Storm Paddling
Ever wonder what kayak guides do in their spare time? The phrase “busman’s holiday” comes to mind. Yeah, that is right, when we are not paddling for work, we are probably paddling for fun!
Yesterday was the perfect example. At 9:00 a.m. I made the executive decision to cancel the evening social paddle because the winds were forecast to blow 25-35 knots. While this sounds like nothing more than a great time for the experienced and properly prepared paddler, these were no conditions for the social group.
As predicted, by afternoon the winds were really beginning to puff. Buried under a bundle of work, I had all but squelched the strong voices in my head (well, most of them anyway!) that were telling me what a great day this would be to kayak at the lake. Then, my friend Jason called, planting the seed of a storm paddle. Okay, I am a sucker for kayaking invites. I am weak. I succombed. Jason called me several minutes before I pulled up to the put-in. “It is so windy out here that I almost can’t stand up!” I could hear the grin in his voice as he spoke. Little did he know, I honestly had just put my Wilderness First Responder skills to use at the local Panera Bread, because a fragile elderly man got blown over by the wind, gashing his head wide open.
Upon arriving at the lake, I continued to make the usual risk assessments for myself and for Jason. Neither of us are egomaniacs willing to push the envelope to the point of stupidity or injury. The wind truly was howling. Hefner Lake was whipped up into something a bit more marine looking. The four foot swells were cast as bloody red as the senior’s head that I had just attended to. Even the air spoke of the fierce and violent winds, as they too were hazed with earth scraped from somewhere in New Mexico, I am sure. It was an onshore wind from where we were launching from, which would serve to blow us right back where we started if gear or people got seperated from the boats. So, our environmental risks that we needed to plan for were the cold water (I had already told Jason that he would swim today), and the shallow near shore waters. After getting suited up in drysuits and helmets, we reviewed our safety gear which included Personal Flotation Devices, Rescue Tow Belts, Paddle Floats for reentry, VHF marine radio, and rocket flares. I then notified the bystanders that this was not so much a kayak paddle as it was a swimming lesson for Jason. I asked them not to be alarmed or notify 911 if they saw someone in the water, unless I shot off a flare.
The winds were obviously much greater than predicted by the weatherman, clocking in at an eyelash ripping 50 plus m.p.h. We took the boats to the shore one at a time, enlisting a windsurfer to hold one boat while launching the other. Otherwise the wind would have the kayak tumbling through the air like a new kitesurfer. I launched Jason first, helping to make a quick sprayskirt attachment before the giant waves filled his cockpit with “liquid New Mexico.” Jason launched out into the waves, paddling like a drowning alley cat on crystal meth. The bow of his boat repeatly lifted out of the air as he climbed each new swell, only to slam down into the next wave face. Simultaneously, the wind played tug of war with him, trying to get him to relinquish his grip on the paddle. It was work, but he was making his way upwind. I jumped in my boat, only to have it weathercock parallel to the oncoming waves prior to me getting my skirt on. I took on a little bit of water before getting it attached, then went to work trying to both high brace and keep my fiberglass boat off the rocky shore. I finally got the boat headed in the right direction, gaining on Jason’s position. He was really impressing me with his stability on the bucking waves. My boat was so light in the bow that it started weathervaning every time I was on the crest of the wave, broaching my boat sideways. Several times, I reversed my boat, paddling backwards into the surf. I could see that this was going to become fatiguing in a hurry, so I sidesurfed back into shore while watching Jason who was negotiating his return as well. He too, was sitting in a parallel orientation to the waves for quite some time. Then he suddenly had the urge to do wet exit practice instead of storm surfing. He climbed back into the flooded cockpit, but was not making very fast progress in getting back the last 100 yards to shore. I communicated to him that he should abandon his boat and paddle, letting them blow in to where I was standing on the lake’s edge. (After all, this is all I cared about since both items belonged to me. Ha!) I knew that it would be easier for him to body surf back in, which he readily did. We both got our workout for the day, and I know every friend and family member of Jason’s is tired of hearing his stories about how much fun he had storm paddling!
Again, I will emphasize that this was a personal paddle in which we were within our abilities and training, and all possible risks were anticipated and mitigated for. Paddling in these conditions could definitely be hazardous to your health if you are not properly trained, prepared for, or aware of the potential dangers involved. We practice these things in controlled conditions to better enable us for the unlikely event that we ever were caught in a windstorm on open waters. By the way, are you signed up for our next Rescue and Reentry Class yet???