This is a small collection of videos I have shot for either fun, or instructional purposes. If you have an idea for a video you don’t see here, comment on this page and let me know.
Go Kayak Now! Lake Michigan Kayak Surfing May 9th 2009 from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
Sticky pod with the knuckle mount second take. Great surf day, waves 4-8 feet. Wind was gusting 25-30 knots. Water was warm. I surfed the inside of the South Haven pier to have a wind break. The waves on the outside were much bigger-8 feet. The tops were getting blown down from the wind and making them hard to catch. So I stuck to the smaller 4-5 foot waves on the inside. The video doesn’t give much sense of scale, but you can tell that the waves are coming over the pier a lot which is about 5 feet above the water. My Valley Rush was filling with water at the end of the video, watch where I am bracing whenever I shift my weight. I found the leaks and will be fixing them.
Music is Wolf Parade: I’ll believe in anything.
http://gokayaknow.com
Surf Kayaking Lake Michigan Sticky Pod Mount from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
This is actually the first try on the sticky pod mount for the surf kayak. The mount even at the bow cuts out my head. I have a new tripod knuckle that should get my head in the shot, for people that care about such things. It seems funny to me to not have my head in there and you get a very interesting perspective on the way the water interacts with the kayak. It is simply a Pentax Optio W60 turned on and then edited in iMovie.
Surf 2-3 foot Lake Michigan 5-10 knot winds. South Haven South Pier.
Surfing my new Valley Rush. It seems the rush carves very quickly ahead of the foam pile. I am digging it. I just need some real surf.
Music is: Sigur Ros-Inní mér syngur vitleysingur from 2008’s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
http://www.gokayaknow.com
Sea Kayaking Lake Michigan South Haven to Van Buren State Park from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
Sea Kayak trip-trying out my new camera mounting rig. I used a stickypod suction cup mounted right to the deck of the Nigel Foster Silhouette. It worked really well on the foredeck. And not so hot on the aft deck. The camera tended to adjust it’s position when rolling, or if waves hit it. And of course it is much harder to adjust the position of the camera when it is mounted behind.
This was a simple 8 mile paddle on placid conditions. This is the best Lake Michigan sea kayak trip to take beginners on in summer. Good scenery, lots of take out points.
Music is Stars and Sons from Broken Social Scene’s You forgot it in People.
http://www.gokayaknow.com
Sea Kayak Paddle Float Re-enter and Roll-GoKayakNow.com from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
Alec Bloyd-Peshkin demonstrates a Paddle float re-enter and roll in his sea kayak. Alec capsizes, inflates the paddle-float re-enters the flooded cockpit and then fully submerges to roll the kayak upright.
Sea Kayak T-Rescue Demonstration GoKayakNow.com from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
This is Alec Bloyd Peshkin playing a very compliant and skilled victim for a T-rescue demonstration. The rescuer approaches cautiously at first to make sure the victim isn’t panicked.
Then the rescuer has the victim move to the stern of his kayak while he rights, then empties the victim’s boat. The emptying of the boat is a pull on the deck lines, then a hand inside the cockpit twisting towards himself. Boats are placed bow-stern. The victim never loses contact with either his kayak or the rescuers. Victim holds on to their own paddle until re-entry. Victim deftly places his foot into the cockpit and torques his torso onto his back-deck, and then corkscrews back inside. The rescuer is committed to leaning over the victim’s boat and holding onto the cockpit.
Because of the placid conditions this is very casually performed. In lumpy or textured conditions the time for this rescue could probably be halved. However a total of 1:00 minute in the water for the purposes of a slow demonstration is not too bad. Great view of Soldier Field in the background from the Marina in Chicago. http://gokayaknow.com
Sea Kayak Re-Enter and Roll Rescue-Gokayaknow.com from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
Demonstration of a quick re-enter and roll rescue from a Sea Kayak. The candidate wet-exits a sea kayak, re-enters and then rolls it back up full of water. The re-enter and roll is an excellent skill to possess when sea kayaking far from shore. There is no need for a paddle float, or any other equipment than what the kayaker already has in hand. The key is not to lose contact with the boat, or the paddle at any point. The paddler enters the kayak from the side, then slips in, and fully capsizes again, and then rolls up. Note the supportive sculling strokes after the initial roll for stability. Gokayaknow.com
Keith Wikle Surf Kayaking Lake Michigan, South Haven from Keith Wikle on Vimeo.
Keith Wikle kayak surfing Lake Michigan in South Haven. This video is a short, albeit low quality video of surf kayaking a Mega Maverick on the Great Lakes. A beautiful glassy surf kayaking day with three-five footers spilling on South Haven South Beach. My website http://keithwikle.com has lots of content and information about surf kayaking and sea kayaking the Great Lakes