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First, our deepest condolences to Peter’s family. I called the Wisconsin, Port Washington Police Captain Michael Davel who was involved in the recovery of Peter from Lake Michigan. I wanted to clarify some details for the Lake Michigan Sea and Surf Kayaking community who spends a lot of time out on cold water in small craft.

Peter found near mouth of harbor

• Peter was found 1/2 mile off shore by the Port Washington Fire and Rescue services in Lake Michigan where he had most likely drifted across the harbor mouth where he was spotted in the water, separated from his kayak. He was unconscious when found, and never regained consciousness. No one knows how long he was in the water.
• Winds were reported at 25 knots, waves six feet. There were many board surfers out this day. All most likely wearing 6/5 or 7/6 full wetsuits with hoods, booties, and mittens to deal with 36 degree water temps.
• Peter was not wearing any immersion protection. He wore underarmour poly-pro, and then normal clothing with a rainshell/ski jacket over the top. No wetsuit, no drysuit.
• He was wearing a lifejacket when he was found.
• He was wearing a nylon spraydeck when he was found.

Update.

• He had no signalling device of any kind.
• His kayak, may have had bulkheads, but they also could have been foam pillars. I have never seen an otter sold with bulkheads fore and aft, but he may have fitted it himself. For anyone who has not seen an Otter, it is a short (9′ long 28″ wide) recreational type craft with a wide open style cockpit that easily allows water in, but is very maneuverable. It is not seaworthy.
• Peter had no float plan with loved ones on shore. No on one land knew of his journey, how far he was going, where he was going, when he would be back, and what to do if he was not back at a certain time.
• The police officer stated that Peter had done some white water paddling in the Boy scouts, and may have done a white water course or certification.

All of these odds unfortunately stacked up against a young 24 year old man with no experience in the conditions he was found in on Lake Michigan. And without placing judgement, because you don’t know what you don’t know. He was completely unprepared with immersion protection, signalling devices, a float plan, or a properly outfitted kayak and the knowledge on how to eskimo roll, or re-enter his kayak in waves whilst far from shore. I have not rolled an Otter in 6 foot seas on Lake Michigan, so I am not sure this is even possible.

The media spoke with the family who stated that he was experienced because he went out 3-4 times a week.

A proper risk assessment done with the local sea kayaking community would have dispelled the notion that going out on Lake Michigan, on this day with the equipment and experience he possessed was a good idea. A class or symposium where he might have been exposed to the idea of a kayak with bulkheads, how to roll it, or re-enter it, might have saved his life in that he might have learned this skill, or decided that because he did not possess this skill that it was not wise to go. Exposure to the risks of hypothermia from the sea kayaking community in his area would have certainly increased his time in the water. But this is all idle speculation.

I would encourage local clubs, paddleshops, and sporting good stores to think long and hard about not speaking up about the inherent risks of the Great Lakes. We often don’t want to impose, or make folks feel like we are safety nazi’s. You can certainly hurt a live person’s feelings and risk a boat sale, or paddle club membership, but you can’t hurt a dead person’s feelings. The good shops and clubs, you know who you are, do their utmost to caution paddlers about the risks and offer courses. And for that we thank them.

We seem to have had a dearth of Great Lakes related paddling fatalities and rescues. It would be great if each sea kayaker brought one new person to a class or symposium each month, or maybe even sponsored an open rescue class for free. Pass on what you know about your environment, and your passion for the sport.

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I headed out to the lake last night for a surf session with onshore winds 20-30 knots. Waves were about 5-7 feet, but very confused. I tried using the surf kayak for most of the evening to catch rides, but there were heavy closeouts everywhere. It was kind of a mess. My early lessons in having some sort of bend in the wind from the North was reinforced. The waves reflected off the pier and I was essentially playing in seven foot clapotis in a surf boat. I would drop in to surf on a massive face that would quickly hit a wave reflecting off the pier, and I would get almost airborn each time, (fun on it’s own) but I was terrified of nose diving the bullet in the shallow water, so I always held back a bit. But I took a lot of zippered closeouts where I got tossed sideways nearly airborne.

It was good, and somewhat life-affirming to head out, and hit the surf after doing a lot of thinking about the 18 year old, Mitch Fajman, who lost his life on Lake Michigan on Saturday evening. I take a lot of risks as a 37 year old guy. I usually have a healthy pit of dread in my belly for big wind and waves. And on most days within reason I tell my belly to shut the hell up, so I can surf. But on that particular day, I listened to it, and stayed home. But having had some nasty swims out there, it is no joke. But, I can’t live my life in fear of what might happen. I love the thrill of catching big waves in a small boat. Nothing in life compares to it. I just pray that my judgement holds steady in the years to come.

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This image of different types of breaks does a fairly good job of explaining how different breaks are formed.
The type we see the most often on the Great Lakes is the beach break. Though on the east coast of Lake Michigan we often get sandbars that form in deeper water simulating a bit of the reef break or slab type of break. Though I would never say that they form in quite the same way as they do in the ocean.

Beach Breaks form when the height of wave reaches a depth of roughly half of it’s height. So a beach break can be woefully unreliable in terms of where it will break and how big it will be based on the size of the wave. For instance on a big swell day, a wave could be breaking much farther out than on a day when the swell is smaller. The only way to be able to surf it is to watch it over time, observe other surfers and gauge where the best place is to catch the wave. Beach break waves can vary based on the slope of the bottom from gentle peeling breaks, to steep dumping breaks, though the speed and spacing of swells have a lot to do with the type of break. Surfing a kayak in shallow water at a beach break can often result in pitchpoling, neck-breaker surf conditions. For Michiganders this is par for the course, but for those with more options tread with caution.

Lahinch Reef Break in County Donegal Republic of Ireland

Reef Breaks form where a slab of rock, coral reef, or other undersea bottom feature, (sandbar) forms underwater that happens off shore. Waves at this type of break often are very meaty, powerful and occur in deep water. Bird Rock in San Diego as mentioned in a couple of posts is one such break, as is Mavericks, the big wave site in Northern California in Half Moon bay. Reef breaks often have the tendency to break in a bowl or crescent shape so that it may start to break over a rock at the middle and then wrap around and break at the edges later. I will try to find some video where this occurs. It looks cool as hell on film, but is a little freaky when you are out there grabbing greenwater, and then all of a sudden you’re staring an 8 foot close out in the face. If the reef is particularly shallow this can also make wipeouts horrendous.

Point Breaks are rarer still in the Great Lakes, Steamer Lane is a very famous beach break because of the surf contest. Point breaks are great for using the sheltered side from the swell to capture wrap around waves that are more uniform with clean lines. Depending on the prevailing swell direction and the way the point juts into the ocean these can be great spots. They tend to break in a predictable uniform manner. But if the swell direction changes you can have a pond with nothing to surf which happens from time to time for the Santa Cruz Surf Fest.

I don’t personally have any preference for one or the other of these types of breaks. Point Breaks and Reef Breaks are nice because you typically paddle out on flat water to catch a wave rather than through an intimidating beat down of beach break to catch even one ride. Knowing which type of wave you are surfing and watching how boardies and other paddle surfers are catching waves will give you a lot of intel on how to surf each type of break. Barring that, you will have to head out and do it by trial and error. I usually use landmarks even when I can watch other surfers. I place myself in the same place in the lineup each time using feature on shore, and then another further down the coast line to triangulate my position.

If you have good videos of any of these particular types of breaks you want to share drop me a line.

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At the end of August I wrote my first post, about paddling to Ile Aux Galet (Skillagalee) island, which started out intimidating but turned into a ton of fun, surfing back to the mainland.  Besides about 10,000 birds, the only thing on the island is a beautiful 1888 lighthouse, which is still active.    http://www.michiganlights.com/skillagaleelh.htm

 

Ile Aux Galets

So I was intrigued when I came across this brochure for a new planned-unit development proposed for Muskegon, MI. 

http://www.beaconhillusa.org/pdf/BeaconHill-USA.pdf

The photos are really nice, the graphic design is good, and there is more than a little altruism involved in building “the greenest community in America.”  But, a few factual errors in the text put me into a skeptical frame of mind.  Finally, I was shocked by the statement that they are going to relocate the Ile Aux Galets lighthouse to the middle of this development. 

 

From an environmental standpoint, the development sounds good on paper, and I think the Lake Michigan shoreline would support such a development, even if I think the economy would not.  The developer is quite serious about alternative energy, wind power* and sustainable architecture.  But, re-appropriating a lighthouse to be the cultural centerpiece/icon of a development is, at best, a misguided attempt to establish a “historiocity” for a new project, and for me at least, sends up red flags.  I don’t think that the “Greenest Community in America” would pull such a theme-park maneuver.  As an architect, I have quite a few opinions about preservation.  For me, context is everything.  I would much rather see something fall to ruin in its historical location, than be moved for aesthetic effect.  A prime example would be Disney’s Celebration, a “new town” they built near Orlando.  Celebration, complete with folksy schools and a town hall, stands as a blatant attempt to re-create an American past that never really existed.  It focuses on style and image, over culture and real community development.  Rather than operable, accountable schools or democratic public institutions, they focused their considerable attention on image, doing things like spending $150,000 to import a single large Live Oak tree, because it looked “cool” and “old”.  Another thing to keep in mind is that planned-unit developments are usually built in phases, to allow for adjustments in market demand.  If the first phases are well-received, any altruism typically disappears, the target price of subsequent units are adjusted upward, and the development becomes noticeably more upscale.  The most successful example of a coastal “new-town” is probably Seaside, in the Florida panhandle.  Planned as a self-contained, somewhat affordable, new-town with fantastic architecture and planning, it rapidly developed into an expensive enclave of second, third, and fourth homes.  (It was shown at its most bland in the movie “The Truman Show”.)

 

The whole moving-the-lighthouse-thing agitated me.  So, I contacted various sources, including the developer, to find out what was up.

 

A quick search of the developer turns up some interesting information.  Some of his previous business dealings in the area made a few people so mad that they started this web-site (which carefully avoids libel by containing only publically available information).  http://www.timlangenberg.com/  For this new development, the developer organized a bunch of financing and land deals that fell apart with the recent meltdown of the financial markets.  He has taken a brief furlough out of the country, but is planning to return soon and get back to work on this development.  He still wants the lighthouse, which he sees as central to his development. 

 

 So, how does one go about buying a lighthouse? 

Because the Coast Guard is not tasked, or funded, to preserve historic structures, the Coast Guard has been unloading lighthouses, via the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.   Once a lighthouse is slated for sale, it will go to other government agencies, municipalities, or failing that, to non-profits, in that preferential order.  If you obtain a lighthouse this way, you have to maintain it as per

National Park Service (Sec. of the Interior) guidelines for historic structures, which can be prohibitively expensive.  If no government or agency steps in to accept a lighthouse, the NPS will auction the lighthouse as a last resort.  If purchased at auction, the NPS guidelines no longer apply, and the new owner can do whatever they want with the lighthouse, including moveit. 

The following link describes the act, as well a list, by year, of available lighthouses in the U.S.:

http://www.nps.gov/history/Maritime/nhlpa/nhlpa.htm

 

So, what about the Skillagalee lighthouse? 

The Skil. lighthouse is not yet on the NHLPA list.  It is automated and operational,  and is listed by the Coast Guard as an “active aid to navigation”.  In other words it appears to be safe for the moment, with no plan for disposal.  However, if it does go on the list, it would quickly be in jeapordy, like the nearby Waugoshance light.  Skillagallee is more remote than Waugoshance, and receives far fewer visitors.  It is quite probable that no town or non-profit would step in to acquire it.  In that case, there is no reason to think that this guy won’t get to buy it for his development. 

 

Why couldn’t he just stick a windmill in the center of his town?  It would at least be appropriate.

 

 

For further resources regarding lighthouse preservation:

http://www.michiganlights.com/index.htm

 

posted by John Fleming

 

*P.S.  wind power on the Great Lakes deserves credible advocates!

 

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Ile Aux Galets (Island of Pebbles), aka Skillagalee, is a very small island about 7 miles offshore from Cross Village, near the NW tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula.  The island sits atop a large shoal.  On the east it is separated from the mainland by a deep channel about 5 miles wide and 100’-200’ feet deep, on the west lies the Gray’s Reef shipping route.  Numerous wrecks on the island led to construction of a series of lighthouses in the 1800’s.  The current lighthouse was built in 1888, and was automated in 1969.

Last year I did long day trip in the area, paddling around the beautiful islands of the Waugoshance point peninsula.  Since then, I have become very interested in doing some larger crossings over  to the islands of Gray’s Reef (Beaver, Garden, Hog), but have had difficulty scheduling enough vacation or partners.  With only enough time this season for a long day trip, I thought that Ile Aux Galets would make an intriguing and slightly intimidating ‘inaugural’ off-shore voyage.  Despite its proximity to the shipping lane, it is only accessible by very shallow boat, and does not appear to be visited very often, if at all.

The NWS report for the area predicted a stable high pressure system for 24 hours, with 20 knots winds from the SW and 1’-2’ waves, which would give a nice rear-quartering tail-wind for the return leg.  Because the SW fetch is over 100 miles, I was skeptical about the wave estimates, and I was also curious how the waves would behave over the deep water.

The visibility was excellent, and the waves at shore were 1’ and choppy, matching the NWS report.  Looking out from the beach confirmed what I would have guessed from the wind speed and fetch:  scattered whitecaps were visible and larger waves formed the horizon.  The top of Ile Aux Galets lighthouse was barely visible from the beach, but you had to really search for it.  (Even less visible were the light houses on Gray’s Reef and White Shoal – I think most people visiting the beach would not be able to see any of them.)  Launching was easy, and the water was shallow until about a ½ mile off-shore.  As the bottom dropped out, the water color changed to the deepest blue, and the confused water gave way to nicely-formed 3’ to 4’ swells rolling down the channel.   The quartering swell and 20 knot wind were fine, but kept me on my toes.  This was fun, but the lighthouse didn’t seem to get any bigger for over an hour…  Unsure about what the conditions would be like over the shallow shoal, my plan was to approach the leeward side of the island.  I turned directly into the wind for the last half-mile, and progress became pretty slow into the 15-20 knots.   The smell of bird poo grew quite strong, and I probably could have followed my nose to the island; but I was glad to get out of the boat for a break.

The island was stunning, and very exposed.  The shoal is shallow about a half mile in every direction around the island, and the wave energy appears to dissipate quite a bit before reaching the island.  However, I am sure the island would be a pretty exciting place to be in a large storm.

About a thousand birds were slightly pissed off that I was there.  The first birds I saw off-shore were two types of tern (Common and Black?), followed by Double-Breasted Cormorants, and ring-billed gulls.  Near-shore I was surprised to find ducks and Canadian Geese, paddling around with babies that appeared to be a few months old.  Rodent and fish bones were scattered around the island, along with the occasional dead bird.  The cormorant nests were particularly amazing, and appeared to be abandoned for the rest of the season.  (Its seems like a visit earlier in the season may be more disruptive to the breeding cycle?)  The nests were built on the ground or shrub branches (there are no trees).  The taller ones (2’ – 3’ high) seemed to be particularly old, and I would love to know how old they really were.  They had bones, rope, and other  flotsam embedded in them.  There were rodent bones laying around the nests, but I think that these were prey that the parents delivered to their chicks.

It was really hard to tell how often the island is visited.  There was absolutely NO garbage.  There is one-hundred year old construction debris, but no signs of recent visitors.  It was also refreshing that there was only one piece of flotsam on the beach, a float for a fishing line.

I finished taking pictures, and being careful not to touch any bird poo, ate some lunch.  Meanwhile, the swell had grown a tad bigger.  Paddling straight back the way I came would mean continuous rear-quartering swell, which would be a waste of some really nice waves.  The psychological stress of this trip involved the initial dread of launching towards a miniscule point on the horizon that disappeared with each wave.  Now, pointing the boat back towards that big shoreline wasn’t as intimidating, and I wanted to have some fun.  I decided to dogleg back, a SE reach across the swell until about half-way across, then heading NE directly down-wind for about four miles to the launch-site.  Once I got away from the reef, the swell was consistently well-formed 4’rollers, with the occasional bigger set rolling through (big enough to have real fun on).  Despite the wave heights, I was still surprised to see only two boats on such a beautiful, cloudless afternoon.  The first was a big party boat that hailed me for a radio check to see if I was okay, and then finished by telling me I was crazy.  The second was a tug boat that crossed close by on its way towards Little Traverse Bay; it just absolutely pounded its way through the swell, and I was convinced that I had the better craft.  After an hour of swell directly from the side, turning directly down-wind was a gas.  Until I got within a mile or so of Cross Village, I got to play on the most consistently well-formed waves I have ever experienced.  Once I reached the right speed, decently long rides were the norm.  The occasional bigger set had me yelling “woo-hoo!” to no one but the wind.  Of course, all good things must come to an end, and eventually the water became more confused near shore, as the deep water ends and the bottom comes up to about thirty feet.  This shallow area extends about a half-mile from Cross Village, and it diminished wave heights by at least half.  After surfing such nice conditions out in the channel, it was a bit surreal to paddle back into the beach on little, tiny waves. 

I am definitely going to try to paddle further off-shore on windy (but friendly) days!

Posted by John Fleming

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Where: Dog Beach 13 Ave Put in South Haven.

View Larger Map

When: August 5th 2009 8:00 PM.

Distance: Up to you.

What to bring: Some form of Coast Guard Approved lighting to ensure safety on the water. Usual safety gear. (Lifejacket). Libations for afterward on the beach.

Please watch the weather, August can be unpredictable and wavy!

See the pictures from last month’s full moon paddle.

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How many times have you kayaked under the full moon? How many times have you paddled a sea kayak under the stars on the Great Lakes? How many times have you chased a wave in the dark on Lake Michigan?

In the end these will be the questions you ask yourself as you go to meet your maker. It won’t be how much money you had in your wallet, or how many times you mowed your fucking lawn, I can tell you that.

Paul Bowles said:

“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

A dear friend reminded me of this quote not too long ago. The words have stood like a lonely luminescent marker on a long highway for me. Jon Turk often mentions this balance between logic and magic, and I have to tell you as I get older, the more sense Jon Turk makes to me. Do we spend too much energy on logic as a society? I say we do. Even from a guy who spends his day looking at web analytics and SEO, I would say that poetry is more important than numbers. Numbers will get you to the moon, but poetry will tell you what it means. To me that is the difference.

So we were talking about a full moon paddle!

Magical is the word. You really haven’t lived until you’ve pushed a sea kayak along wind waves in the dark. The winking light of sunset dwindled across the surface of Lake Michigan and left a slow burn of orange across the sky. We waited anxiously in the brief flat horizon of the dark between sunset and moonrise. About 45 minutes after sunset I pointed shoreward and said, “What the hell is that orange glow, a volcano?”. Oh no it was the moon! As it rose over the water I was treated to the most spectacular moonrise of my life. I’ve seen some harvest moons for sure along the highway. But this was something else. Isolated, like when you see a flower in the middle of a muddy lawn. Sitting in the boat I love, on the lake I love, where I have risked life and limb in the surf countless times I finally got to see the moon rise over the water. The reflection off of the lake was bright like white sand under the sun.

I have two other quotes that I will share, from two songs, one I find surprising to understand due to it’s classic nature and my disposition towards classic rock:

Well, its a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
neath the cover of october skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And Im trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

And the other from Will Oldham that doesn’t surprise me at all from (my home is the sea) Superwolf

My home is the sea
Disaster flies upon me
And I scream
Now we can see the house lights
Colored from a distance
[For a party as a dream ?]

You have to come out for the next full moon paddle!

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Jeff Allen co-owner of Sea Kayaking Cornwall visited this year to instruct and speak. Jeff came a day early to give an instructor update for the WMCKA instructional staff. The topic this year was incident management. Jeff has written a series of articles for Ocean Paddler magazine. Jeff is also writing a book on the topic of sea survival for paddlers. The articles and Jeff’s course cover a wide range of topics. Some of the topics are familiar to sea kayakers. They cover towing, deep water rescues, and the familiar CLAP and SAFE principals of leadership on the water. What is unique to Jeff’s approach is how he challenges the familiar aphorisms of sea kayaking such as “stay in the boat”. One example of this unusual approach is when entering a landing area that is through the surf into a hazardous rocky landing spot, Jeff has proposed that like the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) that swimming yourself in through the surf zone is better than crashing in your sea kayak. This hypothesis is magnified when you have a victim, (or as Jeff has labeled them according to the military term-casualty) who cannot get themselves through the surf zone. I highly recommend reading Jeff’s articles in Ocean Paddler, and keep a sharp eye out for that book!

The course normally runs over five days, and we had one day to cover a couple of topics. Our instructor update covered rescues and towing. Jeff continued to stress a practical approach about rescues focusing on what would be best for the group as a whole. Taking the SAFE approach stop assess formulate a plan and execute. For example if a member of your group manages to take a nasty swim in a cave, rushing in like the valiant hero isn’t always the best idea. You could have two casualties instead of just one. Jeff reckons that sometimes having the casualty swim out, or having a rescuer if need be swim in is a better bet than getting another kayak in the mix. It is not revolutionary, but it does go against several hard and fast rules or at least dogma about staying in the boat.

During the course Jeff covered many ideas about sea survival and group cohesion. He demonstrated many towing concepts. And he also showed us his throw/tow rig. He was kind enough to leave me a sample rig. He is not selling them, which is sort of unusual in kayaking. He is advocating safety without a fiduciary return, which is even rarer and if possible cooler. The idea is that instead of just having a tow belt, you have a throw bag combined with a tow belt rig. So that if you had this alleged swimmer in the cave, you could throw your rope just like a white water rescue bag, and then still have one side clipped in to your belt. This way the rescuer could tow the casualty out of the cave without having to paddle in, putting themselves at risk. I will post some more details and pictures on the tow rig Jeff left with me.

We ran through some incidents on Lake Michigan near Duck Lake state park. We covered deep water t-rescues for the first hour. And readers here may be pleased to hear that the time spent in analysis was not wasted. Further we picked up some other good tips I will share at a later date.

The last and most challenging incident involved a swimmer casualty incapacitated and separated from the kayak. We separated into teams of three plus the casualty. The object was for each team to get their casualty to shore first. Our team decided on the scoop for our victim. And despite having performed this in practice recently, it is entirely different when the casualty is completely incapacitated. The hardest part was entanglement of the limbs on re-entry I had to try three times to get Luis Caro back into the boat before I got his butt in his seat. Also to get his butt in the seat all the way, I had to sit him upright and push on his shoulders to get him all the way in. We towed in fairly quickly and straight. Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin and I swapped out once for good measure. Sharon is quite strong! She hauled out pulling a rafted tow! She can come to sea with me when I am not doing well anytime. Wendy had the hardest job actually which was holding Luis’s kayak upright and keeping him out of the water. She never got a break either. Towing was probably quite easy compared to that.

Afterwards we compared notes with the other teams. There was some diversity in the approach at the beginning. One team actually opted to tow the swimmer in the water while someone towed the empty kayak. This did give them an advantage and they did get to shore first. We were third. But as a result their casualty got quite cold. Poor Steve Bailey. In the end almost everyone opted for the scoop. But as Jeff pointed out, care for the casualty does come into play as good technique. Most opted for the face down scoop, which is ironically easier, but doesn’t allow you to keep a very good eye on your victim. So while coming in third we got some bonus points for taking better care of our charge.

I would encourage anyone running a symposium to consider Jeff Allen for an incident management course. His approach is revolutionary in that it is practical and covers a wide variety of very simple tactics for sea survival. After spending a weekend with Jeff, I won’t say I got to know him. I wouldn’t presume to jump to the middle of a book and claim to have read it. But my impression is that his life experience with the military, a nightclub bouncer, a kick boxer and an expedition paddler has given him a wide experience to draw from that leaves me speechless. He described some harrowing experiences with the military in Northern Ireland that left me wondering if any of us can really know how we will perform when pushed to our limits. Ken Fink is also one that will surprise you in this regard. Ask him about his Polynesia trip sometime. Ken has a long and storied past and continuing experience at sea. I hope we can hear more about his experiences next year at symposium too!

I’ve been attending the WMCKA symposium for almost 7 years now. It seems funny to me how much time has gone by and how quickly. I remember the first symposium I attended was when Nigel Foster was the guest instructor. WMCKA is in it’s twentieth year.

The symposium has a long and warm memory for many people. Some who still come, some aren’t involved in paddling anymore. Ken Fink has been at all but one of the symposiums, and though he might be too modest to admit it, he is also the progenitor of the US sea kayaking symposium tradition.

Personally, the club and the symposium means a lot to me. It is an extended family away from the east side of Michigan where I am from; but in some ways it’s even better, because everyone wants to talk about paddling. I’ve been involved in the planning of symposium for about five years now. It’s been great fun to work with the club and to be able to contribute to a symposium that every one seems to get so much pleasure from.

The WMCKA symposium to quote Derrick Mayoleth has a unique vibe, “somewhere between carnival and peace rally”. Nothing could say it better. Other symposiums I’ve been to are obviously way fun, but lack that feeling of oneness and shared experience. They also lack another thing, children. It’s great to have so many kids out paddling and involved in the event. There are certainly more exciting symposiums for more advanced instruction, and sexier locations, but WMCKA holds it’s own for sheer good mojo. My hope is that whether or not I am a contributor, or participant that the symposium continues on for another twenty years.

The classes I taught this year were terrific, the students were really engaged and eager to learn. I got to do two different rescue classes. It was great to do both assisted and self-rescue classes. We did some great t-rescues with students. I lost my hat on the bottom during one. A student spotted it on the bottom and hovered over it. I exited my boat, took off my lifejacket, dove down 12 feet to scoop it off the bottom on the first try. I then demonstrated a re-enter and roll. This got a couple of students talking, and they decided to try paddle float re-enter and rolls. They both managed to get a re-enter and roll! One got a re-enter and roll on the first try.

Rodeo is often the highlight of this symposium. It is a series of silly races in teams. We start doing races with children on the backdeck and tagging a participant paddler who transfers the child to their kayak to race back to shore. I was lucky to get Deborah (friendly fire) for my rodeo team mate. We had a gas in the rodeo races, Osa Svensson was our child who held on for dear life!

The second rodeo event if possible has outdone the other races. 7 paddlers in a team use one boat paddle around a buoy using a variety of paddling implements. A trash can on shore holds a variety of implements. Each time you come back to shore a new team member grabs an implement from the trash can. You start with a paddle but as the race progresses the less desirable implements are left. So it starts with kayak paddles and towards the end of the race, plungers, and tin foil are left. The team waits on shore to turn the boat around while the paddler gets an implement and hops in the boat.

What this means is that a highly competitive group of paddlers invent all sorts of ways to cheat. And in the words of Ron Smith, “we’re all highly competitive, but the difference is we don’t care who wins”. Aptly put. Doug Van Doren started off the fun by filling Jeff Allen’s Explorer with water before the race even started. Look out for clergy, they are the sneakiest of the bunch!

Our team started well with Jon Holmes using his Eddyline Falcon 18! He rocketed off the starting line and we were essentially unbeatable from that point forward. Jon coming off of his amazing Hugh Heward Ultimate Challenge is in top form. I couldn’t believe how fast he was. The cheating started early with Jeff Allen leading. He was filling the Falcon’s back hatch with water and I caught myself filled with adrenaline thinking that somehow I could tackle a 6’4″ former military commando/kickboxer/knightclub bouncer and drag him down by his pfd. Jeff just laughed at me when I couldn’t even budge him by his PFD straps.

Once we had it in the bag, the cheating started in earnest. Each time a paddler would come in, each team would capsize the opposition and fill their boat with water. It was great fun and high spirits all round.

Jeff’s talk followed. He shared his slideshow on Japan and South Georgia with Hadas Feldman. Jeff and Hadas formed a unique partnership and managed to go around all of Japan together. Jeff shared all of the challenges and amusing trip dynamics with well placed anecdotes with perfect comic timing. If you haven’t seen this is the Sea two, you need to watch it as it covered their expedition.

The talk on South Georgia was captivating. Jeff, Hadas, Nigel Dennis, Jim Rowlinson, and Peter Bray formed the team. Some unique challenges including katabatic winds and an infection from a drysuit gasket made this a really great talk. Jeff had great slides of wildlife including elephant seals, and lots of penguins.

The slide that capped it all, was the closer, “Some men claim to have seen borders, though I have never seen them myself, some claim they exist. Perhaps they exist in some men’s minds.” (more or less).

We delayed the rolling contest until the next morning. I managed to get everything packed in record time and participate. I managed to get 8 in thirteen seconds using my white water paddle despite a false start. Jeff also had a false start and eight rolls. Jeremy did really well, with 8 as well. Hannah Bloyd-Peshkin pulled it out of the bag with 9 rolls in thirteen seconds.

A quick retreat found me wishing Jeff well on his journey. Only yesterday he shared the sad news that his Father died over the weekend in Cypress. Many condolences to Jeff and his family.

Jeff was kind enough to share these words about WMCKA,

“I found the event, the people and the location to be absolutely top notch for the aims of the symposium and it was an absolute privelege to work beside you all.”

Follow Jeff Allen’s endeavors here at Sea Kayaking Cornwall.

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Looking west across the South Haven Pier, originally uploaded by Go Kayak Now.

Another great view of the South Haven pier. This is my local break for surf kayaking. I typically surf about 100 yards off this pier. Sand builds up on the bottom from the storms forming a nice sand bar to form. If the wind is out of the NW you can paddle out on relatively (somewhat) flat water to catch big, 8-10 foot waves. Trouble is period. The period on the great lakes is rarely over 10 seconds. It’s more like 5.