Not Quite Ready for the Graves

Early last week JS posted his interest in paddling in Boston Harbor and looking for interested parties. My first inclination was to jump at the opportunity, but then the whisper of reason murmured: you are a fat, out of shape, and not sleeping well. Its been six weeks since I'd been in a kayak. It's been nearly as long since I've used the cycle trainer. I've been playing some Wii Sports and Wii Ski Jump, but that is of dubious fitness value.
H and I also ran into a roadblock in our efforts at building a family and that triggered some non-ideal stress responses. My diet exploded. My sleeping withered.
JS has been paddling all winter and the outer islands in March is no place to be pushing the fitness envelope. So, I decided to stay dark and see how things shaped up. I figured if the weather was perfect and the group right, I'd go. If not, I'd wait for a less strenuous outing.
On Friday morning the forecast looked perfect: 50s, sunny, minimal wind, small seas. The group, however, was still just JS. Around 10am, PB e-mailed me saying he was going and wondering if I was also going. Things looked perfect. With some reservation, I said sure. H, sharing my concerns, told me to be the voice of reason...
I slept well Friday night. In Waltham the Saturday morning weather was as advertised: sunny, clear, and starting to warm. The traffic to Hull was light. I didn't get too lost driving out to Windmill Point.
Driving into Hull along Nantasket Beach I noticed that the surf was rocking. At the point, there was some wind and not enough heat. Still, things looked pretty good for a nice leisurely paddle.
JS' plan was to paddle out the Graves. On a warm day in the summer, padding out to the Graves is an ambitious plan. it is a five or six mile paddle into deep, unprotected, open water. Still, the forecast was perfect and the group was made up of skilled paddlers. So much for being the voice of reason or an easy paddle....
We started off like gangbusters. There was only moderate swell and the headwind was just enough to cool things off a bit. I began to feel the effort just a little, but it felt good. The muscles were warming up and starting to feel energized. The roll of the kayak balanced my spirit. I started feeling confident that getting to the Graves and back would be reasonable.
We made it about half way out before things started getting unreasonable. The seas went from one foot to four feet. BH asked if the light was getting farther away.
JS checked with us to see if the plan was still OK. The alternative was to divert to Green island. Everyone agreed that we should continue to the Graves. I mentioned my concerns about paddling back from the Graves in big following seas and being pooped, but also agreed that we should continue to the Graves. I was feeling good and believed that I could make it back without issue.
After another half mile of big swells and increasing wind, the whisper of reason found its voice. I was no longer sure about the wisdom of the plan. There is no place to rest at the Graves and no safe harbor in case of emergency.
Since it was an all or nothing plan, the group turned towards Green Island for lunch. Turning in four foot swells and paddling breach to the swells was interesting.
We enjoyed a long lunch on Green Island before deciding to head over and check out Shag Rocks. Lunch was so long I forgot my gloves on the beach. BH was kind enough to toss them out to me so I didn't have to land again. While putting on my gloves the little beach swell pushed the Q-Boat up against a little boulder. It made a crunch, but I shrugged it off. It takes more than a nudge into a small rock to do any serious damage to a sea kayak. It was nothing more that a gel coat ding.
We paddled out along Middle Brewster Island. The channel between Green Island and the Brewsters had calmed down a little. The swells had diminished to reasonable levels. There were some waves to be caught, but you had to look for them.
We rounded Middle Brewster and returned to the big swells. It was big enough to keep us interested, but hardly enough to make us worry.
The action around Shag Rock looked pretty, but no one was tempted to explore too closely. The cold waves pounded the rocks. Maybe in the summer....
Once around the rocks we headed home past Little Brewster Island and Boston Harbor Light. The wind was at out backs and the current was with in our favor. We made good time, but I was feeling tired. I was looking forward to stopping and stretching my legs.
Back at the put in we carried the kayaks up the beach to the rocks and enjoyed being done. PB and BH took the opportunity to lay back for a little bit. I popped the day hatch open to get my keys and discovered the lunch bag floating in several inches of water.... I grabbed the bag holding my wallet, keys, and phone from the bottom of the hatch. I didn't notice the stream of water that leaked out as I pulled it from the water. When I opened it to get my keys, I panicked a little. Everything was wet even my keys... Fortunately the lock fob was not shorted out and the doors unlocked with a reassuring beep. Once the car was open I turned my attention to the phone. So far I'd suffered from a double failure. The phone is in its own Otterbox waterproof casing inside the dry bag, and it had held. The phone was fine.
At first I thought the day hatch leaked because I hadn't sealed it properly. Once the Q-Boat was on top of the Egg, I spotted the real leak. There was a chunk of gel coat missing along the chine. I popped the day hatch open so BH (I'm too short) could inspect the inside to see if the glass was damaged. From the inside it looked fine, so it was back to the unsealed hatch idea. When I put the hatch back, however, we could see air bubbles pushing out past the gel coat crack... The gel coat was covering a section of the hull where the fiberglass is very thin and not entirely water proof.
Despite the minor damage to the Q-Boat and the hassle of drying out my wallet, I was glad to get on the water. It was tiring and little strenuous than was prudent for a paddle, but it felt great. My sense of balance was strengthened. My spirit energized. Hopefully, the weeks to come will offer many more days on the water.

Circling Peddocks

Last week H suggested that I try to muster interest in a Hingham Harbor paddle. She figured we could invite people over to our house for a post paddle gathering. It sounded like a great idea so I posted the paddle.
PB quickly expressed interest. As week wore on I hoped to see more people show some interest. Hingham isn't THAT long a drive from Providence. Maybe the windy forecast made people shy. The forecast called for 15knt to 20knt winds.
On Friday the only responses to my post was PB and a post attempting to stir up interest in an "exciting" paddle in one of the usual haunts.
Between the windy forecast and the lack of interest, I considered canceling. I checked with PB and he was still up for paddling. So the paddle was on.
Saturday morning started off rough. This was the first time I needed to put the roof rack on Egg 2.0. They came off in jiffy and I imagined they would go on just as easily. The rear rack did pop right on. I popped the covers off the mount points, popped the rack on, and fastened the bolts. The front rack was a different bag of poo. The bolts decided to be intransigent. They didn't line up with the mount points. It took much fishing around to get the bolts to catch.
After battling with the bolts, I was late getting on the road. My quick stop at McDonalds to grab coffee turned into waiting in a Russian bread line. Then my iPod started acting up...
PB called me at 9:40 and I figured he was calling to give me crap for being late. Nope. He was calling to tell me that Hingham Harbor was packed with ice. He said he would investigate alternative put in before I arrived.
When I finally got to the put in I saw for myself what PB meant by full of ice. The whole harbor was covered in a thick sheet of ice. Close to shore the ice was covered in white. A little further out it looked like there might be water. Close inspection revealed that it was just ice not covered in snow.
We decided to move the put in to Windmill Point in Hull. That beach is rarely iced in.
The wind made getting into the drysuits and ready to launch. PB said he'd be lying if didn't admit that "what are we thinking?" didn't cross his mind. I was actively banishing that very thought from my mind.
Once we actually got on the water, things turned around. The wind seemed to diminish. The activity warmed us up.
We paddled around Peddocks Island. On the first leg the island blocked much of the wind.
Things got a little interesting at the tip of the island. The wind and the shoal kicked up some waves.
Along the outside of the island the wind was at our backs. The sun also made a brief appearence.
When we rounded the top of the Peddocks the wind made itself known. It hit us in the face and made paddling tricky. We also had to contend with Hull Gut flooding out of the harbor. If we were smart paddlers we might have scouted the situation out and planned a proper ferry angle. Instead we just pointed our bows toward the put in and fought our way forward. PB made excellent head way. I, on the other hand, struggled. I couldn't quite get the skeg adjusted to counter the wind and resorted to corrective strokes. Each time I corrected the current wiped out my forward momentum. Once I got past the tip if the point I struggled to make the turn into the beach. With some agressive edging I made the turn and landed.
Getting back into street clothes was much easier. The temp had gotten into the 40s.
The struggles made this relaxing paddle even better. It turned out to be a great day.

Winter Ennui

The cold coupled with the weekend storms multiplied by outside commitments is leaching strength from my core. The result is a feeling of basic blah. Finding the motivation to excercise is work. Even feeling guilty about the creeping weight gain brought about by sloth is hard.
The good thing is that this is just the common winter condition. Soon the days will get longer and warmer. The opportunities for getting the kayak on the water or getting the bike on the road will become regular.
I suppose the winter malaise could be avoided by moving to a warmer climate. Perversely I kind of like the few weeks of blah. It is a nice reminder of the joy. It makes Spring, Summer, and Fall better. Without the blah, the fun would become common.

Goals for 09

Instead of making resolutions that I would already feel guilty about not keeping I resolved to make goals for the year instead. Goals give me things to work on improving but create less suffering. They are long term and don't require absolute fidelity. I strive to achieve them instead of giving up (and feeling bad about it) the first time I break the resolution.
My kayaking goals for the coming year are pretty modest. I want to develop a reliable toward finishing role, take at least one advanced training course, paddle once a week (practice for a few hours at Walden Pond counts), and do at least one really advanced (level 5+) trip. I'd also like to simply become more fluid, but that is an ongoing challenge. It is also too nebulous to be a goal.
Along with my paddling goals, I also have some other activity related goals. I want to lose 15 pounds and keep it off. I also want cycle to work three times a week during the months between May and October. To get fit enough to cycle to work I want to use my cycle trainer at least three times a week until May.
I'm not what anyone considers "career oriented", so my work goals are simple: stay employed and produce quality content.
On the relationship front I don't have any specific goals. I do want to continue growing as a good partner to H. Since it is hard to predict the path that a marriage takes I don't think I can accurately say that what "growing" means.
I would also like to stay in touch with old friends, but I know myself well enough to know I'm unlikely to succeed. I'm more of an in the moment sort of person. Life moves too fast for me to always be looking back. Hopefully, Facebook can help out with this goal. Automation is a great thing.
One more goal: get better organized with all of the things I need to do. There were too many times this past year when I had so many things to do that I couldn't even find a starting point. There were also too many things that fell through the cracks because I simply forgot about them.
That is more than enough goals. Any more and I forget them...

Best Paddle of 2008

It is impossible to pick a definitive "best paddle" for a given year. Each one is a different experience and it is rare that I don't enjoy being on the water. However, there are a few that standout.
I think the effort to pick one paddle out of the mix is worthwhile. It helps me identify what I find most enjoyable when paddling. In the heat of the moment I'm likely to think that surfing or rolling or spotting wildlife is "the" thing I want most out of paddling. When blogging about a paddle a few hours, or a few days, after returning to dry land, I'm still likely to miss the forest for the trees. Some little thing like the traffic getting to and from the beach or a single highly charged incident on the water is still distorting the picture.
To pick one paddle from the bunch I review all the trips in order. Reading each blog conjures a richer experience than the words on the page. My memory fills in the gaps with images and emotions. There are times when I want to rewrite the blog entry to match my recreated experience of a paddle. Patterns begin to emerge as well. The little annoyances melt away. Threads between experiences emerge. The adrenaline rush of surfing becomes a recollection of spending a lot of time and effort for a few short rides. An interminable slog becomes the small price paid to explore an awesome coastline or play in interesting rock clumps. The short lunch on the beach becomes valuable time with friends and interesting conversations.
So what is my favorite paddle of the year? The Canadian trip was spectacular and, as a whole, was probably my favorite kayaking experience of the year. However, none of the individual paddles stood out. The Rough Water symposium was a highlight because it was a challenging learning experience. However, it was lacking a number of my paddling pals. The rock gardening with Greg Paquin was also a challenging learning experience.
The two paddles that really stuck out for me this year were the winter paddle in Boston Harbor and the mid-week paddle at the Westport River. The Boston Harbor paddle was simply a good day. The weather was nice, we didn't push too hard, and the conversations were interesting. It was a great start to the year. The Westport River paddle was a full day. There was bad traffic, a bit of slogging, a wrecked kayak, and some excellent current paddling.
Of the two the Westport paddle wins by a hair.
I like the relaxing aspects of kayaking, but I also like the challenge of paddling. Perhaps the two are different edges of the same sword. I like to say that kayaking is my Zen. One part is calm reflection and the other is learning to hold the calm center in a tumult.