For the love of Kayaking

[Blaze]

New Item out! Not sure what I think about it yet but they do have a Demo going on...

[Blaze]

Missing Kayakers in Cosco Bay found dead
I'm not sure if many of you have been following this story but it is one that happens all too often. This time it hits closer to home and makes headlines here in Atlanta because one of the kayakers, an eighteen-year-old woman, is from Georgia.

Two young women, trying to paddle in conditions they could not handle and conditions their kayaks were not designed for, were pulled out of the water three and a half miles offshore on Casco Bay, Maine.

Both were “unresponsive” when found, airlifted to Maine Medical Center and later pronounced dead.

From current reports, the two women were doing a short, one-mile, paddle from Peaks Island to Ram Island. They were spotted making land on Ram Island but became missed later that day.

The reason I want to write about this story is because I see and hear about this kind of thing all the time. As a trainer, it is also something I have done many seminars about with local paddling clubs and Atlanta based R.E.I co-ops.

I get enthusiastic novice paddlers, all the time, wanting to paddle their ten and twelve foot kayaks to some of my most challenging offshore locations.

When I talk about rescue skills and open water training, folks eye’s glaze over and the response I get is; “Ah, I don’t need to learn that kind of stuff!”

So, the warning I give is simple: Do not overstep the boundaries of your kayaking skills or the limits of your kayaking gear. Unless, of course, you are a fish! This applies just as much to short, hour-long trips as it does to multi day adventures.

It also applies to paddling on local lakes as much as offshore kayaking. If you cannot swim back to the shoreline, consider it “open water” and open water skills are required.

The two women died from hypothermia because they probably did not plan accordingly for the weather conditions and the limits of their kayaking gear. They were paddling in 46 to 48-degree water temperatures with out the proper clothing and they took off in kayaks that were not designed for unprotected conditions. The marine forecast called 20 mph winds and a small craft advisory had been issued.

I do not know these women, so I can’t tell you what their current level of open water experience was but I can venture to guess that they had no proper open water training. I say this because those with proper training and experience would not have done this paddle with out the appropriate paddling gear to prevent hypothermia - neoprene, dry top and pants or even a layer of heavy fleece.

As well, to be paddling 12-foot kayaks (most kayaks this size are designed to be paddled in protected water only), in weather conditions that warrant a small craft advisory is suicide. But, it happens all the time.

Just because you bought a kayak that "looks" sea worthy or the sales person has told you that they paddle this kayak at the beach all the time, does not mean it can handle conditions like the two women found themselves facing.

A sea kayak you will not find at Wal-Mart, BJ’s, Bass Pro Shops or even some R.E.I co-ops. Just because it says, “Ocean Kayak” on the side, does not mean it is designed to be paddled on open ocean.

The adventure of paddling open water is one of exhilaration, pleasure and respect. And with the proper skill set, a sea kayak can be easily paddled and controlled in the conditions that the two women found themselves in.

Understanding wind and tides are a part of the training. My best guess would be that, as they left Ram Island, to return home, they found the wind and the tides taking them in the wrong direction and could not control their kayaks. They became tired, panic set in, then one of them probably capsized and they did not have the rescue skills to get her back into her kayak and the second woman capsized.

Both were found floating in the water about one mile apart. They were over three miles off shore from Cape Elizabeth and had drifted over five miles from Ram Island. The kayaks had been found the previous day.

When enjoying the fun and adventure of kayaking, it’s all too easy to be lulled into a state of self-assuredness when the distance to be paddled is not very far. The distance to Ram Island from their launching point was one mile. They may have understood the risk they took, being in 48-degree water or paddling in strong winds, “But…” they probably said to themselves; “…it’s only a mile!”

Now, my question to every kayaker out there, how many times have you said the same thing?

[Blaze]

How to Choose a Kayak Paddle
So you've purchased a kayak. Congratulations! The next item on your list is likely to be a paddle. But how do you choose? There's no such thing as the perfect paddle — it's different for everyone. The paddle is an extension of your arms in much the same way the kayak is an extension of your body, and you want the right one. While paddle choice is largely a matter of personal preference, length, weight, material and blade shape are all variables that will affect your decision.

First, Choose a Length

Paddle lengths for touring range from approximately 220cm to 255cm.

One way to determine correct size is as follows: Lift the paddle and rest the center on top of your head. Position your hands on the shaft with both elbows bent at roughly 90 degrees. In general, the blades should be about 4" to 5" from your hands, though this is just a general guideline. Don't forget torso lengths—a tall person with a short torso, for example, might need a shorter paddle, and vice versa.

Individual height, boat width and simple personal preference might also influence your decision. Some general guidelines to consider:

Taller people and/or those with wide boats should look at lengths of 240cm or more.
Average-size people should consider paddles in the 230cm-235cm range.
Recreational paddlers and shorter individuals can often use lengths as short as 220cm.
Again, boat width is an important consideration that may result in an average-size person with a wide boat using a 245cm paddle. Consider all the variables and, if possible, try some paddles out before choosing a size.

Fine-Tuning Fit
The following questions can help fine-tune the fit of your paddle.

How wide is your boat? Wider boats, such as tandem kayaks, need longer paddles. A longer paddle allows you to reach the water without straining or hitting the side of the kayak during a stroke. A paddle that's too short requires extra effort to get the entire blade in the water, making it more difficult to propel the boat.
What's your paddling style? If you make quick, rapid strokes, a shorter length will make the paddling more efficient. If you're more laid back, or out for an extended tour, a longer paddle requires less effort, which saves energy for the long haul.
How long is your torso? In general, taller paddlers and those with long torsos need longer paddles to reach the water without stretching or straining. Shorter paddlers (and shorter torsos) need shorter paddles to prevent awkward strokes. Height is not always an indicator of torso length, though, as a short paddler with a long torso may need a longer paddle than indicated above.
Are you buying for a child? Choose a paddle designed specifically for children. They are built proportionally smaller and are easier for small hands to control.
Materials

It goes without saying that the lighter the weight, the easier the paddling. However, the best paddles offer a balanced combination of light weight and strength. Whitewater paddles are expected to hold up to a vigorous workout, and strength is a big consideration. Touring paddles, on the other hand, won't be subject to the same strains, so weight becomes more important, especially on long trips.

Wood
Wood transmits the feel of the water well, helping achieve a smooth stroke. It retains warmth to keep hands comfortable in cold conditions. Some upkeep is required to maintain its appearance. Many wood paddles are covered with a layer of fiberglass and/or have a tip guard to improve durability.

Fiberglass
These paddles are lightweight, durable and virtually maintenance-free. The nature of fiberglass allows for more complex blade shapes. In the middle of the price range, these are by far the most popular choice for whitewater and sea kayaking alike.

Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber paddles are among the lightest available. The high-tech material and manufacturing process produces durable paddles with extremely light weights. They cost more, but are worth it if weight is a concern, such as when you expect to be paddling long hours or on multi-day trips. Carbon fiber is slightly less durable than fiberglass.

Aluminum/Plastic
Paddles with aluminum shafts and plastic blades are durable and economical, but heavier than paddles made from other materials. Also, aluminum can feel cold in cool weather. They make great spare paddles, and can be a good choice for beginners or recreational kayakers. Blades are made from a variety of plastics, including polyethylene, polypropylene, thermoplastic and ABS.

Blade Design

Feathering
Blades are either feathered or nonfeathered. Nonfeathered blades are positioned parallel to each other. Feathered blades are rotated at an angle to each other. The main benefit of feathering is that it reduces wind resistance. As one blade strokes through the water, the other slices through the air. Blade angles vary from 45 to 90 degrees, with most falling in the 45- to 65-degree range. Smaller angles are easier on the wrists, but larger angles offer greater efficiency when paddling.

Blades are feathered in such a way that one hand always maintains control of the paddle. This "control hand" rotates the shaft with each stroke so the blades enter the water at the most efficient angle. Most whitewater paddles are controlled with the right hand. Most touring paddles have take-apart shafts that let you change the feather angle and the control hand. The control hand is a matter of personal preference, and is not necessarily determined by whether you are right- or left-handed.

Blade Shape
Large symmetrical blades can power you through the water quickly, but each stroke requires a lot of energy. While smaller blades are gaining in popularity, larger blades are useful for surfing and paddling that requires quick, powerful bursts of acceleration.

Asymmetrical blades help you paddle most efficiently. They are narrower than their symmetrical counterparts and tolerate a more horizontal stroke, which uses up less energy. If you're paddling for long periods of time, or just want to reduce fatigue in general, consider asymmetrical blades.

Blades are either flat, cupped (spooned) or dihedral. Cupped blades are curved much like the head of a spoon. This design helps the blade remain stable as you paddle through the water. Dihedral blades have a built-in angle, similar to an airplane wing. The dihedral shape helps water flow smoothly and evenly over both halves of the blade to prevent fluttering and twisting. Many paddle blades are a combination of dihedral and cupped shapes.

Shafts

Paddles are available with either 1-piece or take-apart shafts. One-piece shafts are inherently stronger. Because whitewater paddles suffer more abuse than touring paddles, they generally feature the more durable 1-piece shafts. Touring paddles, on the other hand, usually break down into 2 or more pieces. Take-apart shafts let you change blade angles from feathered to unfeathered. They make great spares for whitewater kayaking and touring, because the are easy to transport.

Shafts come in 2 shapes: oval and round. Oval shafts offer a more comfortable grip than the traditional round shape. Some round shafts feature oval hand sections for a better grip. This is called oval indexing.

Swing weight is how balanced a paddle feels while paddling. A paddle with lightweight blades and a heavier shaft feels lighter than a paddle with heavy blades and a light shaft. Ideally, blade weight and shaft weight should be balanced. Hold a paddle and practice your stroke to get a feel for the swing weight.

Carry a Spare

If your paddle breaks in the middle of a whitewater run, or if you lose it on the second day of a 4-day sea kayak trip, what will you do? Without a spare, you might literally find yourself up a creek without a paddle. An aluminum-and-plastic paddle with a take-apart shaft makes an inexpensive spare that could save you serious time and grief should the unexpected happen. They are easy to stash and stand up to rigorous use. Check out our selection.

Try Them Out

If possible, the best way for you to choose a paddle is to try one out. Check out your local REI store — some let members demo boats and paddles for free. You could also borrow from a friend or attend a kayak symposium where manufacturers let you test gear. Local paddling clubs are a good source of information for these types of events. After you purchase a paddle, try a dry run. Sit in your boat and practice paddling. Is the paddle long enough? Does it feel comfortable in your hands and not too heavy? If so, you're ready to hit the water. Happy paddling!

Back to Top



By REI staff
In This Article
First, Choose a Length
Materials
Blade Design
Shafts
Carry a Spare
Try Them Out

[Blaze]

Reflections from the Cockpit June 2008
"The Whistle In Kayaking"

A couple of months ago I had the pleasure to observe one of the local kayaking instructors for a couple of days. During one of the breaks, I was sitting around with the students and I noticed the all to familiar sight of the combat ready knife and the safety whistle hanging on the main zipper of the PFD. See USK article, “Combat Ready Knife” for my thoughts about knives on PFD’s. I wish to focus this article on the use, expectations, reliability and storage of your whistle when paddling.

First I want to be very clear that I am 100% in favor of every PFD having a whistle attached to it. I know from experience that a whistle carries a lot farther than your voice. It is also a fact that your voice will give out a lot sooner than your whistle. However there are a number of concerns I have about whistles all derived from personal experiences.

I think there is a false expectation of how far the sound of a whistle can travel. During a navigation clinic off of Martha Vineyard we had a head wind on the return compass run. The group was getting farther apart as we were approaching shore, which is very common. See USK article, “Run Back To The Barn Attitude”. I asked two of the folks at the tail end of the group to capsize and signal the front of the group for assistance. The point of the capsize exercise was to show the entire group the benefits of staying together. Again, we were going into a head wind. The two in the water only had whistles. They didn't even try shouting, because they knew the paddlers in front were too far away. After blowing their whistles their amazement was apparent when the front group did not hear them. The distance was no more than 200 yards.

We had to send a paddler ahead to get closer to the group so they could hear a whistle. Due to the wind, those in front never heard the initial whistles. The fact that none of the lead group never turned around on regular basis to check on those behind is a discussion topic for another time. I often tell groups to test their whistles on calm days and windy days to see how far the whistle carries with and against the wind. I suggest you do the same, because just having a whistle doesn’t mean you are going to be heard. That is why a good signaling kit contains other options. See USK article “Signaling”. As I said at the beginning, I think whistles are a necessity, but they do have limitations. Knowing those limitations is important. It is your responsibility to find the range of your whistle if you wish to depend on that whistle.

My next concern is where to store the whistle. Part of knowing where to store it is also dependent on the size of your whistle and the features on your PFD. Since there are so many different PFD’s on the market I am not going to tell you the best place to store your whistle. I will tell you where and I store mine and why. I will also give you criteria to consider when picking the storage location for your whistle.

Personally I prefer a small whistle than a large one. I suggest you get a whistle that DOES NOT have a little ball in it. Those balls can get stuck in the chamber and cause the whistle to malfunction, especially in salt water. My very first metal whistle corroded and can be rough on your mouth and your teeth. Plastic ones seem to be more user friendly. I personally use a “Fox 40”. I store the whistle in the pocket of my PFD on a small lanyard so it can reach my mouth.

I originally stored my whistle attached to the front zipper of my PFD. I thought this was a great location, because it was also a zipper pull and the whistle could reach my mouth when the PFD was zipped up. As a side note, when I started kayaking there were no pockets on our PFD’s. Even if there were, the zipper seemed like a great location. After wearing the whistle on the zipper for four or five years I had a very interesting incident on the South Fork of the American River when I was whitewater kayaking. We were starting our run at Chili Bar (if my memory correctly serves me) and we decided to play in a small play hole near the put in. During one of my turns in the hole I got flipped over and was trying to roll up and I felt restricted. I realized I had my PFD open and around my shoulders. I managed to roll up and went off into the eddy to zip up my PFD and curse myself for not remembering to do so when I got on the river. I couldn’t believe I was so stupid as to forget to zip up my PFD.

When it was my turn, I went back into the play hole. Eventually I got flipped again. I started to feel my PFD on my shoulders again. I opened my eyes to see the turbulent water and bubbles actually pulling on the whistle. Since I was upside down the whistle was trying to float to the surface and the turbulent water was pulling it there. This whistle zipper pull was opening my PFD as I stayed upside down. I rolled up and headed for the eddy. Took the whistle off of the zipper and never put anything on the zipper of my PFD again. I share this story with anyone I see with their whistle on their zipper.

Over the years I have seen sea kayakers with whistles on the front of their PFD’s get caught on deck lines, cockpit coamings and deck gear as they try to climb on their boats during recovery exercises. I think having anything on your PFD that can get snagged during recoveries is a potential danger. Your whistle is supposed to be a safety item NOT a liability.

I wish PFD manufacturers would make very small whistle pockets with a hook inside so you could easily store your whistle on a short cord and have it accessible when you need it. If you put it in a big pocket it can get tangled up with the other items in the pocket. Until whistle pockets are a reality (I doubt if the ever will happen) you need to choose your personal whistle storage location. Wherever you store it, make sure you can get to it in an emergency. I suggest you get one that will work without maintenance.

I believe whistles are a necessity, but you need to know their range and limitations. You should have more than one signaling devise when you go out. Don’t fall into a false sense of security that having a whistle will be the “end all” in case you need help. Again, store it where it is an asset not a liability.



Wayne Horodowich

[Blaze]

Currents explained



Another thing that you need to watch out for if you're going kayaking are ocean currents. Depending on where you are, they can either be a slight or a relatively important factor. You should always try to make sure that your trips will allow you to paddle with the current instead of against it, or that if you do have to paddle against the current that you have made plans just in case you get tired.

Currents are caused when the water is different temperatures. While we generally hear about the water temperature as though it is just one thing, that is not always the case. In fact, there are usually pockets or streams of ocean water that moves at different speeds.

You would think that eventually all the water in the ocean would smooth out to be the same temperature. However, that is not the case. In fact, it's very likely not possible, due to all of the different factors that affect water temperature in the oceans. For instance, sunlight can definitely affect the water temperature in places. The result of this is that areas that generally get a lot of sunlight (usually around the equator) will have warmer water than other places.

Likewise, water that is near the polar ice caps or glaciers generally gets full of melt-water from this ice. The result is that that water ends up being colder than the water around it.

This causes the currents because of a very simple fact regarding water and air. That is, when air or water warms up the pressure increases. Air or water that has higher pressure than the air or water around it tends to move into the areas that have less pressure. As a result, warm water tends to flow around the globe. For that reason, we get the major currents.

You can also get smaller currents as a result of differences in water pressure and temperature. Not only that, but there are even some currents that are caused by the tides, and how water flows over certain areas when the tide goes up or down.

Make sure that you account for the currents wherever you plan on kayaking. They can either help you, or cause a lot of problems if you're not careful with your planning.

[Blaze]

Before you start kayaking, this is one thing that you will probably be concerned with. After all, not too many people can afford spending too much money on their hobbies, and kayaking does seem like the type of activity that would cost a lot of money to start. However, just like most other things that you would think about doing, kayaking can either be very expensive, or relatively affordable.

The most expensive thing that you will probably be buying is your kayak. There are a lot of different kayaks on the market, however, so you should probably pay attention to which ones are available. There's no reason to spend more money than you have to on this. Also, if you manage to buy your kayak used, then you will save a lot of money.

Another way that you can make sure that you don't spend too much money on kayaking is by maintaining your kayak. The more you maintain your kayak, the less money you'll have to spend on repairs. Considering the types of repairs that might be needed on a badly cared for kayak, this could be a considerable amount of money.

While there are also a lot of other items that you will need for your kayak, before you buy each thing you should ask yourself whether or not you'll actually need to use it. If the answer is no, then you can save some extra money by not buying that particular thing. For instance, if you are not going to be going kayaking out at sea for long periods of time, or if you don't think that you'll be going on long kayak tours, then you probably will not need to get a GPS system for your kayak.

You should also pay attention to whether or not you need to get the best supplies. While it would be nice to have the best of everything, you should look at what will be sufficient instead.

However, even though you can save some money by omitting certain things from your list of necessary items, you should always make sure that you have all the necessary safety gear. Every kayak should have a first aid kit in the hatch, and you should always wear a personal flotation device for your own safety.

[Blaze]

Once you've found the perfect kayak for you, and you're ready to go kayaking, there's one other thing that you need to learn about first. You need to know how to take care of your kayak, otherwise, you may find that your kayak doesn't last nearly as long as you would like it to. Considering how much kayaks tend to cost, this should definitely be a priority for you.

One thing that you should keep in mind regarding kayak maintenance is that like most things, a little bit of prevention can go a long way. As a result, you should make sure that you do a little bit of regular maintenance on your kayak. This way, you'll be able to keep your kayak nice, and you won't have to worry about doing a lot of maintenance all at once when something breaks.

First, you should always make sure that you wash your kayak regularly. This will help keep it clean, and will also make sure that you can see if there is anything on the kayak that could cause problems later. This is especially important if you are kayaking in salt water, since the salt can corrode parts of your kayak. You should also make sure that you rinse the inside of your kayak as well if any salt water got inside.

You should make sure that your kayak does not have any holes in it, too - and you can do this before you find yourself sitting in a leaking kayak out at sea. All you have to do is put a flashlight inside of the kayak and cover the cockpit. Then put the kayak in a dark room. If you see any areas of light then that means that you have a crack in your kayak. This is the best way for you to decide if you have a crack in your actual kayak instead of just in the paint. Cracks in the paint will make your boat look worse than it is, but they won't do any real structural damage to your kayak.

Finally, if you don't want your paint to fade and you're worried about the boat warping at all, then you should store it indoors and out of the sun temperature changes.