Paddling in the rain
Galen Hekhuis
a hooded rain top and stayed completely dry. The rain often
discourages any other boaters. Often just a stiff breeze is all that
is needed to blow all the canoeists over to one side, but rain
terrifies them because they think their boats will fill up and sink.
They know that "canoe" is Old Indian for "funny shaped boat that sinks
in the rain."
John Kuthe
Ever paddled while it's raining ice? I have!! Whitewater of course, so
yes, full neoprene skirt. Drysuit too. The paddling season here
Missouri tends to be in cold weather, sometimes freezing! :-)
John Kuthe...
Galen Hekhuis
I can say that I have never, to my recollection, paddled in either
snow or ice (some bozo will probably post a picture of me paddling
through a snowstorm). I've generally headed south when it gets cold,
and if it really gets cold I've gone to the Everglades. But I hear
kayaking in snow can be fun. Wasn't there a video somewhere of
someone using a (whitewater) kayak like a sled?
Cricket
"Galen Hekhuis" <ghek...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:hdtpe5p4gang4jd1s...@4ax.com...
I canoed across a huge backwater in a thunderstorm once (not by choice) -
the girl with me gave up half-way across.
Old 17' AeroCraft aluminum canoe, thirty mile an hour headwinds, lightening
crashing all over the place...oh, yeah, good times... ;>D
Cricket
watersprite
> I can say that I have never, to my recollection, paddled in either
> snow or ice (some bozo will probably post a picture of me paddling
> through a snowstorm). I've generally headed south when it gets
> cold, and if it really gets cold I've gone to the Everglades. But
> I hear kayaking in snow can be fun. Wasn't there a video somewhere
> of someone using a (whitewater) kayak like a sled?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3flztm1fF6s
Much more where that came from, but it's a good start! :)
When it comes to weather and paddling, I'm happy as long as the water
is liquid. Fortunately, I do live in a place where the water does
remain liquid year 'round, and also has interesting seasonal weather.
Words like "bad", "gloomy", etc. just don't feel like weather terms
to me. The more variety, the more varied beauty and wonder I get to
experience. I love paddling in the rain, fog, snow, wind, and even
hail.
Perhaps I am a bit selfish in my quest for solitude on the water, so
I'm happy to encourage others to think of weather in terms of being
"bad", "gloomy", etc.. By the way, it rains here ALL THE TIME! :)
--
Melissa
(PeteCresswell)
>I've spent many a fine time in my kayak with a touring sprayskirt and
>a hooded rain top and stayed completely dry. The rain often
>discourages any other boaters. Often just a stiff breeze is all that
>is needed to blow all the canoeists over to one side, but rain
>terrifies them because they think their boats will fill up and sink.
I've always thought that when the water's cold enough to require
a suit for immersion were slight miserable days - 40's, cloudy,
raining bc there's less tendency to overheat.
Also, paddling in the rain in and of itself I find tb very
aesthetic - especially when it's glassed off.
--
PeteCresswell
riverman
I paddled with some friends in a couple of canoes across a huge lake
once on a week-long trip and the skies opened up when we were halfway
across. It was torrential, the raindrops were huge, and frothed the
water so much that it was impossible to determine where the sky, the
air or the water was...we all got vertigo from trying to keep our
balance in such a disorienting situation.
The only other time I got so twisted up was night paddling across a
lake that was smooth as glass, and the skies were crystal clear. The
field of stars passed completely around me, and made me feel like I
was flying through space. But once I lost my orientation for 'up', it
was actually terrifying. I had to flail my paddle and disturb the
water beside me to get reoriented.
--riverman
Cricket
"riverman" <myro...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3a7899bc-2455-4a2f-bf0c-
I paddled with some friends in a couple of canoes across a huge lake
once on a week-long trip and the skies opened up when we were halfway
across. It was torrential, the raindrops were huge, and frothed the
water so much that it was impossible to determine where the sky, the
air or the water was...we all got vertigo from trying to keep our
balance in such a disorienting situation.
The only other time I got so twisted up was night paddling across a
lake that was smooth as glass, and the skies were crystal clear. The
field of stars passed completely around me, and made me feel like I
was flying through space. But once I lost my orientation for 'up', it
was actually terrifying. I had to flail my paddle and disturb the
water beside me to get reoriented.
--riverman
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Oh, man - glad I'm not the only one that's happened to, I thought it was
me...
The only other time I got that disoriented when I wasn't being spun around
on an amusement park ride, was getting a case of the "twirly bends" while
scuba diving.
I think it would actually be possible to fall out of a kayak on still water
when it's like that - very very weird.
Cricket
Wilko
Yep, very recognisable.
I've had that happen on the North Sea, while surfing in rather bad
weather conditions (gale force winds in November). There were times when
I didn't know if the grey heaving soup was ending somewhere or simply
continued up in the sky!
--
Wilko van den Bergh wilko<a t)dse(d o t>nl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/
Cricket
"Wilko" <loo...@my.sig> wrote in message
news:4aedf939$0$11656$6d5e...@onsnet.xlned.com...
> Yep, very recognisable.
>
> I've had that happen on the North Sea, while surfing in rather bad weather
> conditions (gale force winds in November). There were times when I didn't
> know if the grey heaving soup was ending somewhere or simply continued up
> in the sky!
>
>
> --
> Wilko van den Bergh wilko<a t)dse(d o t>nl
> Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
> ---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
> http://kayaker.nl/
Gah - at least I've only had the very still water version - if I did dump I
wasn't going to die - just be wet and miserable in the dark for a while.
Not sure I'd enjoy it at all in that kind of water.
Cricket
Wilko
Oh, I didn't say that I was enjoying myself at the end! ;-)
It was a reunion of a group with which we had been paddling white water
that summer, so it was a rare occasion to get on the water. Still, in
retrospect, it was not a very safe activity. Temperatures just above
freezing, big waves crashing down and most of the group went for a swim
at one time or another. I'll take a low volume steep creek over that
kind of big water *any time*! :-)
Cricket
"Wilko" <loo...@my.sig> wrote in message
Yeah - I'm pretty much a purely recreational paddler...just cruising down
the backwoods creeks for relaxation (southern Michigan doesn't offer much in
the way of white water), but regardless, the closer to shore I am, the
happier I am about ugly stuff. Dumped, wet, battered and bruised fifty feet
from shore is a whole 'nother animal from dumped, wet, battered and bruised
a mile out.
If nothing else, it makes it so much easier to find my carcass. Though
given the available paddling around here, a horse is a lot more liable to
kill me than a creek.
Cricket
RailTramp
who then gave it to my wife. Makes a great place to sleep under in the rain.
Heavy enough that the wind does not lift it too much. Killer boat to portage.
Blakely
--
Blakely LaCroix
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
"The best adventure is yet to come"
RailTramp
Spooky what the mind does. I have to try getting lost in the stars.
On long raft trips, I get kind of an opposite disorientation. You
get used to so much water swirling around in front of you that a moving
foreground becomes the normal stable pattern. Then when you get on shore,
the ground in front of you moves in a swirling pattern.