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Great Lakes South Haven Storm September from Keith Wikle on Vimeo. This is a video of a storm from the pier in South Haven right near sunset. I was surf kayaking 7-9 foot waves from the outside. This was taken with an iPhone4. My real camera that I usually mount to my boat had a dead battery. This video of the storm on Lake Michigan was taken yesterday evening while I was Kayak surfing. It was a Beautiful sunset at the South Haven pier on Lake Michigan. Each Summer there are weeks and weeks of flat water on the Great Lakes, to the point where the kayak surfing junkies are ready to start sacrificing puppies to the weather god for a 3 foot wave.
September has given up her jewels like an oyster with a hiccup. I managed to get out three times in four days. Day one was big, but very windy and hard to break out. Six to eight foot waves caught just near the outside of the pier in South Haven, cutting towards the pier at breakneck pace, and then cutting away at the last minute. Breaking back out became an exercise in futility with the wind. I became more and more exhausted on each return trip to deep water until I was rolling more than paddling. A friend of the family who is now a South Haven Police officer came out to the pier and told me that he couldn’t stop me from going back out, but that he would feel better if I got away from the pier because of the rip current. I told him I was ready to bag it. Storm surge was flattening out the waves as the wind built to new crescendos in the 40 knot range. For a day with 35 knot wind veering Northwest, I managed four or five really good rides where I caught solid bottom turns, a few cutbacks off of the foam pile. Day two The wind and waves had died down but there was still a strong swell moving out of the south west. I sea kayaked down to the dunes near Van Buren State Park into the wind for an hour our two, and then rode the swells back to the beach, playing in the small 1-2 foot waves near the beach. I have increasingly been trying to surf my sea kayak backwards ala Scott Fairty when the challenge of the wave itself is not that great. It’s been good fun to try to learn to surf in reverse. Bow ruddering for directional control when headed downwave is whacky stuff. Day three Many of my posts have waxed prophetic on surfing. Suffice it to say each time I have a day like I did yesterday on Lake Michigan, I feel a lot better about my life. No thoughts about work, home projects, problems exist. Just lean forward and paddle like hell.
Go Kayak Now is hosting the first annual South Haven Freshwater Surf Jam. All Paddlecraft and non-motorized craft are welcome:
Where:South Haven Michigan, South Beach Sea kayaking consumer trends as viewed through insights for search I took a look at a few tools to see where some of the big Brands in Sea Kayaking stood in comparison with each other. Some of the results were surprising, others were not so surprising. Looking at data like this can sometimes be misleading, and each person can draw their own conclusion as to what this means. I am interested in consumer searches for these brands as it relates to new product launches, brand power, consumer perception, and online web presence. I am as you know not endorsed by any of these brands, nor am I swayed one way or the other. The reason I picked these brands is that they are known primarily for sea kayaks. They don’t make recreational boats, they don’t make light touring kayaks, so the data is cleaner. I have nothing against rec kayaks, or light touring kayaks, it is primarily for the purposes of examining sea kayaking as a sport. Let me preface this post with the fact that I am a huge nerd. My job and my hobby really shouldn’t intersect, there should be an interstitial space between the two, a void that drops off where I leave search and metrics behind, and kayaking fun can begin without even thinking about this stuff. But alas, it is interesting to look at charts and graphs and to think about what it all means. I examined the following brands: So here is a graph from from Google Insights for Search that shows some sort of hedge case water sports. It is something to ground us all who are passionate about this sport. This tool basically gives you search volume over time with news results and other events along the timeline.
So the thing to note is that kayaking, windsurfing, and it appears even kiteboarding are following the same trendline. The amount of searches each year is definitely smaller and smaller each year. Keep in mind this is Google’s tool and that they hold roughly 70% of the search share. The peak each year for all these search terms is in July, and it is straight down after this. What this tells me is that it is a shrinking consumer base for splinter water sports. It could be for one of three reasons. One, the number of people who are interested in kayaking is shrinking. Two, the number of people who have tried kayaking once and gotten it out of their system is growing. And three, Google searches overall are shrinking each year with the introduction of other means of finding content on the internet. Keep in mind it could be a combination of all three. The thing that I chuckle about is that parkour is bigger than kayaking in terms of searches. This is not participation mind you, but searches. Throwing myself at concrete in acrobatic leaps is not my idea of a good time, but friend Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin can beg to differ. The other humor point is, when was the last time you remember windsurfing being top of mind for anyone? 1980 something right? Miami Vice era. Remember the girl with the bikini and the head dink? The Miami Vice opening Video sequence below at time signature :14. We are part of a shrinking herd, a diminishing tribe so to speak, and it is good to remember the lessons of Miami Vice. Sea kayaking brands over time. So a couple of interesting points. Valley Sea Kayaks has a long history with sea kayaking in general. Their interest in search has been consistent, but dwindling like everyone else’s. Where do their peaks come from? They are roughly correlated to the trend in watersports in general. The super interesting thing is that Aled Williams company Tiderace has risen onto the scene and has gotten almost as much search volume as its competitors relatively quickly. Whereas Sea Kayaking UK, or NDK had a high number of searches and has since declined rapidly, either due to their name shift from NDK, to Sea Kayaking UK, or diminishing interest from consumers. The startling thing to me is that there aren’t any huge spikes around new product innovation, or new design. That in and of itself says alot about the impact of new product launches.
There are brief spikes that quickly die off in consumer searches. The brands have done a much better job as of late in getting information to consumers to generate buzz. P&H and Valley both have used message boards and blog posts to pump up interest in new designs. P&H did a masterful job in getting everyone’s attention to the Delphin. And Peter Orton of Valley Sea Kayaks was discussing their new design concept for Valley and is using high profile paddlers like the always fun, Justine Curgenven to test the design. Unfortunately this has not paid off in any lasting effect with consumers in search in the way that it does with say consumer electronics, or smart phones. Not a fair comparison. But in terms of how say the Apple iPhone4 launch caught the consumers perception, and has maintained interest post launch. Well, sort of unbeatable isn’t it? Could the paddlesports industry do a better job of doing prelaunch materials like videos, testimonials and endoresements for new products without getting all slimy? Probably. But is that the whole story, no? The outdoor retailer trade show, has to dates, one in January and one in August. Why are there no huge blips then? Industry insiders are aware of it, but few others. Whereas the consumer electronic show, comic con, and other expo shows. Take a lesson from the comic book nerds here. Marvel Studios announced the director for the Avengers movie, Joss Whedon at Comic Con, and it was plastered all over the internet and twitter. Could these Outdoor Retailer shows be a better vehicle for paddle sports? Maybe. Or maybe I overestimate the power of these shows to promote new products. I am one of the nerds from Comic Con for the record. Lastly is a Compete Graph, showing traffic to these major brands. Unfortunately Tiderace did not have enough volume to show on this graph so I threw Go Kayak Now! into the mix. We’re not doing to bad are we?...
I think each of these brands has a lot to offer to consumers looking to get their first kayak, or their second or third, this is not a criticism of the product at all, but rather a bit of insight into the trend in consumer behavior with the brand as it pertains to search. Let me know if you have insights from the paddleshop side of things, or the manufacturer side that I don’t and I would love to see it. Keep in mind this is all from the US side of things for what is mostly a UK operation. I didn’t intend to pick all UK manufacturers but they had the most data to play with and made all sea kayaks. Glen Haven – South Manitou – Glen Haven 8/4/10 posted by John Fleming It’s 8am on Cannery Beach, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It’s me, a chain smoking heavy equipment operator, and nobody else. He says that no overweight tourists will be at the beach until about 11, and he wants to lift the cannery up off the ground before they get there. By the end of the day, my body and physics degree will both agree that the crane and I have each expended about the same amount of total energy. To which my liberal arts education replies, “but I have been across the sea.” In the grand tradition of doing things my mother would not approve of, I want to paddle out and back to South Manitou in a day. It’s not the longest paddle, about an 8 mile crossing, but it is exposed. The last time I did something like this, I didn’t see a soul from the time I left the highway until I got back to shore at the end of the day, which was cool but a little nerve wracking. At least today I get to talk to chain smoking guy, which takes the edge off before I launch the boat into the surf. Today is a beautiful, clear morning, with 15 knots blowing from the North with gusts to 20. The day before had 4’ surf out of the west, and I was able to get a couple of decent rides in the surf kayak off the beach in Charlevoix. The weather report for this morning says 2-4’. What the report doesn’t convey is that there are still 2-4’ waves coming from the west, plus the 2-4’ waves coming from the North. If you do the math, that’s not really 2-4’. Off shore, this translates into arrhythmic sloshing, with big peaks occasionally obscuring the Manitous. I choose the GL paddle, because I it feels good into a headwind. I keep my eyes fixed on the South Manitou lighthouse. I’ve never gotten seasick, but I’m not taking any chances. After a time, the headwind is wearing on me, the island doesn’t seem to be getting any closer, and I keep dragging my fingertips in the water to check that I am still moving. I alternate between wondering what the hell I am doing out here, are my kids going into the waves in Charlevoix without lifejackets on, am I going to develop tendonitis, and should I really have left shore with the GL paddle in my hands? The need to throw my right shoulder into the occasional oncoming wave brings me back to the moment, and at least I can grin at the wave forecast.
Two and a half hours later, I am visiting the 1960 wreck of the Francisco Morazan, in the wind shadow of South Manitou island.
After this, my plan is to head over to visit the lighthouse and maybe take a nap. Near the lighthouse I encounter a distinct sewage smell, and hordes of biting flies. I walk the shore, in constant motion, swatting myself like a penitente. My Freya-style sexy fuzzy rubber pants keep the flies off my legs, but are making me overheat. (sorry, no pics) My last act before launching is to rip off the pants. Big mistake; hundreds of flies descend on my sweaty legs. (sorry again, no pics) I jump in my boat and leave shore, but I can never get all the flies out of my cockpit before getting on the sprayskirt. I paddle on, feel bites on my legs, open my skirt, flush out a few flies, quickly close the skirt. Repeat. Repeat. About a half mile offshore, I jump in the water and flood my cockpit to remove the flies. Brilliant. Rather than take the most direct course back. I paddle east for a mile or so, out of the wind shadow of the islands, so that I can surf downwind back to Cannery Beach. The waves have cleaned up a bit. I stare at the bow toggle. Each time the bow drops, I lean forward, dig in, and surge ahead. Compared to the slog out, I can’t believe how fast the islands are receding, and how fast the mainland is approaching. In less than an hour and a half, I surf all the way back to the (now) crowded beach, broach at the last second, sideways high-brace surf-landing with a ceremonious ‘thump’. I feel everybody’s eyes on me, impressed by my skillful arrival.
(To be honest, this is quite a bit different than my re-entry earlier in week. Returning after my ‘reconnaissance’ paddle for this trip, I wet-exit and float on my back to cool off, until I realize that tourists are swimming out to “rescue me”.) This ancient Peruvian crossover between stand up paddle surfing, and kayak surfing looks pretty sweet. It’s essentially a reed boat and a giant log. How simple could it get? I like the primitive simplicity in this type of paddle surfing. No carbon fiber, no shaped paddles, you get to use a log to paddle out to the lineup. Nice! Notice how he is using a high angle greenland stroke with that board? This guy is probably even canting his blade forward a bit. It would be great to see this sport take off in the way that east Greenland rolling skyrocketed off into the ether. I have to give a lot of credit to those Girls for standing up on those reed craft on their first outing. I would have crashed and burned. The other super funny part is, they are all in wetsuits, and the local is in a cotton t-shirt. That’s one tough hombre!
When I do a wilderness kayak camping trip, I always ask myself is this worth the hassle. When I look at a picture like the one above, the answer is easily yes.
I had an interesting discussion with a number of paddlers as I was assembling information for my Risk Management class this past weekend. It led me to a couple of good questions? The first is, what is the riskiest thing you do all day on average? Is it kayaking? Or is it something else? And what steps do you do to mitigate/avoid that risk each time you approach it? People assume that kayaking is dangerous. And is dangerous to a certain extent, but is it even the most dangerous thing you will even do on any given day? To what lengths will you go to mitigate or avoid risks in kayaking? Will you make go, no go decisions based on weather, water temps, wind and waves, who’s going? And then think about the last time you went up on a ladder or the last snowstorm you drove through because you wanted to get home to be ready for work, or the last time you powered up a circular saw without reading the instructions or putting on safety goggles.
Spray Falls Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Having paddled with kids a lot more than the average guy, I know that they are funny, fickle creatures who crave adventure and excitement like crazy dope fiends. They don’t care about technique, strokes, or learning anything. They want the experience without all the talking. Laura and I set off from our very familiar Deer Lick Creek beach south of South Haven at the setting of the sun with our 10 year old daughter Isabella. She was paddling with fury out of the gate, determined to stay ahead of Dad. She dug deep with her home made inuit blade, and grew frustrated when she wasn’t leading the pack. Laura tried to offer tips and technique to no avail. Having been through this before, I let her go off on her own. I coasted until she began to see the full moon rise over the water. This finally made an impact on her, and she started to enjoy the cool night air, the stars, and the glassy surface of the water as she paddled towards the pier. Once we reached the pier there was a crowd watching the full moon rise across the surface of the water. She announced proudly, “I paddled all the way here!” As Laura and I paddled up someone asked, “where did you come from?” “We were out paddling and we just found this kid out here on her own.” I said. There was a sudden and communal intake of social outrage. Then I burst that bubble. “Just kidding, this is my kid.” There was an audible sigh of relief across the space of the darkened water and the blinking red light of the pier. I want to meet that kid that sea kayaks unsupervised under the full moon. Peter Pan, Lord of the Flies, and other childhood stories be damned, kids just don’t venture out into the dark to experience magic on their own anymore. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming. The poet in me obliges me to make my children experience sunsets and moonrises in abundance. In the end will they have no impact, like a comet sick of seeing it’s tail. I hope not. I hope there is some magic left in the world where a father can show his daughter molten silver poured over Lake Michigan, and she says, “WOW”! And now our obligatory U2 quote: Into the heart… of a child Into the heart… of a child Into the heart Into the heart… |
           
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