Days 19 & 20: Rough Rider Reunion on Lake Ontario

Yesterday evening turned into Rough Riders Reunion 2014. In the wise (and paraphrased) words of Mike Peet: "Paddling like it's 2009!" The turn-out was fantastic (26 boats!), and the waves were apparently the largest of the summer. It was a perfect evening for rock gardening and practicing towed rescues. A bunch of the original Rough Riders were present, including Jeff H, Mike, Steven, Dan, Jeff B x 2, Rita & Garnetta, Sue, Ann-Marie, Nick, Dave, and I. It was also fun to meet some newer (i.e. in the last 3 years, so maybe not so new) members. Matt from Brooklyn was in the area for a couple weeks and recently bought a boat from BayCreek. I'll be in NYC on Monday to visit friends, and he provided some helpful tips for kayaking around the City. 

So many boats!

Dave explaining the plan for rock gardening and rescue/tow practice

The Rough Riders - a BayCreek Paddling Center group - has been around since 2008 and meets at Durand Beach on Lake Ontario every summer Thursday evening. Yesterday's excellent turnout resulted in a late (6:30pm) start, but everyone launched successfully into the breaking waves and we were soon on our way. We paddled 1.5 miles to the jetty at the mouth of Irondequoit Bay. We were paddling with a rear quarter wind/waves, which means that the waves and wind were at our back, but at an angle. This is one of the trickiest conditions to paddle in. With each stroke the boat turns very easily, making it difficult to maintain a straight course. Since we were in a large group, boats were swerving and bumping into each other all around. 

The launch site at Durand Beach

Dan, Matt, and Jeff bouncing around in the waves

When we arrived at the jetty, Dave managed to split us into two groups and explain the exercises over the sound of wind and waves. The first group practiced rock gardening by kayaking along the outside of the jetty. Here the waves crashed most intensely since they were coming from the NW. With each trip up and down the jetty we found ourselves daring to get closer to the rocks. I was immediately aware of the wave frequency. On the west coast, there is typically between 9 and 15 seconds between waves, providing lots of time to adjust and anticipate each wave motion. Here on Lake Ontario (which is a much smaller body of water than the Pacific Ocean), the wave period is shorter, so waves were arriving every 4 or 5 seconds. Sometimes your boat would be touching two waves at the same time, which leads to very different boat behavior/handling. It also made it harder to predict what the waves would do after they crashed into the jetty and reflected back.

Rock gardening along the jetty

Mike testing his boat control skillz

The second group practiced deepwater rescues with towing. When someone capsizes near rocks or other obstacles (which is quite common since these areas can have confused waves/currents), it may be too dangerous to rescue them in place. This rescue involves two rescuers: one person who performs the standard assisted rescue and another person who tows the rescuer's boat towards safer waters. Usually it's best to have the capsized boat empty and parallel to the rescuer's boat before towing, as the process of emptying can be difficult while in-tow. 

Pink helmet selfie

After some practice, the groups switched. I did a rescue with Dan and a newer member who was feeling a bit sea sick. I was the rescuer and Dan towed. The rescue went pretty smoothly, and she was back in her boat in a couple minutes. However, I stuck both our paddles under the front decklines and found that I was not able to extract them at the end of the rescue. The paddles get thrashed around in a wavey rescue. Next time I'll stick them through decklines closer to the cockpit.

Paddling back into the Lake Ontario sunset. Mark, Dave, Janet, and others in the distance

In true Rough Rider fashion, most of us went out for drinks and dinner at Salvatore's, which is just up the road from the kayaking shop. It was so fantastic to see everyone again, even if only for a short while.

Date: August 7th, 2014
Distance: 3 miles + (exercises at the jetty)
Duration: 2 hrs

The Non-Kayaking Portion: A lot of driving and work happened on Days 19 and 20. I'll skip these parts and just say that after Traverse City we drove to Ann Arbor, spent the afternoon in Amer's (a popular student cafe), made a quick visit to the Arboretum and law library at U of Michigan, and met up with Julia for dinner. Julia's first day of classes was the next day, so we had a quick dinner at Blue Nile, an all-you-can-eat Ethiopian restaurant. Yummy!! We also drank Michigan beer (Bell's Oberon - so delicious) on Julia's new porch with Alex, another Cornell ski-team alum and the local groundhog:

Julia and the groundhog

Lewiston Lake: The Annual Freshwater Paddle

Let me introduce you to Alice, my wonderful Bay Area kayaking buddy. She wrote this guest post about our quick trip up to Lewiston Lake over Memorial Day weekend. We also paddled on Whiskeytown Lake, which you can read about here. The last time we paddled on freshwater was at Clear Lake in June 2013, so this was quite refreshing!

After dilly dallying waterside at the Berkeley Marina (Nena had just completed a heroic game of kayak water polo and we were watching the more advanced paddlers warm up), Nena and I left the Bay’s sparkling waters for the heat of mid CA. At first it didn’t feel like it made sense to leave such pleasant weather behind because the Bay was so glorious, but it was cool to travel through so many climate zones- arid, agricultural, mountains and valleys. My camping book guided us just north of Whiskeytown Lake to Lewiston Lake, where we nabbed the final walk-in site at the end of the loop, hugging the southwestern side of the lake.

Lewiston Lake view, facing south, from a short hike we did before our paddle.

We were struck by the beauty and calm of Lewiston Lake and were pretty pumped to get on some fresh water, but after a 4+ hour car ride, we opted to stretch our legs first and kayak around part of the lake’s 15 miles of shoreline. We saw some amazing blue flowers and some cool butterflies. Apparently blackberry bushes line the lake, but we were a little early for those.

Eager to paddle before sunset, we unloaded our boats and launched into the water from the parking lot's rocky slope. The wind seemed to pick up just as we set out on our mini paddle. We hugged the shore, heading towards the dam that separates Trinity and Lewiston Lakes. Nena was in heaven to be on a lake and I was too; so much that I lost my Native sunglasses while reenacting a whitewater event. I leaned back, hit my back deck, and felt my glasses bounce off my head. They spiraled slowly down into the lake’s depths. We accepted their fate, and continued on, noticing fish jumping and pretty wildflowers growing off of the rock slopes. 

Alice, with sunglasses

Lewiston Lake felt more like a fishing destination than a paddling one, but it was beautiful, and with a motor craft speed limit of10 mph, it was pretty peaceful. As we paddled by a Marina, the lake turned into more of a riverine environment, and we noticed some marsh mazes and cool tufts of grass sprouting up intermittently - a scene from The Lorax. We took shelter from the wind in the grasses, and headed into the more lake-like area along the other side of the reservoir and behind a tall hill slope that jutted out and cast a shadow from the wind. The return was wearisome, as the wind continued, but we invented strategies to pull through it, such as closing ones eyes while paddling (surprisingly fun), paddling backwards, and singing.

These grassy tufts reminded me of the Lorax and Nena of Wilson, the volleyball

Beaver dam!

We made it back before dark, but considerations of practicing rolling or swimming were dashed as the temperature dropped and our stomachs grumbled. We decided to forego a campfire, ate dinner in the (scenic) parking lot, and surrendered to quiet/sleepy time. I ventured out of my tent in hopes of glancing a few straggling shooting stars from the meteor shower the night before. Instead, I dozed off while watching the gorgeous sky full of stars through my tent fly, no meteors in sight… All in all, a pretty relaxing spot, a great paddle, and good camping that all lead up to the larger lake that followed: Whiskeytown!

Date: Sunday, May 25th
Distance: ~ 6 miles
Time: 2 hrs?

Out-the-Gate, Finally!

An Out-the-Gate paddle is a right of passage for sea kayakers in the Bay Area. Not just anyone can paddle out under the Golden Gate Bridge and see the unique view of San Francisco from the other side. Intense currents flow through the gate four times a day: twice into the bay (flood) and twice out of the bay (ebb). These tidally-driven currents can be incredibly fast (over 5 mph - 1 or 2 mph faster than a typical sea kayaker), but luckily they can be planned-for well in advance by looking at local tide tables (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/curr_pred.html). Here's a screenshot from the Bay Area Sea Kayakers' wonderful trip planner website (http://www.bask.org/trip_planner/).

Negative currents correspond to water flowing out the Gate. Alice, Johnny, and I met at Horseshoe Cove (just NE of the GG Bridge) at 2pm to catch the maximum ebb (2.8 kts, 3.3 mph) out the gate. This was my first Out-the-Gate paddle, and I was excited/nervous! Alice and Johnny have done this paddle many times, so I was in good company.

Wind and waves are harder to plan for, as these can only be predicted a few days in advance, and with less accuracy. The forecast called for high winds, and the previous day had been incredibly windy (gusts of 30 mph). William, who was planning to drive down from Redding (4 hours), cancelled because of the forecast. Alice and Johnny, who were both coming from San Francisco, noticed white caps as they drove across the GG Bridge. We made a plan: paddle out to the Gate, regroup, take a look around, and make a decision.

The view from Horseshoe Cove, the launch site.

We paddled by some rock spires (labeled on Google Maps as "Needles Rocks") on our way to the bridge. At Lime Point (does Google make these names up?) we looked left, right, at each other, and said GO! The conditions didn't look too intimidating. We turned a hard right and paddled directly out the Gate. The wind was howling, and the "max ebb" was barely noticeable, but we were able to maintain some momentum.

Approaching the decision point at Lime Point.

Some time later we found ourselves fully out-the-Gate and paddling past Kirby Cove - a common destination for sea kayakers and campers alike. We paused to take some cliche-yet-necessary photos while trying not to lose too much ground, as the waves and wind pushed us back under the bridge. The rare view of San Francisco below the GG Bridge was crisp and dramatic, thanks to incredibly clear conditions. It was fun to imagine the Gate without the Bridge in place -- what the European explorers must have seen when they stumbled upon San Francisco Bay in the 1700s.

This photo makes the wind and waves look small!

We checked in and agreed to continue past Point Diablo. The winds howled around the point, and although we paddled as hard as we could, we often found ourselves in a kayaking-treadmill. Ducking our heads, we pushed on and veered into the first land-able beach. Many years ago, Johnny and his friends dubbed this beach "Poison Oak Beach." It doesn't seem that Google has assigned a name yet, so Johnny's name persists in this post. We sprawled out on the sand like stranded sailors, exhausted from the sprint. Alice befriended a small diapered child who was interested in her boat. We identified 3 nude sunbathers dotting the beach and noticed that the beach was accessible by a rugged trail coming down the hill. Alice, inspired by the nude sunbathers and overwhelming heat/sweat in her wetsuit, stripped down to her bathing suit and basked in the sun.

After 45 minutes of chit-chatting and recovery we launched into the growing surf zone. I launched first with some help from Alice and Johnny. Alice launched next, receiving a smack in the face from a big breaking wave and losing her favorite water bottle in the tizzy. Johnny rescued the water bottle and launched without too much trouble.

Leaving Poison Oak Beach and heading back into San Francisco Bay. Alice on the left, Johnny on the right.

The paddle back was happily uneventful. With the wind and waves at our backs and slack tide approaching, we cruised back under the Gate.

Alice victoriously coasting under the GG Bridge. That's San Francisco underneath the water droplet.

We quickly loaded up our boats and went about our Sunday evening plans. Soreness ensued.

Date: May 11th, 2014
Time: ~3 hours (including long break on the beach)
Distance: 5.5 miles