Sea Kayak Specialists Blog

I haven’t heard much from Nancy with everything going on. She posted the following on the local paddling groups email list but otherwise my assumption is she is paddling around with a rocket tube on the Maine coast.

sam

I am visiting my parents in Tonawanda NY, between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Though I was in a canoe on the Niagara with my Dad as a kid, I have never kayaked there. So, I took the opportunity the other day to do a 13 mile stretch from Downtown Buffalo (beginning on Lake Erie), ending in Tonawanda. I, of course, stayed well above the falls! Below is a link to the map of the river. It is not recommended to go North of Grand Island / Navy Island (the small island to the northwest of Grand Island) in any kind of boat. http://www.niagaraparks.com/images2/niag-map.JPG”

I haven’t found an official report on river currents in the area where I started the paddle. Somewhere said 15 Knots, another place 7 to 12 mph. The latter seems correct. The river widens around Grand Island, and the currents are less, though still very significant. Here is a quote which tells a bit of why… “Although only about 34 miles long, unlike most other rivers which begin as tiny streams, the mighty Niagara is created when a tremendous volume of water draining from the upper great lakes is squeezed into the narrow one-half mile wide river bed and begins its rush toward the Falls and Lake Ontario.” Not to mention a drop of well over 300 feet along the course of the river (mostly at the falls). The currents and eddies around the peace bridge and international railroad bridge are pretty wicked. Below is a link to a video of this area (not mine).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqL9n2d9REg

It took me 2 1/2 hours to go 13 miles - with not very hard paddling! I also had a nice tail wind. I wished I had timed myself between the 2 bridges, where the current it fastest - but I did the 2 1/4 miles in less than 20 minutes. Not a bad pace! I turned to pace upstream at one point, but it is very disorienting for me in those currents, and I was afraid of getting motion sick, and since by myself didn’t play very long.

Anyway… happy paddling back in the UP!

Nancy

Well it has been a while, much has happened and our blog went dark.

First off I got waylaid by some sort of virus that canceled about half of the Bay Cliff kayak program by keeping me flattened for a week. Still recovering with about 70-80% energy. Worse is a pretty challenging bad attitude. Summer just is not a time to be sick…

Workload has been heavy making free time scarce. Worked the Door County Symposium and the Grand Marais symposium in addition to classes, private lessons and massages. Today is the first day since June 22 that is a full day off without being a sick day.

Then we got hit by some hackers that took down all our online stuff with the photo gallery is still offline. Looks like they came in thru our website host.

Needless to say I’ve canceled my trip from Terrace Bay to Wawa. My fitness isn’t back to do a trip of that length. Looks like I will be doing some time around the Keweenaw Peninsula. Right now a remote wilderness campsite where I can sit, have an evening campfire and do some low key paddling and hiking sounds right. I do need to build myself back up for the fall course of workshops and of course shake off this bad attitude, no matter how much fun it brings being crabby!

sam

After paddling with the Rutabaga and WI gang, I headed further west to visit friends in Richmond Center. When listening to all the news recently about the mid-west floods, my brain didn’t connect this part of Wisconsin with the floods. But, indeed, all the rivers in the area flooded, including the Kickapoo River, where we chose to paddle. Click here for a CNN story. My friends, thankfully, live on very high ground and were not effected - though Rachel’s garden compost was washed down the hill several times before she actually got the compost to stay and the plants in the ground!

On Monday, Rachel and I took the canoe and the kids and headed to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve (click for photos of the flooded river) to paddle from bridge 7 to 10. In contrast to the cold, windy, threatening weather of Sunday, it was sunny and calm. A perfect day to paddle. As we drove, we went over roads and bridges that, not long ago, had been under water. Hard to imagine this little river flooding such a huge area. But, the signs of debris way up in the trees was hard to miss.

The Kickapoo is a gorgeous valley with areas of steep cliffs, a few small caves, and lots of mud. This section of the river had been cleared of major debris so it was safe to paddle, though other parts of the river remained impassible. I realized I am not as proficient in the stern of a canoe in current as I would like to be… it is different steering from the back of the boat, and having a blade only on one side. I have a much better idea of how a boat responds when I am in the middle… and can switch sides a bit easier. If I ever wanted to do river canoing, I sure could use some lessons! Overall, a very fun day.

Nancy

I spent the weekend in Madison, Wisconsin helping with an open house sponsored jointly by Rutabaga and Wilderness Inquiry (WI). The open house was geared toward helping folks with disabilities explore the possibilities paddling offers. Rutabaga is not only a large paddlesports shop, but has a huge instructional program and in recent years has been actively promoting paddlesports for people of all abilities. Wilderness Inquiry has been around for several decades, promoting adventure travel for all ages and abilities. They began with paddling trips in the boundry waters, and have expanded to 4 seasons of trips all around the world.

Rutabaga brought a huge trailer full of canoes and kayaks, while WI brought three voyager canoes. Despite a cool, overcast and very windy day with threats of rain, over 75 people came out to paddle. I was pretty impressed. I am sure more would have come had it been a nice day. But, I figure any weekend where folks are introduced to paddling is a good weekend! For more photos, click here.

Nancy

As Sam noted, I have been helping out at Bay Cliff a bit the last couple weeks. Initially with staff training, and this week with the first pool sessions. Bay Cliff is my home away from home; the place that brought me to the UP 20 years ago to spend my first summer on the shores of Superior. I remember one of my days off that summer - I went hiking with friends along Pictured Rocks. And I saw a kayaker below. I knew that was where I wanted to be!

Four years later, I moved to the UP - and in the spring I started looking for - and purchased - a kayak. Coincidentally, about that same time our camp director met Janet Zellar, then president of the American Canoe Association (ACA) and founder of the ACA’s adaptive paddling program. Thus began my kayaking journey… always a blend of personal growth and skill development and the development of a kayaking program at Bay Cliff. First for the adult camp session, then for the kids camp.

All the campers at these sessions have some form of disability - a physical, vision, hearing or speech impairment. The kids program includes therapy and formal goals to reach new levels of independence. For me, combining my background as a Physical Therapist with those of a developing kayaking instructor was a natural. The payoff is seeing kids set new goals… to be able to hold their breath under water so they can do a wet exit; to perform an independent wet exit; to be able to paddle a boat out on the lake; to be able to do a T-rescue; to have a water war. Yeah, water wars on warm, sunny days are a big part of camp. The program keeps evolving with new equipment, ideas and challenges always emerging.

As kayaking has evolved, so has off the shelf equipment. Much of what we use for “adaptations” these days are used by lots of folks - including myself. Basically, it is outfitting and customizing a boat to maximize performance. For some folks, more extensive postural support is required. Last year and this year, we have had a huge breakthrough with the availability of the Universal Paddling Seat. This year, the developer Kevin Carr, has continued to update the product and made a smaller (and more colorful version!) for Bay Cliff. These seats have made a huge difference in the ease and success of paddling for our campers that need additional trunk support. They are awesome. However, last year the kids and I decided “universal paddling seat” was too much of a mouthful. So, we call it the Cadillac back - because it is such a delux, top of the line model!

Kayaking is underway for the teens at Bay Cliff Health Camp (click here). I’ll be there for a total of 8 days and Nancy has been able to assist with the first 2 days. Camp is crazy but the reason for all the hard work is the kids. So far we’ve had 4 kids do independent wet exits with 3 of those doing their first ones. One remarks every time she sees me how fun it was and how much she cannot wait to get out to Lake Independence and paddle. Two other kids are working on their water comfort and have made incredible progress.

Tomorrow is a big day with a lot of kids coming to the pool to learn to kayak, many of them will be attempting their first wet exit. Sunday is our first sessions on Lake Independence where the focus is on paddling, the reward for all the hard work leading to the wet exits.

sam

Funny names these. Not very well know either. Thats good as there is some great kayaking between these two southern Ontario towns. Everybody has asked after circumnavigating Ireland, whats next? After contemplating some different locations, it ended up in being the place I thought of when in Ireland. Why? For one thing, no tides, for another trees. Campsites in Ireland are chosen more for practical reasons, campsites in this region are chosen for aesthetics. Another reason is close to home and a trip for two weeks. Both important given it is Nancy’s turn to go off this summer.

The chart section shows the shoreline. If weather allows, I will be making the crossing out to the Slate Islands as well as Michpicoten Island. In between is Puksakwa. No thats not a typo but a Canadian national park on Lake Superior (click here) and one of the prime paddling wilderness areas on the Lake.

Altogether it will be two weeks long and 200 miles. It will be a point to point trip instead of a loop thanks to the good people at Naturally Superior Adventures in Wawa (click here) who will shuttle my car. They are one of the top outfitters on the Lake and sit on one of the best pieces of real estate I have seen. This will be my third trip that ends at their hospitable environs.

sam

I went paddling yesterday afternoon around parts of Grand Island (a National Forest Recreation Area - click here). The shoreline is awesome, with towering sandstone cliffs, caves and arches, pebble and sand beaches.  It had been overcast with occasional drizzle in Marquette, but as I drove east, I could see blue sky on the horizon - a very good sign.

I had a great paddle, in sunshine the entire time. But, there were clouds dancing all around me. I saw big cumulus clouds, a small anvil forming, fog banks rolling in and out. But, this was all toward the horizons in 360 degrees, with me, in the center under gorgeous sunshine!

I love watching as the clouds come and go and form and grow and dissipate. I love watching the fog banks move closer and then recede. It is like watching a dance. Usually, when I observe these conditions, at some point I end up in the fog or rain. But not today, at least not until my paddle was over. Kayaking back to my launch, I watched a fog bank roll over the hills of Munising, down toward the lake, then begin to retreat, long before it reached me.

After I landed, I sat on the beach soaking up the sun at Sand Point for nearly an hour. As I was leaving, the fog bank rolled in. On the drive back to Marquette, I stopped at the scenic overlook to check out where the fog had progressed to - Sand Point was nearly covered. I drove though fog most of the way back to Marquette.

Overall, a gorgeous paddle. For more photos, click here.

Nancy

I got out for a gorgeous paddle this morning. Today is the official first day of summer - and officially the first day that feels like summer! It has been a cool, overcast spring. Reminds me of June 2002, when I paddled around Lake Superior. June was cold and foggy and rainy… I thought summer was never going to arrive. But, July brought sunshine and some warmer temps, for which I was grateful.

Anyway, today it was sunny and 70 with a light breeze. I paddled for a couple of hours, and on the return trip went around the north side of Partridge Island, where there have been nesting eagles for many years. I looked up and saw an eagle perched in a tree, near the huge nest in the neighboring tree. I stopped paddling as I looked, and noticed a bird flying into my peripheral vision from behind. It was another eagle. It circled around, landed in the nest, and I immediately heard the sounds of hungry baby eagles. If I had been paddling, I would have been making too much noise to hear; if there had been any wind or waves, I could not have heard the chicks - is that what baby eagles are called? or are they eaglets? Regardless, it was one of those magical moments when kayaking - when random events combine to put me in the right place at the right time, looking at and listening to what otherwise would easily be missed.

I have seen several eagles when out paddling this season. And have heard and seen several loons - including some today. When I paddled around the lake, there was not a paddling day where I did not see at least one loon and one eagle - often more. I took it as a good omen - and had a great trip. The sounds of the loons are magical. I remember one trip up to Superior’s North Shore. I was paddling along some cliffs in the middle of a lovely summer day. The air was perfectly still, and the loons were calling. Their calls echoed off the cliff walls creating a haunting effect. Another magical moment in a list too long to record here.

Nancy

Paddled over the weekend around Marquette. Definitely nice to be in town for a weekend after being gone on the weekends since the start of May. First was a social paddle with the local group. Click here to see photos of the paddle in Middle Bay by Marquette’s Presque Isle that are in our gallery. Paddled on sunday with the Stew, the gonzo paddler. Click here for photos from that paddle.

It has been a while since I paddled at Pictured Rocks. Interesting to see the changes - rock fall or to be more explicit, the cliffs falling down as highlighted by the thumbnails below, click on the thumbnail to see a bigger photo.

The above use to be a pebble beach that was a great stopping point on the way to Mosquito River. It was in ‘96 mostly beach instead of the boulders there now.

Another spot on the way to Mosquito River. In this case it use to be a small pocket beach.

The above was a huge chunk of the cliff came down.

Rockfall does occur when one is paddling and sometimes it comes uncomfortably close. Here is a photo from Don Goss of rockfall (the nearby discolored water) at Pictured Rocks that came within 20-30′ of Nancy & I. I’ve seen it closer…

I believe it was Nancy’s talking that caused the rock fall!

sam