on that, we lots of sweet pix.
For now, here's a bitta vidya for you all.
Jarett
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