Playing with Bill in Ipswich Bay

[tyson]

Launched from Lanes at about 10:30 and paddled east. The weather was beautiful, sunny and generally just wonderful. There was essentially no wind. The seas where generally 3-7 feet and very gentle. A bit of mixing of diffracted waves but generally very little chop. ...just a little rock-n-roll.

Saw some great rollers out near Halibut Point. Paddled out NE a bit to see if we could find some good swell. It was all too long, fast and not so steep so we were unable to play surf ski.

Paddled back past Lanes to Essex bay where we finally found some good waves. ...many a bit too good for Emilie and I in our tandem so we worked our way to get in the path of some that where "just right". In this case just right was the biggest we've ever surfed and we were attempting it in a tender tandem. When peeling out of a few waves I was able to spot 13-15mph on the GPS but I was never able to read it while really going. I later read 17.3mph as our peak speed. That nearly doubles our previous fastest speed in a kayak. We caught about 5 rides on the way in to the NW side of Essex where we parked for a bit. The boat perl'ed a couple of times which really put the brakes on and subjected Emilie to a bit of "water boarding" torture. The rip current created by the waves along that shore was strong enough to keep the surfers at bay.

We stopped, ate drank and rested a bit and then paddled back out. We launched on the back side of the Essex entrance, crossed the rip current and paddled out the middle of the mouth. The waves were really rolling in and Emilie was attempting to get pictures. Frequently she had air under her seat and fell down the back side of the wave with quite a thump. My seat seemed to stay in the water over the tops.

A bit further out were some pretty big breaking/spilling waves. We punched through a bunch of those but then one of them finally got us. I paddled hard, speared my paddle and tucked forward as it hit us. I did a low trailing brace. When the water receded a bit I lifted my head to look and though the boat was a bit leaned thought we were going to be able to pull it off. Thats when that low trailing brace suddenly pulled down and I realized that the wave had us and we were going backwards. Over we went. My thoughts were not nearly organized enough to pull off a tandem roll. Having to work a prearranged plan and coordinate after having already been mostly under for a bit was more than I could pull off. I pulled the eject loop for the first time in a couple years without even trying to roll.

When I came up from under the boat I grabbed it and tried to roll it up as Emilie was still in it and trying to roll it. First attempt didn't quite get it there, but the 2nd did. I held on to the combing and my paddle while a few more breakers rolled over us. I had to really hang on as the boat was pulled by the waves. After that large set had passed I did a quick cowboy re-entry with Emilie bracing. The reentry was easy because the boat was completely flooded and barely above water.

In spite of a rear bulkhead and a bow full of flotation, the bow of this low volume boat was under water, Emilie's front combing was at the water line and mine barely above. There was no way we would be able to pump it out in the waves. We paddled our submarine out to deeper water which was interesting because as each wave passed, the boat was a foot or two under water.

Once we got out to deeper water I was able to pump it out. I ended up using both paddle floats to help stabilize the boat. At first I had to edge the boat away from the side I was pumping to get the combing above water where I had the skirt pulled aside (just a little!) for the pump.

After getting the boat back above water we discussed going for an other ride. We both would have loved to go do it again but concluded that it was getting late and we were both a bit tired. During dinner we both concluded that it was the right choice.

When we returned to Lanes we ran into Rick Cringle(sp?!) and Christopher who had been playing at the mouth of the Annisquam and had the chance to do a quick flat water tryout of Christopher's Pintail. ...nice boat.

Dinner at Lobsta Land (was that the name?) and then the long drive home.

New personal kayak speed records for both of us, my first eject in quite a while, our first real deep water self rescue in some fabulous surf and sunshine. Overall, I'd say that Bill was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the next hurricane.

Pictures and video aren't ready for posting yet, but for starters, here is the SPOT track:

SPOT track

Cheers!

Ty

[PeterB]

Launched from Lanes at about 10:30 and paddled east. The weather was beautiful, sunny and generally just wonderful. There was essentially no wind. The seas where generally 3-7 feet and very gentle. A bit of mixing of diffracted waves but generally very little chop. ...just a little rock-n-roll.

Saw some great rollers out near Halibut Point. Paddled out NE a bit to see if we could find some good swell. It was all too long, fast and not so steep so we were unable to play surf ski.

Paddled back past Lanes to Essex bay where we finally found some good waves. ...many a bit too good for Emilie and I in our tandem so we worked our way to get in the path of some that where "just right". In this case just right was the biggest we've ever surfed and we were attempting it in a tender tandem. When peeling out of a few waves I was able to spot 13-15mph on the GPS but I was never able to read it while really going. I later read 17.3mph as our peak speed. That nearly doubles our previous fastest speed in a kayak. We caught about 5 rides on the way in to the NW side of Essex where we parked for a bit. The boat perl'ed a couple of times which really put the brakes on and subjected Emilie to a bit of "water boarding" torture. The rip current created by the waves along that shore was strong enough to keep the surfers at bay.

We stopped, ate drank and rested a bit and then paddled back out. We launched on the back side of the Essex entrance, crossed the rip current and paddled out the middle of the mouth. The waves were really rolling in and Emilie was attempting to get pictures. Frequently she had air under her seat and fell down the back side of the wave with quite a thump. My seat seemed to stay in the water over the tops.

A bit further out were some pretty big breaking/spilling waves. We punched through a bunch of those but then one of them finally got us. I paddled hard, speared my paddle and tucked forward as it hit us. I did a low trailing brace. When the water receded a bit I lifted my head to look and though the boat was a bit leaned thought we were going to be able to pull it off. Thats when that low trailing brace suddenly pulled down and I realized that the wave had us and we were going backwards. Over we went. My thoughts were not nearly organized enough to pull off a tandem roll. Having to work a prearranged plan and coordinate after having already been mostly under for a bit was more than I could pull off. I pulled the eject loop for the first time in a couple years without even trying to roll.

When I came up from under the boat I grabbed it and tried to roll it up as Emilie was still in it and trying to roll it. First attempt didn't quite get it there, but the 2nd did. I held on to the combing and my paddle while a few more breakers rolled over us. I had to really hang on as the boat was pulled by the waves. After that large set had passed I did a quick cowboy re-entry with Emilie bracing. The reentry was easy because the boat was completely flooded and barely above water.

In spite of a rear bulkhead and a bow full of flotation, the bow of this low volume boat was under water, Emilie's front combing was at the water line and mine barely above. There was no way we would be able to pump it out in the waves. We paddled our submarine out to deeper water which was interesting because as each wave passed, the boat was a foot or two under water.

Once we got out to deeper water I was able to pump it out. I ended up using both paddle floats to help stabilize the boat. At first I had to edge the boat away from the side I was pumping to get the combing above water where I had the skirt pulled aside (just a little!) for the pump.

After getting the boat back above water we discussed going for an other ride. We both would have loved to go do it again but concluded that it was getting late and we were both a bit tired. During dinner we both concluded that it was the right choice.

When we returned to Lanes we ran into Rick Cringle(sp?!) and Christopher who had been playing at the mouth of the Annisquam and had the chance to do a quick flat water tryout of Christopher's Pintail. ...nice boat.

Dinner at Lobsta Land (was that the name?) and then the long drive home.

New personal kayak speed records for both of us, my first eject in quite a while, our first real deep water self rescue in some fabulous surf and sunshine. Overall, I'd say that Bill was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the next hurricane.

Pictures and video aren't ready for posting yet, but for starters, here is the SPOT track:

SPOT track

Cheers!

Ty

Thanks for the trip report: enjoyable reading.

There can be choice paddlng days right after storms, when there's big residual swell but fair weather and little wind.

Sounds like you caught such a day!

The speed clocked on your GPS reminds me of Greg Stamer's Newfoundland circmnav. blog in which he recorded his GPS clocking 18 knots during a 52-mile night crossing. Like you, he probably caught some combo of wind, waves and current.

If you combine "Rick Cringle" and Christopher I guess you'd have: Chris Cringle...

[MPARSONS]

Launched from Lanes at about 10:30 and paddled east. The weather was beautiful, sunny and generally just wonderful. There was essentially no wind. The seas where generally 3-7 feet and very gentle. A bit of mixing of diffracted waves but generally very little chop. ...just a little rock-n-roll.

Saw some great rollers out near Halibut Point. Paddled out NE a bit to see if we could find some good swell. It was all too long, fast and not so steep so we were unable to play surf ski.

Paddled back past Lanes to Essex bay where we finally found some good waves. ...many a bit too good for Emilie and I in our tandem so we worked our way to get in the path of some that where "just right". In this case just right was the biggest we've ever surfed and we were attempting it in a tender tandem. When peeling out of a few waves I was able to spot 13-15mph on the GPS but I was never able to read it while really going. I later read 17.3mph as our peak speed. That nearly doubles our previous fastest speed in a kayak. We caught about 5 rides on the way in to the NW side of Essex where we parked for a bit. The boat perl'ed a couple of times which really put the brakes on and subjected Emilie to a bit of "water boarding" torture. The rip current created by the waves along that shore was strong enough to keep the surfers at bay.

We stopped, ate drank and rested a bit and then paddled back out. We launched on the back side of the Essex entrance, crossed the rip current and paddled out the middle of the mouth. The waves were really rolling in and Emilie was attempting to get pictures. Frequently she had air under her seat and fell down the back side of the wave with quite a thump. My seat seemed to stay in the water over the tops.

A bit further out were some pretty big breaking/spilling waves. We punched through a bunch of those but then one of them finally got us. I paddled hard, speared my paddle and tucked forward as it hit us. I did a low trailing brace. When the water receded a bit I lifted my head to look and though the boat was a bit leaned thought we were going to be able to pull it off. Thats when that low trailing brace suddenly pulled down and I realized that the wave had us and we were going backwards. Over we went. My thoughts were not nearly organized enough to pull off a tandem roll. Having to work a prearranged plan and coordinate after having already been mostly under for a bit was more than I could pull off. I pulled the eject loop for the first time in a couple years without even trying to roll.

When I came up from under the boat I grabbed it and tried to roll it up as Emilie was still in it and trying to roll it. First attempt didn't quite get it there, but the 2nd did. I held on to the combing and my paddle while a few more breakers rolled over us. I had to really hang on as the boat was pulled by the waves. After that large set had passed I did a quick cowboy re-entry with Emilie bracing. The reentry was easy because the boat was completely flooded and barely above water.

In spite of a rear bulkhead and a bow full of flotation, the bow of this low volume boat was under water, Emilie's front combing was at the water line and mine barely above. There was no way we would be able to pump it out in the waves. We paddled our submarine out to deeper water which was interesting because as each wave passed, the boat was a foot or two under water.

Once we got out to deeper water I was able to pump it out. I ended up using both paddle floats to help stabilize the boat. At first I had to edge the boat away from the side I was pumping to get the combing above water where I had the skirt pulled aside (just a little!) for the pump.

After getting the boat back above water we discussed going for an other ride. We both would have loved to go do it again but concluded that it was getting late and we were both a bit tired. During dinner we both concluded that it was the right choice.

When we returned to Lanes we ran into Rick Cringle(sp?!) and Christopher who had been playing at the mouth of the Annisquam and had the chance to do a quick flat water tryout of Christopher's Pintail. ...nice boat.

Dinner at Lobsta Land (was that the name?) and then the long drive home.

New personal kayak speed records for both of us, my first eject in quite a while, our first real deep water self rescue in some fabulous surf and sunshine. Overall, I'd say that Bill was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to the next hurricane.

Pictures and video aren't ready for posting yet, but for starters, here is the SPOT track:

SPOT track

Cheers!

Ty

Great report. Sounds like a fun day. I've got to ask: how long did it take Emilie to realize you weren't in the boat anymore?

[tyson]

Great report. Sounds like a fun day. I've got to ask: how long did it take Emilie to realize you weren't in the boat anymore?

When I rolled the boat up and she realized I was beside it.

[florriej]

Did it feel scarey or overwhelming at any point, or did you always feel it was manageable? Thanks for an excellent read! Florrie

[emilie]

Did it feel scarey or overwhelming at any point, or did you always feel it was manageable? Thanks for an excellent read! Florrie

I think Tyson was scared on the first few waves we caught going in. But dealing with the swamped boat, I was more just concentrating than scared.

And in response to someone else's question, no, I really had no clue Tyson was out until I was back above water and saw him swimming.

Emilie

[tyson]

Did it feel scarey or overwhelming at any point, or did you always feel it was manageable? Thanks for an excellent read! Florrie

I never felt scared, but I did spend a lot of time in serious risk mitigation mode or very busy trying to keep the boat upright.

Overwhelmed might be a word that would describe why I pulled the eject lever without even trying a roll when we did get overturned. I've been through that a couple of times before with kayaking. The first time I tried a roll with my head banging against the sand in surf was one. Its not really a big deal, just roll as always, but I got distracted with my head hitting the bottom and didn't do what I knew how to do. I thought about it a bit after and next time I had the same situation, I setup for a roll and came up without a problem. I expect that next time we are in the same situation with the tandem I will feel less overwhelmed and follow through with a decent roll attempt. If Emilie and I are on the same side of the boat, there seems to be good odds that we'll get it up.

Once in the water and seeing the boat so completely swamped and the next breaking wave coming at us I wondered how long it would take us to solve this problem. Once I was in the boat and we were successfully paddling out through the next set of waves I felt more like the situation was in control.

So, never really scared or desperate but definitely overwhelmed for brief moments. I think that focusing on solving the problem helps keep fear at bay. ...though there are cases where this can lead people into over confidence when they should be more conservative with their decisions.

[tyson]

Photos and video are posted on my Picasa account.

It includes video of the wave that got us. I clipped a bunch of that file because it was random splashing and flashing as the camera was dangling from Emilie's PFD while we paddled our human powered submarine. The full video is just over 3 minutes. However, there is one frame clipped and posted of me putting on my spray skirt while the boat is still fully flooded. We didn't get any shots of the bow in its submerged state.

Our GPS track. Looking that the track, we paddled about 0.4 miles out before getting turned over. We paddled about 0.9 miles further to get past the waves to where the seas were flat enough to pump without water pouring in as fast as I could pump it out because the rear combing was barely above water. We drifted an other 0.3 miles while pumping. From swim to pumped out was about 45 minutes.

It is worth noting that without too much effort, our "submarine" paddled at 3.5 mph.

Our mileage for the day was 16.5 miles.

[Doug]

&z

Photos and video are posted on my Picasa account.

It includes video of the wave that got us. I clipped a bunch of that file because it was random splashing and flashing as the camera was dangling from Emilie's PFD while we paddled our human powered submarine. The full video is just over 3 minutes. However, there is one frame clipped and posted of me putting on my spray skirt while the boat is still fully flooded. We didn't get any shots of the bow in its submerged state.

Our GPS track. Looking that the track, we paddled about 0.4 miles out before getting turned over. We paddled about 0.9 miles further to get past the waves to where the seas were flat enough to pump without water pouring in as fast as I could pump it out because the rear combing was barely above water. We drifted an other 0.3 miles while pumping. From swim to pumped out was about 45 minutes.

It is worth noting that without too much effort, our "submarine" paddled at 3.5 mph.

Our mileage for the day was 16.5 miles.

I love the clip of the "wave that got ya". I wondered if Emilie got a mouth full of water. She seemed to be laughing when the white water hit! Great pics too. The circular spinning cloud formation over the ocean was especially cool. See you at the surf session tonight. Doug

[EEL]

Tyson:

Enjoyed the pics and video greatly. I could almost feel the boat shudder as it slammed down the back side of the wave. Great fun no doubt. Must have been an wonderful day on the water.

Discussion about not being scared due to having mind focused on solving problems good stuff too.

I wonder if being a pilot has a role in that.

Ed Lawson

[NPSheehan]

AWESOME!!! Great photo shots and video! Looks like you had a blast.

Neil

[risingsn]

Photos and video are posted on my Picasa account.

It includes video of the wave that got us. I clipped a bunch of that file because it was random splashing and flashing as the camera was dangling from Emilie's PFD while we paddled our human powered submarine. The full video is just over 3 minutes. However, there is one frame clipped and posted of me putting on my spray skirt while the boat is still fully flooded. We didn't get any shots of the bow in its submerged state.

Our GPS track. Looking that the track, we paddled about 0.4 miles out before getting turned over. We paddled about 0.9 miles further to get past the waves to where the seas were flat enough to pump without water pouring in as fast as I could pump it out because the rear combing was barely above water. We drifted an other 0.3 miles while pumping. From swim to pumped out was about 45 minutes.

It is worth noting that without too much effort, our "submarine" paddled at 3.5 mph.

Our mileage for the day was 16.5 miles.

Ty, As I remember you have a W60, I have one also but have not shot any video. What is the clicking sound I hear every time I watch one of your videos?, Thanks, Chuck

[tyson]

Ty, As I remember you have a W60, I have one also but have not shot any video. What is the clicking sound I hear every time I watch one of your videos?, Thanks, Chuck

I assume its the focus or something like that, but I don't really know. Its annoying and always there.