Kayaking at Barton Cove; Coastal Kayak Intro

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Beth hauled us and the kayaks out to Barton Cove sometime mid-morning using Austin's car. Unloaded at the boat ramp since there was no one there, otherwise, etiquette demands that we unload on the grass next to the boat ramp where honkin' vehicles unload their honkin' boats. We went over a lot of review, in the form of volunteers giving 5 minute or less talks to "novices" about the kayaks and how to enter a kayak. Fit in a working lunch while Beth talked in more detail about what to bring on the expedition which will be north of Booth Bay Harbor between a couple of islands. AND, it will be black fly season! I thought sure we'd miss that since it doesn't happen till summer down here. My excitement about the trip has just suffered a major blow in the expected comfort level. And, we're using tents rather than our bivys for some reason. We didn't get into a lot of detail yet. Talked about all the paraphernalia we'll need to jam into the kayaks including all our food and 5 gals of water each.

Time to get out on the water. Had an especially hard time getting my dry suit neck on over my head. Frustrating, especially when I know it's going to put us behind schedule. Then I got the boat with the screwed up foot pedals and had to mess with knotted straps and buckles. Beth thought it would be a good boat for me to start with and then I could move to one of the others. . . I actually preferred one of the others with more edge to it. Even more annoying, I was told that Beth and Aaron moved the easy kayak, most stable I guess,  back to the trailer so I wouldn't choose it. Damn. She forgets that I did well in the fall with a boat she said would challenge me. I don't like her assumption that I would go for the easy boat. It's not like I take the easy way out. Then there's the damn skirt that I always need help getting on. Most everyone needed help with that today but most of them were using new skirts that needed 3 people to put on. And it was such a treat to cram myself into a kayak with my dry suit and bulky pfd.

Finally out on the water. Aaron volunteered to lead the group and had to let us know about traveling in a pod, where we were headed, assure communication, etc. Beth said it will be important for the trip and for the other leader who we have yet to meet but will join us on the trip. Aaron led us out toward the eagles nest but before we got there, the eagle landed within 100' of where we were and started eating whatever it had caught. She was beautiful and this was likely the closest any of us had ever been to an eagle. She took off eventually with the rest of her catch in her beak and then we saw her grab it with her claws in mid flight, circled the trees and dropped down into the nest.

At that point Beth suggested I volunteer to lead the next leg. We needed to travel in a pod again so I assigned a lead, sweep, and flanks since she's telling us we need to be less democratic and take on authoritative voices. We headed left to circle the island but pretty quickly saw that it was looking shallow and muddy in the distance. Beth said something about scouting and I jumped at that saying that Jen and I would scout and for Kristi to be leader in my absence (I remembered the fall scenario we were given where the lead fire fighter left the group and did not assign a replacement leader and some or all of them died because the group lost cohesion). I also suggested they run some drills or something. I realized that it was fairly lame the way I did it and should have been more clear for the whole group and more directive on what they should do. They carried on well anyway. Jen and I meanwhile were able to get pretty far but in 2" of water and flinging muck with our paddles, we turned back. If we didn't have spray skirts on, we could have portaged to the next area of water. Got back to the group, headed the other way and noticed that clouds had covered the sky and some rain sprinkled. Paddling was slow given the wind and we practiced lean and sweeps to the stern to make turns and to counter the weathercock. Eventually we ran out of time and had to paddle back so that we could practice wet exits, T-rescues, and self-rescues. We didn't have time for everyone to do them and I only rescued Kristi on a T-rescue. I struggled to pull the bow out of the water without flipping myself over. Beth says that, though counter intuitive, we are much more stable getting 2 hands on the boat rather than one. Kristi was saved. Everyone who got wet was freezing in the cold water. And then there was getting myself out of the dry suit neck that Aaron videoed. Tomorrow, Coquette and I get to do wet exit and self-rescue in the predicted rain, snow, and low 40 degrees. Joy.

All in all, I enjoyed being in the canoe on the river much more than the kayak on flat water. Okay, better days are comin' I'm sure. Lots to study and prep for kayaking and canoeing.