Doug Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 The final CAM Workshop went off as scheduled despite the weather threats. We broke up into 3 pods after the initial beach briefing. Thank you Scott & Peter for all your help and instruction in my group. Thanks to all the other instructors, Rick Stoehrer, Rick Crangle, Jason Kates, and CAM committee for putting this venue together. Sorry if I missed anyone involved. We all had a blast as we pushed our skills to the limit. Paddlers of all levels surely excelled up a few notches in their experience curve. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture of Dee below kind of sums things up for the day. View link to see more. I had a great time. Doug http://www.pixel8er.net/Other/CAM-Workshop...891406641_x3ZKs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 The final CAM Workshop went off as scheduled despite the weather threats. We broke up into 3 pods after the initial beach briefing. Thank you Scott & Peter for all your help and instruction in my group. Thanks to all the other instructors, Rick Stoehrer, Rick Crangle, Jason Kates, and CAM committee for putting this venue together. Sorry if I missed anyone involved. We all had a blast as we pushed our skills to the limit. Paddlers of all levels surely excelled up a few notches in their experience curve. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture of Dee below kind of sums things up for the day. View link to see more. I had a great time. Doug http://www.pixel8er.net/Other/CAM-Workshop...891406641_x3ZKs Great photos, as usual, by the " Master of Scoop". Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rylevine Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Thanks for the pictures, Doug. Our group led by Rick C and Jason and also had myself, Dave, Marc, and Adam. After launching at around 10:00, we first went to the bridge at the back of Little Harbor for some practice crossing and turning in current. Then we took advantage of the heavy fog to cross to the Whaleback lighthouse (?) by compass. I was amazing and wonderful to see it emerge from the fog as we hit it dead-on. As one of the compass-minders, I appreciated Jason's suggestion to find an object like a lobster pot in the bearing and paddle towards it rather than try to maintain the compass heading from the boat. The ~3 foot swells around the rocks and ledges east of the lighthouse were perfect for rescues. The swells were large enough to be nontrivial but not insane. We did contact tows, T-rescues, two-in rescues, and rolls (Adam's hand rolls are definitely impressive!). I found the two-in to be much more difficult and time-consuming around the rocks than I would have thought. Moving the kayaks together, grabbing the right lines, paddle storage and management (mine ended up floating away and had to be picked up later using my spare), and kayak drifting back to the rocks - all these 'fog of war' effects were daunting. Rick's suggestion to swim the boat out by wrapping the bow with your legs and back swimming was effective. Afterwards, it occurred to me that an important first step is to get far enough out so that the rescue is completely free of the rocks. In addition to rescues, we also paddled through rock passages and tried some surfing. For me these activities are useful for forcing attention to wave action, boat control, and for bracing against waves. Finally, we did some towing practice back towards the Little Harbor, found a nice ledge for some more surfing, paddled over to Odiorne point, and then headed back to Little Harbor. The conditions had calmed by the time we met up with other groups at around 4:00 at the put-in. There we practiced some balancing on the kayaks, cowboy re-entry, rolls, and general relaxing! I would like to thank the organizers and group leaders for the three CAM workshop meetings. They were perfect, and practice makes perfect - so if there is interest in more ocean practice sessions.... Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenster Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 May seem a bit odd that a "Great Day" is when your in the water more than in your boat but that's what we had. Thanks to all that orginized and part took in the work shop, still drying out! glenn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuglisi Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 May seem a bit odd that a "Great Day" is when your in the water more than in your boat but that's what we had. Thanks to all that orginized and part took in the work shop, still drying out! glenn. It was an outstanding day. The weather Gods definitely decided to smile down on us. Thanks to everyone who participated especially the, first class, presenters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeski Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 It was an outstanding day. The weather Gods definitely decided to smile down on us. Thanks to everyone who participated especially the, first class, presenters. Ditto!! You know you had a good day when all you want to do afterwards is to go to bed!!! Learned allot guys.....and thanks so much for giving your time to NSPN and its members! ~Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David MC Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Great day. Thanks all! I'm still grinning ear-to-ear having made my first roll in the ocean on my first try. Added bonuses -- seeing the skills of my fellow paddlers in action, a seal popping his head up to watch, increasing my confidence in ferrying, the fog, and learning to "read" the ocean better. I will work more on making rescues second nature and being more bold when I'm out practicing with skilled comrades. I'm definitely glad I've hooked up with NSPN -- fun group and conscientious. (BTW, I hope that lone sculler in nothing but a speedo made it home!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.