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Main
Date: 07 Mar 2005 14:25:37
From: Wolfgang
Subject: A small adventure on a big water.
|
Yesterday was one of those rare miraculous days in this area. A day
when the usual cesspit that is March gives way briefly to glorious
sunshine and temperatures that we have no reason to expect for several
weeks to come. By ten a.m. the thermometer outside the dining room
window (the optimistic one.....the one that reads high......the one we
consult hopefully throughout the cold months) already said 50.
Hm.......
As quickly as I could with hands already shaking in anticipation, I
lowered the kayak from the garage rafters and jammed it in the back of
the van; the paddle, spray skirt and other extraneous junk were
already there....I sorta forgot to take all of that out back in
November.
Thinking I might take a run down the river, I checked it in a couple
of spots to see if it was high from the snowmelt. Much to my
surprise, it was still frozen over in spots. Oh well, the lake is
better anyhow.
Michigan is a BIG lake.....lots of possible put ins to choose from.
Eagerness dictated a shortest route approach to the problem. I soon
found myself at McKinley marina, checking out a spot I'd looked at on
January 1st when Becky did her annual polar bear plunge and I'd hoped
to go out and photograph the event from offshore. There was a strong
northeast wind on that day and it was COLD. Discretion turned out to
be the better part of valor that day; I stayed ashore and relatively
warm. Yesterday, the breeze was offshore and light. The surface of
the lake was smooth and it was relatively easy to slip the boat
between a couple of the algae encrusted ice blobs that still line the
beach. Within a minute I was cruising along the outer edge of the
breakwater that encloses the marina, heading away from the shore, and
bumping aside an occasional small growler. I turned right where the
breakwater bends sharply to the south and followed it all the way to
the gap at the lighthouse, almost directly offshore from the famous
bridge to nowhere and the mouth of the river.
Rounding the end of the breakwater at the gap, I was struck by the
wind which had picked up considerably since I started some 45 minutes
earlier. As the breakwater is nearly half a mile offshore, there was
sufficient reach for the wind to cause a pretty good chop. As a
matter of fact, the area enclosed by the breakwater is so big (five or
six miles long by about half a mile wide) that it is virtually always
choppy if there is any wind at all. When the wind is offshore (from
the west), the waves reflect off the breakwater and then back again
off of the seawalls that cover most of the shore in this area. When
the wind is onshore the waves originate from the other side, but the
result is identical. North or south winds will result in fair sized
waves at one end or the other. For much of the year the problem is
compounded by heavy and fast boat traffic. But, even at its worst it
never gets as bad inside the breakwater as it often is on the
outside.....particularly in a northeast wind. Since I got my boat
last May, I've had occasion to get out on the lake numerous times and
have already played in 4-5 foot swells breaking into occasional
whitecaps. The conditions yesterday were child's play by comparison.
Arriving at the mouth of the river, I drifted for a while and watched
40 or so people fishing from the seawall and a few more in a couple of
boats. One guy on a boat caught a fish but I wasn't close enough to
see what it was. Word has it that the walleye are starting to run,
and I suspect that all the fresh runoff has got the steelhead moving
as well. Turning back to the north, I followed the shore back toward
where I'd started. "Summerfest" grounds (now, officially "Mayor Henry
Maier Festival Park" or some such nonsense) run along the lakeshore
for quite a ways here. Since there are no festivals at this time of
year, I was surprised to see a lot of people biking, skating, running
and walking here. Evidently the bike path runs along the shore and is
somehow segregated from the rest of the festival grounds. A bit
further north lies the dock for the Denis Sullivan, a recently built
three-masted Great Lakes Schooner (http://www.pierwisconsin.org/),
currently at its winter quarters somewhere in the Caribbean. Next is
the art museum with it's famous Calatrava addition.
In front of the art museum sits a small rubble island. The channel
between the island and the seawall narrows to about ten or twelve feet
wide. Places like this, sheltered from wind and wave action, ice over
earlier in the winter and retain their ice longer than others in the
spring. Nevertheless, I was somewhat surprised to see that there
still was ice here. The ice was thin (1/2-3/4 inch) and obviously not
completely solid but I had to sit and think about it for a moment
before deciding a kayak as an icebreaker was just too cool an
opportunity to pass up regardless of how foolish a boy stuck fast in
the ice might look to the now numerous strollers et al. up on the bike
path. I made it through (albeit not without a struggle and some
heckling) to polite applause from a nice young couple and their
children.
The rest of the trip passed without incident (aside from a bit of
pointing by what were presumably incredulous observers) and I was soon
back to where I'd launched a couple of hours earlier. While taking a
break on the rocks at the launch site and then carrying the boat and
the rest of my gear back to the van I was accosted by several groups
of people who asked if I actually went out onto the lake and who, when
informed that I had, registered responses ranging from congratulations
to something approaching horror. Different strokes, I guess. :)
Wolfgang
|
|
| |
Date: 07 Mar 2005 12:40:16
From: Tinkerntom
Subject: Re: A small adventure on a big water.
|
Wolfgang wrote:
> Yesterday was one of those rare miraculous days in this area. A day
> when the usual cesspit that is March gives way briefly to glorious
> sunshine and temperatures that we have no reason to expect for
several
> weeks to come. By ten a.m. the thermometer outside the dining room
> window (the optimistic one.....the one that reads high......the one
we
> consult hopefully throughout the cold months) already said 50.
> Hm.......
>
> As quickly as I could with hands already shaking in anticipation, I
> lowered the kayak from the garage rafters and jammed it in the back
of
> the van; the paddle, spray skirt and other extraneous junk were
> already there....I sorta forgot to take all of that out back in
> November.
>
> Thinking I might take a run down the river, I checked it in a couple
> of spots to see if it was high from the snowmelt. Much to my
> surprise, it was still frozen over in spots. Oh well, the lake is
> better anyhow.
>
> Michigan is a BIG lake.....lots of possible put ins to choose from.
> Eagerness dictated a shortest route approach to the problem. I soon
> found myself at McKinley marina, checking out a spot I'd looked at on
> January 1st when Becky did her annual polar bear plunge and I'd hoped
> to go out and photograph the event from offshore. There was a strong
> northeast wind on that day and it was COLD. Discretion turned out to
> be the better part of valor that day; I stayed ashore and relatively
> warm. Yesterday, the breeze was offshore and light. The surface of
> the lake was smooth and it was relatively easy to slip the boat
> between a couple of the algae encrusted ice blobs that still line the
> beach. Within a minute I was cruising along the outer edge of the
> breakwater that encloses the marina, heading away from the shore, and
> bumping aside an occasional small growler. I turned right where the
> breakwater bends sharply to the south and followed it all the way to
> the gap at the lighthouse, almost directly offshore from the famous
> bridge to nowhere and the mouth of the river.
>
> Rounding the end of the breakwater at the gap, I was struck by the
> wind which had picked up considerably since I started some 45 minutes
> earlier. As the breakwater is nearly half a mile offshore, there was
> sufficient reach for the wind to cause a pretty good chop. As a
> matter of fact, the area enclosed by the breakwater is so big (five
or
> six miles long by about half a mile wide) that it is virtually always
> choppy if there is any wind at all. When the wind is offshore (from
> the west), the waves reflect off the breakwater and then back again
> off of the seawalls that cover most of the shore in this area. When
> the wind is onshore the waves originate from the other side, but the
> result is identical. North or south winds will result in fair sized
> waves at one end or the other. For much of the year the problem is
> compounded by heavy and fast boat traffic. But, even at its worst it
> never gets as bad inside the breakwater as it often is on the
> outside.....particularly in a northeast wind. Since I got my boat
> last May, I've had occasion to get out on the lake numerous times and
> have already played in 4-5 foot swells breaking into occasional
> whitecaps. The conditions yesterday were child's play by comparison.
>
> Arriving at the mouth of the river, I drifted for a while and watched
> 40 or so people fishing from the seawall and a few more in a couple
of
> boats. One guy on a boat caught a fish but I wasn't close enough to
> see what it was. Word has it that the walleye are starting to run,
> and I suspect that all the fresh runoff has got the steelhead moving
> as well. Turning back to the north, I followed the shore back toward
> where I'd started. "Summerfest" grounds (now, officially "Mayor
Henry
> Maier Festival Park" or some such nonsense) run along the lakeshore
> for quite a ways here. Since there are no festivals at this time of
> year, I was surprised to see a lot of people biking, skating, running
> and walking here. Evidently the bike path runs along the shore and
is
> somehow segregated from the rest of the festival grounds. A bit
> further north lies the dock for the Denis Sullivan, a recently built
> three-masted Great Lakes Schooner (http://www.pierwisconsin.org/),
> currently at its winter quarters somewhere in the Caribbean. Next is
> the art museum with it's famous Calatrava addition.
>
> In front of the art museum sits a small rubble island. The channel
> between the island and the seawall narrows to about ten or twelve
feet
> wide. Places like this, sheltered from wind and wave action, ice
over
> earlier in the winter and retain their ice longer than others in the
> spring. Nevertheless, I was somewhat surprised to see that there
> still was ice here. The ice was thin (1/2-3/4 inch) and obviously
not
> completely solid but I had to sit and think about it for a moment
> before deciding a kayak as an icebreaker was just too cool an
> opportunity to pass up regardless of how foolish a boy stuck fast in
> the ice might look to the now numerous strollers et al. up on the
bike
> path. I made it through (albeit not without a struggle and some
> heckling) to polite applause from a nice young couple and their
> children.
>
> The rest of the trip passed without incident (aside from a bit of
> pointing by what were presumably incredulous observers) and I was
soon
> back to where I'd launched a couple of hours earlier. While taking a
> break on the rocks at the launch site and then carrying the boat and
> the rest of my gear back to the van I was accosted by several groups
> of people who asked if I actually went out onto the lake and who,
when
> informed that I had, registered responses ranging from
congratulations
> to something approaching horror. Different strokes, I guess. :)
>
> Wolfgang
I have understood, that if you sheathe the front hull of the kayak with
about three to four inches of solid steel, it will work much better as
an "icebreaker." Crummy kayak-great icebreaker. TnT
|
| | |
Date: 08 Mar 2005 01:32:42
From: No Spam
Subject: Re: A small adventure on a big water.
|
I've found this joke about a priest, a rabbi and a drunken sea-turtle to be
a great ice-breaker.
Ken
"Tinkerntom" <tnksng@qwest.net > wrote in message
news:1110228016.589169.103830@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> Wolfgang wrote:
> > Yesterday was one of those rare miraculous days in this area. A day
> > when the usual cesspit that is March gives way briefly to glorious
> > sunshine and temperatures that we have no reason to expect for
> several
> > weeks to come. By ten a.m. the thermometer outside the dining room
> > window (the optimistic one.....the one that reads high......the one
> we
> > consult hopefully throughout the cold months) already said 50.
> > Hm.......
> >
> > As quickly as I could with hands already shaking in anticipation, I
> > lowered the kayak from the garage rafters and jammed it in the back
> of
> > the van; the paddle, spray skirt and other extraneous junk were
> > already there....I sorta forgot to take all of that out back in
> > November.
> >
> > Thinking I might take a run down the river, I checked it in a couple
> > of spots to see if it was high from the snowmelt. Much to my
> > surprise, it was still frozen over in spots. Oh well, the lake is
> > better anyhow.
> >
> > Michigan is a BIG lake.....lots of possible put ins to choose from.
> > Eagerness dictated a shortest route approach to the problem. I soon
> > found myself at McKinley marina, checking out a spot I'd looked at on
> > January 1st when Becky did her annual polar bear plunge and I'd hoped
> > to go out and photograph the event from offshore. There was a strong
> > northeast wind on that day and it was COLD. Discretion turned out to
> > be the better part of valor that day; I stayed ashore and relatively
> > warm. Yesterday, the breeze was offshore and light. The surface of
> > the lake was smooth and it was relatively easy to slip the boat
> > between a couple of the algae encrusted ice blobs that still line the
> > beach. Within a minute I was cruising along the outer edge of the
> > breakwater that encloses the marina, heading away from the shore, and
> > bumping aside an occasional small growler. I turned right where the
> > breakwater bends sharply to the south and followed it all the way to
> > the gap at the lighthouse, almost directly offshore from the famous
> > bridge to nowhere and the mouth of the river.
> >
> > Rounding the end of the breakwater at the gap, I was struck by the
> > wind which had picked up considerably since I started some 45 minutes
> > earlier. As the breakwater is nearly half a mile offshore, there was
> > sufficient reach for the wind to cause a pretty good chop. As a
> > matter of fact, the area enclosed by the breakwater is so big (five
> or
> > six miles long by about half a mile wide) that it is virtually always
> > choppy if there is any wind at all. When the wind is offshore (from
> > the west), the waves reflect off the breakwater and then back again
> > off of the seawalls that cover most of the shore in this area. When
> > the wind is onshore the waves originate from the other side, but the
> > result is identical. North or south winds will result in fair sized
> > waves at one end or the other. For much of the year the problem is
> > compounded by heavy and fast boat traffic. But, even at its worst it
> > never gets as bad inside the breakwater as it often is on the
> > outside.....particularly in a northeast wind. Since I got my boat
> > last May, I've had occasion to get out on the lake numerous times and
> > have already played in 4-5 foot swells breaking into occasional
> > whitecaps. The conditions yesterday were child's play by comparison.
> >
> > Arriving at the mouth of the river, I drifted for a while and watched
> > 40 or so people fishing from the seawall and a few more in a couple
> of
> > boats. One guy on a boat caught a fish but I wasn't close enough to
> > see what it was. Word has it that the walleye are starting to run,
> > and I suspect that all the fresh runoff has got the steelhead moving
> > as well. Turning back to the north, I followed the shore back toward
> > where I'd started. "Summerfest" grounds (now, officially "Mayor
> Henry
> > Maier Festival Park" or some such nonsense) run along the lakeshore
> > for quite a ways here. Since there are no festivals at this time of
> > year, I was surprised to see a lot of people biking, skating, running
> > and walking here. Evidently the bike path runs along the shore and
> is
> > somehow segregated from the rest of the festival grounds. A bit
> > further north lies the dock for the Denis Sullivan, a recently built
> > three-masted Great Lakes Schooner (http://www.pierwisconsin.org/),
> > currently at its winter quarters somewhere in the Caribbean. Next is
> > the art museum with it's famous Calatrava addition.
> >
> > In front of the art museum sits a small rubble island. The channel
> > between the island and the seawall narrows to about ten or twelve
> feet
> > wide. Places like this, sheltered from wind and wave action, ice
> over
> > earlier in the winter and retain their ice longer than others in the
> > spring. Nevertheless, I was somewhat surprised to see that there
> > still was ice here. The ice was thin (1/2-3/4 inch) and obviously
> not
> > completely solid but I had to sit and think about it for a moment
> > before deciding a kayak as an icebreaker was just too cool an
> > opportunity to pass up regardless of how foolish a boy stuck fast in
> > the ice might look to the now numerous strollers et al. up on the
> bike
> > path. I made it through (albeit not without a struggle and some
> > heckling) to polite applause from a nice young couple and their
> > children.
> >
> > The rest of the trip passed without incident (aside from a bit of
> > pointing by what were presumably incredulous observers) and I was
> soon
> > back to where I'd launched a couple of hours earlier. While taking a
> > break on the rocks at the launch site and then carrying the boat and
> > the rest of my gear back to the van I was accosted by several groups
> > of people who asked if I actually went out onto the lake and who,
> when
> > informed that I had, registered responses ranging from
> congratulations
> > to something approaching horror. Different strokes, I guess. :)
> >
> > Wolfgang
>
> I have understood, that if you sheathe the front hull of the kayak with
> about three to four inches of solid steel, it will work much better as
> an "icebreaker." Crummy kayak-great icebreaker. TnT
>
|
| | | |
Date: 17 Mar 2005 17:18:42
From: Mike Taylor
Subject: Re: A small adventure on a big water.
|
I have a friend who, when we paddle together, loves to play ice breaker.
It's great exercise! Lots of sprints. Lots of body English to drive the
nose up onto the ice or down under it. And up here in Nova Scotia we get
lots of opportunity to play the game. Maybe a bit too much.
There was a time earlier this season when we had stopped on the river to
break up a huge pan of ice and had succeeded in freeing a 6" thick, living
room sized chunk. As it headed towards the top of the rapids, I ran up onto
it and sat there wondering what it would be like to shoot the rapids on top
of this big piece of ice. Not very manoeuvrable, but for once it wouldn't
matter about grinding the bottom over those shallow ledges.... My buddies
called me off at the brink and we watched the chunk get gradually chewed
down in size - toaster sized pieces by the bottom.
And before anybody brings it up, there were no other people on the river
below us.
Mike in Lunenburg
"No Spam" <bennospamzx2@verizon.net > wrote in message
news:_g7Xd.45473$f%5.18807@trndny03...
> I've found this joke about a priest, a rabbi and a drunken sea-turtle to
be
> a great ice-breaker.
>
> Ken
>
> "Tinkerntom" <tnksng@qwest.net> wrote in message
> news:1110228016.589169.103830@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > Wolfgang wrote:
> > > Yesterday was one of those rare miraculous days in this area. A day
> > > when the usual cesspit that is March gives way briefly to glorious
> > > sunshine and temperatures that we have no reason to expect for
> > several
> > > weeks to come. By ten a.m. the thermometer outside the dining room
> > > window (the optimistic one.....the one that reads high......the one
> > we
> > > consult hopefully throughout the cold months) already said 50.
> > > Hm.......
> > >
> > > As quickly as I could with hands already shaking in anticipation, I
> > > lowered the kayak from the garage rafters and jammed it in the back
> > of
> > > the van; the paddle, spray skirt and other extraneous junk were
> > > already there....I sorta forgot to take all of that out back in
> > > November.
> > >
> > > Thinking I might take a run down the river, I checked it in a couple
> > > of spots to see if it was high from the snowmelt. Much to my
> > > surprise, it was still frozen over in spots. Oh well, the lake is
> > > better anyhow.
> > >
> > > Michigan is a BIG lake.....lots of possible put ins to choose from.
> > > Eagerness dictated a shortest route approach to the problem. I soon
> > > found myself at McKinley marina, checking out a spot I'd looked at on
> > > January 1st when Becky did her annual polar bear plunge and I'd hoped
> > > to go out and photograph the event from offshore. There was a strong
> > > northeast wind on that day and it was COLD. Discretion turned out to
> > > be the better part of valor that day; I stayed ashore and relatively
> > > warm. Yesterday, the breeze was offshore and light. The surface of
> > > the lake was smooth and it was relatively easy to slip the boat
> > > between a couple of the algae encrusted ice blobs that still line the
> > > beach. Within a minute I was cruising along the outer edge of the
> > > breakwater that encloses the marina, heading away from the shore, and
> > > bumping aside an occasional small growler. I turned right where the
> > > breakwater bends sharply to the south and followed it all the way to
> > > the gap at the lighthouse, almost directly offshore from the famous
> > > bridge to nowhere and the mouth of the river.
> > >
> > > Rounding the end of the breakwater at the gap, I was struck by the
> > > wind which had picked up considerably since I started some 45 minutes
> > > earlier. As the breakwater is nearly half a mile offshore, there was
> > > sufficient reach for the wind to cause a pretty good chop. As a
> > > matter of fact, the area enclosed by the breakwater is so big (five
> > or
> > > six miles long by about half a mile wide) that it is virtually always
> > > choppy if there is any wind at all. When the wind is offshore (from
> > > the west), the waves reflect off the breakwater and then back again
> > > off of the seawalls that cover most of the shore in this area. When
> > > the wind is onshore the waves originate from the other side, but the
> > > result is identical. North or south winds will result in fair sized
> > > waves at one end or the other. For much of the year the problem is
> > > compounded by heavy and fast boat traffic. But, even at its worst it
> > > never gets as bad inside the breakwater as it often is on the
> > > outside.....particularly in a northeast wind. Since I got my boat
> > > last May, I've had occasion to get out on the lake numerous times and
> > > have already played in 4-5 foot swells breaking into occasional
> > > whitecaps. The conditions yesterday were child's play by comparison.
> > >
> > > Arriving at the mouth of the river, I drifted for a while and watched
> > > 40 or so people fishing from the seawall and a few more in a couple
> > of
> > > boats. One guy on a boat caught a fish but I wasn't close enough to
> > > see what it was. Word has it that the walleye are starting to run,
> > > and I suspect that all the fresh runoff has got the steelhead moving
> > > as well. Turning back to the north, I followed the shore back toward
> > > where I'd started. "Summerfest" grounds (now, officially "Mayor
> > Henry
> > > Maier Festival Park" or some such nonsense) run along the lakeshore
> > > for quite a ways here. Since there are no festivals at this time of
> > > year, I was surprised to see a lot of people biking, skating, running
> > > and walking here. Evidently the bike path runs along the shore and
> > is
> > > somehow segregated from the rest of the festival grounds. A bit
> > > further north lies the dock for the Denis Sullivan, a recently built
> > > three-masted Great Lakes Schooner (http://www.pierwisconsin.org/),
> > > currently at its winter quarters somewhere in the Caribbean. Next is
> > > the art museum with it's famous Calatrava addition.
> > >
> > > In front of the art museum sits a small rubble island. The channel
> > > between the island and the seawall narrows to about ten or twelve
> > feet
> > > wide. Places like this, sheltered from wind and wave action, ice
> > over
> > > earlier in the winter and retain their ice longer than others in the
> > > spring. Nevertheless, I was somewhat surprised to see that there
> > > still was ice here. The ice was thin (1/2-3/4 inch) and obviously
> > not
> > > completely solid but I had to sit and think about it for a moment
> > > before deciding a kayak as an icebreaker was just too cool an
> > > opportunity to pass up regardless of how foolish a boy stuck fast in
> > > the ice might look to the now numerous strollers et al. up on the
> > bike
> > > path. I made it through (albeit not without a struggle and some
> > > heckling) to polite applause from a nice young couple and their
> > > children.
> > >
> > > The rest of the trip passed without incident (aside from a bit of
> > > pointing by what were presumably incredulous observers) and I was
> > soon
> > > back to where I'd launched a couple of hours earlier. While taking a
> > > break on the rocks at the launch site and then carrying the boat and
> > > the rest of my gear back to the van I was accosted by several groups
> > > of people who asked if I actually went out onto the lake and who,
> > when
> > > informed that I had, registered responses ranging from
> > congratulations
> > > to something approaching horror. Different strokes, I guess. :)
> > >
> > > Wolfgang
> >
> > I have understood, that if you sheathe the front hull of the kayak with
> > about three to four inches of solid steel, it will work much better as
> > an "icebreaker." Crummy kayak-great icebreaker. TnT
> >
>
>
|
|
