Press Release: Paradise, MI: Wolves, Moose, Incredible Vacations

On 3/17/06 4:12 PM, in article , "Wolfgang"
wrote:

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

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

Wonder if they ever ran the electric lights up at the place on R Lake... I
need to make a call in the near future, see if it looks likely I'll be able
to use it this year. Last I was up there, outhouse, pump water and
candles/lanterns. Wouldn't have it any other way!

B
(kinda nice to have the propane stove and 'fridge though. :-)

"Wolfgang" wrote...

"Daniel-San" wrote...

"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.

Is the Sundance the new "Swifty"? Michelle loves her Swifty. As simple a
boat as could be designed, I think, plus, it's pretty darned stable for the
rec. paddler.



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.

Story of much of my outdoors-skills learning life. I think I should sell
tickets to the first couple times I do something outside. I be a friggin'
millionaire.



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.

Maybe, but it's even lower on a small, placid lil' lake. Or mebbe on a
meandering river.....

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!

As someone who was at one point a thrill seeker (I've done some **** that
still scares me), I feel that four-to-five foot waves on Lake Michigan in a
small kayak is almost the definition of the edge.

Of course, I'm now a total wuss(*), so that could be coloring my judgement a
bit.


I highly recommend playing under such
conditions....it's a hoot and a half.....especially surfing back in on the
wave fronts!

This part does sound like a hoot -- after managing to get out there.

In a galaxy far, far, away, I was a lifeguard at a condo complex on
Chicago's "Gold Coast". We used to walk to the beach on really windy days
with those goofy closed-cell foam sheets the kids were playing on in the
pool. Made for one hell of a fun lunch hour -- body surfing. We'd come back
to work late, exhausted, and with road rash on our chests. I imagine it'd be
at least as fun in a kayak.


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.

I think the law is the same here in Illernoise, but I find that the wuss
factor is decreased a bit with that bad boy on and buckled. I've been out
10-20 (?) miles with pops and have seen guys soloing in really long sea
kayaks. To each his/her own, I guess, but to me, that's nuts.



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.

From the sound of it, you made a wise decision. In a (motorized) fishing
boat, those additive waves can get awfully interesting as you get closer to
the various breaks/jettys/harbor mouths. I imagine that in a kayak, it would
be downright terrifying.



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.


Hmmmm... 'promise'? ;-)

Have to be later in the year -- we just bought a house and it's gonna be a
little nuts for a while.



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.

Sounds like a helluva good place.

Dan

(*) wuss brought about by witnessing/knowing of a few nasty climbing
accidents... one fatal.

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...


...Perfection Sundance....

Oops! Should be "Perception".

Wolfgang

"Jeff" wrote in message
nk.net...

harumph, indeed! ...best remember the donner dinner party. if there are
that many fools gathered about a pasty stand, i reckon one of em would be
an easy victim. plus, that rank mess has gotta draw some edible animals.
and, as i recall, there's usually an ice cream cooler, a grocery store,
beer, pick-up trucks, and ranitadine near every pasty purveyor i've been
around.

THAT'S what we like! A man who can improvise and live off the land......as
he finds it.

Wolfgang
who, come september, is sticking close to jeff.....um.....but who will also
be careful not to turn his back when he gets that lean and hungry look.

"William Claspy" wrote in message
...
On 3/17/06 4:12 PM, in article , "Wolfgang"
wrote:

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

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

Wonder if they ever ran the electric lights up at the place on R Lake... I
need to make a call in the near future, see if it looks likely I'll be
able
to use it this year. Last I was up there, outhouse, pump water and
candles/lanterns. Wouldn't have it any other way!

Amen.

B
(kinda nice to have the propane stove and 'fridge though. :-)

Got both of those at Fisher's. C'mon in and set a spell.

Wolfgang

"Daniel-San" wrote in message
et...

Is the Sundance the new "Swifty"? Michelle loves her Swifty. As simple a
boat as could be designed, I think, plus, it's pretty darned stable for
the rec. paddler.

Not sure, but I don't think so. I've looked at a few since I bought mine,
but haven't a good reason to pay much attention. I think the Swifty is a
cheaper, more bare bones model than mine. I looked up your Zydeco when you
asked if will do and it looks to be pretty nearly exactly like my Sundance.

...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.

Story of much of my outdoors-skills learning life. I think I should sell
tickets to the first couple times I do something outside. I be a friggin'
millionaire.

Nah, you'd spend it all for tickets to watch me or the next dumbass do
exactly the same thing.

...Fortunately, the risk of dumping is much lower than one might suppose.

Maybe, but it's even lower on a small, placid lil' lake.

Be mindful of the conditions in which you go out and there is literally no
difference in the risk of dumping. Lake Michigan in repose is only more of
the same. Stay reasonably close to shore (and still mindful of those
conditions) and the consequences of dumping (which is the real issue) fall
as far within your parameters for acceptable risk as you wish to make them.

Or mebbe on a meandering river.....

Nope. Moving water is inherently MUCH more dangerous. Even the slowest of
meandering rivers is risky. Late last spring Becky, her brother, Jeff, and
I went out for a half day trip on the Fox from Waterford to Burlington.
About as tame a bit of river as anyone would ever want to see. Trying to
duck under a large branch near the right bank, Jeff decided at the last
second that he wasn't going to clear and grabbed a piece of the branch to
check himself. Big mistake. He stopped alright but, naturally, the boat
did not. It turned athwart the current and continued to move while he hung
on. By the time the boat had moved about four or five feet he was
horizontal with his head under water. His options were to hang on until he
drowned.....or let go and try something else. He chose wisely.
Unfortunately, the boat was now lodged upside down against another part of
the branch and the current was pushing him against the bottom. Happy ending
(well, mostly.....his cigars and cell phone were pretty waterlogged). He
managed to scramble out of the boat and walk to the bank. All this took
place in water about two feet deep and moving at maybe 1 mph. In retrospect
(as little as two minutes later) it was pretty funny. But people have died
under less trying circumstances.

I said moving water is more dangerous but, to be more precise, it's
horizontally moving water. There's a lot of vertical movement (waves or
swells) in the Great Lakes and the oceans but they really aren't very
dangerous.....EXCEPT!.....in the surf zone or where wind causes them to
break even in deep open water and then.....yep, you guessed it, it's the
horizontal vector of the motion that causes most of the problems.....that
kills.

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!

As someone who was at one point a thrill seeker (I've done some **** that
still scares me), I feel that four-to-five foot waves on Lake Michigan in
a small kayak is almost the definition of the edge.

It certainly LOOKS like it and, the first couple of times anyway, it FEELS
like it but in reality, it isn't. That's exactly why it's so much fun!

Of course, I'm now a total wuss(*), so that could be coloring my judgement
a bit.

There are a number of places on the lakeshore (both Kenosha and Racine come
immediately to mind) where there are beaches protected by breakwaters. Come
out with me to one of these places sometime and paddle in placid water to
your heart's content. In a short while you'll begin to look at those waves
out beyond the end of the breakwater and think......"Hm......." And
then......

And then your soul is MINE!

I highly recommend playing under such
conditions....it's a hoot and a half.....especially surfing back in on
the wave fronts!

This part does sound like a hoot -- after managing to get out there.

In a galaxy far, far, away, I was a lifeguard at a condo complex on
Chicago's "Gold Coast". We used to walk to the beach on really windy days
with those goofy closed-cell foam sheets the kids were playing on in the
pool. Made for one hell of a fun lunch hour -- body surfing. We'd come
back to work late, exhausted, and with road rash on our chests. I imagine
it'd be at least as fun in a kayak.

No rash. And you can carry your camera, phone, illicit (or soon to be)
substance of choice, etc.

...a PFD (Wisconsin law requires that you have
one in the boat......but not that you must wear it)....

I think the law is the same here in Illernoise, but I find that the wuss
factor is decreased a bit with that bad boy on and buckled.

It's never a bad idea to wear a PFD while in any small watercraft under any
circumstances. Candor compels me to say that I don't.....but that's just a
personal quirk.....my funeral, right? Anyone who derides you for it or
tells you not to .....under any circumstances.....is someone to
avoid.....under any circumstances.

I've been out 10-20 (?) miles with pops and have seen guys soloing in
really long sea kayaks. To each his/her own, I guess, but to me, that's
nuts.

It ain't as nuts as touch football......or riding a bicycle on a city street
(or ANY street......or off road, for that matter), and it's nowhere NEAR as
nuts as riding a horse!

...I paddled to the jetty and bailed out....walked back to shore pulling
the boat with the bow rope.

From the sound of it, you made a wise decision.

Note that I assumed you were referring to the decision to bail......not the
earlier one.

In a (motorized) fishing boat, those additive waves can get awfully
interesting as you get closer to the various breaks/jettys/harbor mouths.
I imagine that in a kayak, it would be downright terrifying.

Mmmmmm.....not QUITE terrifying, but close kin.......real close.

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


Hmmmm... 'promise'? ;-)

Oh, hell yes! I mean, I can always say, "Nah, I didn' know da guy. I just
seen him out on da lake dere an' I sez, HEY what da hell you doin' out
dere?.....an' bloop, he was gone".....right?

Have to be later in the year -- we just bought a house and it's gonna be a
little nuts for a while.

Mid June through October is good. You know where to find me.

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

Sounds like a helluva good place.

A little slice of heaven.

Dan

(*) wuss brought about by witnessing/knowing of a few nasty climbing
accidents... one fatal.

Climbing (I've done a bit myself) is like most things.....you want to go
start with somebody who has made the mistakes, learned the lessons, knows
how to relay the information. Belaying (and the attendant setting of
anchors, etc.), on the other hand, is one of those very important exceptions
to the rule. The guy who has made the mistakes?......well, how do you feel
about the plague?

Wolfgang

"Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" wrote in message oups.com...
Press Release

INFOMERCIAL snipped

If you're planning a vacation that involves getting close to nature,
Paradise is the very definition of wilderness. Being neighborly is a
way of life for Paradisians, so if you've been disillusioned by
trampled parks and tourist destinations where visitors are made to feel
like dollar signs, don't you think it's time to experience Paradise?


The Yooper version of how Michigan Was created:
In da beginning dere was nuttin'.
Den on da first day God created da Upper Peninsula.
On da second day, He created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish and da ducks.
On da third day He said, let dere be Yoopers to roam da Upper Peninsula.
On da fourth day He created da udder world down below.
On da fifth day He said "Let dere be trolls to live in da world down below".
On da sixth day He created da bridge so da trolls would have a way to get to heaven.
God saw it, and it was good and on da seventh day He went huntin'.

And God's name is Len McDougall........ http://www.pastypower.com/

"Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" wrote in message oups.com...
Press Release

INFOMERCIAL snipped

If you're planning a vacation that involves getting close to nature,
Paradise is the very definition of wilderness. Being neighborly is a
way of life for Paradisians, so if you've been disillusioned by
trampled parks and tourist destinations where visitors are made to feel
like dollar signs, don't you think it's time to experience Paradise?


The Yooper version of how Michigan Was created:
In da beginning dere was nuttin'.
Den on da first day God created da Upper Peninsula.
On da second day, He created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish and da ducks.
On da third day He said, let dere be Yoopers to roam da Upper Peninsula.
On da fourth day He created da udder world down below.
On da fifth day He said "Let dere be trolls to live in da world down below".
On da sixth day He created da bridge so da trolls would have a way to get to heaven.
God saw it, and it was good and on da seventh day He went huntin'.

And God's name is Len McDougall........ http://www.pastypower.com/

"Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" wrote in message oups.com...
Press Release

INFOMERCIAL snipped

If you're planning a vacation that involves getting close to nature,
Paradise is the very definition of wilderness. Being neighborly is a
way of life for Paradisians, so if you've been disillusioned by
trampled parks and tourist destinations where visitors are made to feel
like dollar signs, don't you think it's time to experience Paradise?


The Yooper version of how Michigan Was created:
In da beginning dere was nuttin'.
Den on da first day God created da Upper Peninsula.
On da second day, He created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish and da ducks.
On da third day He said, let dere be Yoopers to roam da Upper Peninsula.
On da fourth day He created da udder world down below.
On da fifth day He said "Let dere be trolls to live in da world down below".
On da sixth day He created da bridge so da trolls would have a way to get to heaven.
God saw it, and it was good and on da seventh day He went huntin'.

And God's name is Len McDougall........ http://www.pastypower.com/

"Len McDougall, Outdoor Writer" wrote in message oups.com...
Press Release

INFOMERCIAL snipped

If you're planning a vacation that involves getting close to nature,
Paradise is the very definition of wilderness. Being neighborly is a
way of life for Paradisians, so if you've been disillusioned by
trampled parks and tourist destinations where visitors are made to feel
like dollar signs, don't you think it's time to experience Paradise?


The Yooper version of how Michigan Was created:
In da beginning dere was nuttin'.
Den on da first day God created da Upper Peninsula.
On da second day, He created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish and da ducks.
On da third day He said, let dere be Yoopers to roam da Upper Peninsula.
On da fourth day He created da udder world down below.
On da fifth day He said "Let dere be trolls to live in da world down below".
On da sixth day He created da bridge so da trolls would have a way to get to heaven.
God saw it, and it was good and on da seventh day He went huntin'.

And God's name is Len McDougall........ http://www.pastypower.com/