"Daniel-San" wrote in message
news

"Wolfgang" wrote...

I know the marina......grew up in Kenosha. Haven't been down quite that
far in a while, but I've been paddling along much of the lakeshore from
near the state line to Manitowoc the last two years.

You are clearly a far more advanced paddler than I.

I doubt it. I've doing this for a bit less than two years.

Michelle and I toodle around slow rivers and small lakes in our little
kayaks, but I've never attempted to get out in actual water. I have a
feeling that would be an entertaining experience -- after the
defibrillator burns healed.

Lake Michigan can be a little spooky the first time you get out in a decent
swell.......um.....well, more than just a "little" spooky, I guess.

You should let me know when
you've got a free day some weekend. We can go out in kayaks and troll
along the shore.

Hmmmm.... would my little Dagger Zydeco suffice? (nine and a half footer)

Perfect! I've got a 9.5' Perfection Sundance.....essentially the same boat.
Sea kayaks are the vehicle of choice for most people, and they're great for
cruising, but they're cramped, much harder to enter, launch and beach, and
not as versatile. They DO offer one great advantage.....which I'll get back
to in a moment.

I was pretty nervous the first time I went out and found out very quickly
that you MUST have a spray skirt out there. Unless there is a stiff breeze
the, surf zone, where the waves break close to shore, is your worst problem.
Both in launching and beaching you WILL ship water without the skirt. The
problem is that when a wave breaks the result is a mix of air and
water.....essentially a large mass of bubbles.....that won't float the boat.
As you sit on the beach, even a six inch high breaker will ride right over
the bow and into the cockpit. Same thing happens on the way back in....with
the added problem of the hydraulic surge pushing the stern to one side or
another if you don't stay perpendicular to its front (parallel to its path)
and rolling you over if it pushes you far enough around. No big deal as you
are necessarily in very shallow water, but you will get soaked and have to
drag your sorry ass out of the boat.....almost certainly in front of a large
and highly amused audience. Most of this is easily avoided with the spray
skirt and a little easy steering.

Of course, eveything gets much more potentially dangerous out on the open
water. The great DISadvantage of recreational boats is that if you dump,
you STAY dumped.....you can't roll yourself back up like you can in a
whitewater boat or a sea kayak.....its time to wade or swim. A mile from
shore this can be a real problem. Fortunately, the risk of dumping is much
lower than one might suppose. I've played in four to five foot waves in a
stiff breeze on a number of occasions (always within a couple hundred yards
of shore) and, after another initial bit of nervousness, never felt the
least bit of worry. I should add that I am emphatically NOT a close to the
edge thrill seeker! I highly recommend playing under such
conditions....it's a hoot and a half.....especially surfing back in on the
wave fronts! I've also been as much as two miles off shore....on VERY calm
and virtually windless days. Wasn't worried then either. However, and once
again, emphatically, I do NOT recommend this for a solo paddler. The
probability may be very low, but something CAN happen, and a two mile swim
in Lake Michigan without support immediately available is no joke under any
circumstances. Even with a PFD (Wisconsin law requires that you have one in
the boat......but not that you must wear it) its a bad situation to be in.

The thing that worries me most is wind. I was out on the south side of
Milwaukee once when a strong wind (maybe 20-25 mph) came up pretty quickly
out of the west. For those not familiar with the area, a look at a map
should reveal why this is a bad thing. I wasn't very far off shore and
wasn't particularly concerned about being able to get back in, although I
knew it would be a bit of work. But I made a mistake. I was on my way
toward the breakwater that surrounds much of the Milwaukee waterfront and
planned to skirt the inside of one of the jetties to circle around the back
side of the marina I started from, and decided to continue, thinking that
things would be better inside. Unfortunately, as I got closer to the jetty
I found that the break I was making for funneled the wind and changed its
direction so that I was heading directly in to it while traveling north. To
make matters considerably worse, there was a good sized swell coming in off
the lake, and now there was a conflicting set of waves coming off shore
because of the wind shift, and BOTH of them were also reflecting off the
jetty. I now had waves coming at me from every direction....and meeting
waves are additive. If two waves traveling in opposite directions meet they
will crest at a height equal to the sum of their individual heights. I
suddenly found myself among six to eight foot waves. By this time I was
starting to get pretty worried. Getting very tired, I nevertheless made it
around the end of the jetty only to discover that the full force of the wind
was now hitting me directly in the face. Enough. I paddled to the jetty
and bailed out....walked back to shore pulling the boat with the bow rope.

I've been much more closely attuned to wind since then.

There ARE fish to be caught that way. I was much surprised, at
first, to see quite a few trout and salmon while out paddling. It's not
my favorite way to fish either, but what the hell.....if I'm out there
anyway.

Makes sense.

Give it some thought. I promise that we won't get into a situation like the
one described above.

Wolfgang
and thus begins yet another journey on the road to deportation to
canada.

"Curdistan", "Canuckistan" what's the difference? :-)

Gets cold up nort, eh? They got electricity yet?


I heard that new-fangled electricity reaches as far north as Houghton. Len
told me.

...indoor plumbing, on the other hand.... ;-)

Still got gas lights and an outhouse at my friends' cabin near Painesville.

Wolfgang