tacomakayaker

the humpbacks seemed to be gentle and shy creatures, in a group, much like a herd of deer, except the deer in this case are a lot bigger than you. i've read that they share their most recent land ancestor with deer and antelope. You know that feeling you get when you look at the stars? watching them was like that, only more so, cause unfamiliar. one hung at the surface, just off shore. not feeding with the others, but alone, and not diving. just swimming in a circle. i am still worried about him or her. alex

hey john--as bob said--do you have any recs on layman books about the weather? i'm interested in where winds come from, how the global system and the local systems work to give us the winds we kayakers are so attuned to. i've read about hadley cells, polar fronts, and all that but haven't made any sense of it yet...the same questions about currents. It would be great to be able to look at the sky and figure out what's going on up there from the clouds, and what weather and wind is on the way... thanks. alex tacomakayaker@yahoo.com

under that little bridge, it was remarkable--water moving fast through a narrow space always seems to act the same, whirlpools, eddy lines, etc. just the degree of the activity changes with the ammount of water and speed, deception pass v. the fast flood channeled under that little bridge. the skills you use to go against are the same too, as far as i can tell. alex

I'll be joining you for this one... Alex

hey justin--just tried to shoot you and email from here, but didn't work. Me and a bud are heading down there tomorrow. should be around orleans at around 1 pm. You can shoot me an email at tacomakayaker@yahoo.com. Like to talk... inter coastal waterway--a dream of mine too alex

well, what got me to learn my off side roll was hanging upside down in a warm pond, doing my onside role, then trying a roll on my off side, missing it, and then figuring out what i was not doing on my offside that i was doing on my on side. Being really analytical about it. It worked. It was a step by step anaylytical process. First correct one ting on teh offside. compare it with my onside. then correct another thing. I'm really glad it worked, because having an off side saved me and a friend from a bad situation last winter along a cliff. the friend went over in breakers along a cliff face. i went into get him, and i went over. couldn't roll up on my on side cause i was against the cliff. thank you jesus i had an offside and got up and towed him off the rocks. i never understood derek hutchinson's adamance that a sea kayaker only needs to be able to roll on one side. must not have played in rocks.

cool. thanks for the names on the whale spotting, humpbacks were within 100 yards of race point light last week, just hanging out there. must have been a krill school or someting there of great interest to them. I'm thinking to see what sources are available on the web--might be a woodshole site or something that keeps track of them and their location. Also, you could just drive down there and scan the shore up and down with binoculars at various turn offs, and see if you can spot then. then drive to the nearest parking lot....

okay. i'm interested in seeing the whales down there now--70 right whales near shore in the bay, and humpback and fin whales just off race point, as in a couple hundred feet off race point. Of course, you have to keep the regulated distance away, but they would be very cool to see. any interest in seeing them?

just wondering--googled for kayak groups, similar to our own down there, but came up with nothing. interested in going out with people down there. thanks. alex

yes, whitey bulger, and his sleeping bag... -the cohort

yes, i'm interested in practicing boat skills/ 4* anyone still interested for this w/e?

ah yes. this happened last fall. this paddler had been doing great all day against 20 knot wind, 3 foot wind waves, occasionally higher. There had been no sign of difficulty. So it was a real shock when the panic attack came in the race, a race this person had been in before, but maybe not when it was running 2 foot standing waves. We had pow-wowed before making the crossing, and all of us decided to do it. Even then, in our powwow ,there was no hint of what was to come. No words of trepidation, no looks of terror. We practice t rescues in races in the NW, so that wouldn't have been a problem. But dealing with a panicked paddler was new, and a helpless feeling, especially when an offer of an assisted tow was flatly refused. We were very lucky we were where we were-- it was a narrow crossing, boats were around, and the CG was nearby, even they didn't come out to us. If we had hung out on those rocks to the point of hypothermia setting in, they were there. What would have happened if we had not been in those circumstances? any ideas on dealing with panic on the water?

I think i'll be coming out for this one. to recap, i'm the guy from seattle who's Bob Burnett's student/friend.... alex (202)-253-1493 ©

naw--i was in the blue tempest with the blue helmet and yellow paddle blades... those boards are fun though. I call them "jesus boards" cause it looks like your walking on water....