The CarYak Commute

Yes, I finally did it! Ok, so it wasn't a full 100% kayak commute (hence the 'car' part of caryak commuting) but it was still great to paddle across Lk. Washington, down past Mercer Island and up the Mercer Slough to the office. It finally took the I-90 closures to get me going but whatever works, man.

It was a tad breezy w/ a 15kt SW wind so my overall commute took about 10 minutes longer compared to the 'dry' run (heh) which i did the Fri before. All in all, it was great mainly because there were NO POWERBOATS to sweat over, unlike on that hot sunny Friday when the lake became as congested as I-5. I didn't have a GPS or anything to track but overall, it's 6.7 miles each way (13.4 rt). I'm certainly NOT at racing pace or anything (~3.8kt pace, whoopee uh-huh), but hopefully as i paddle commute more, i can shave some minutes off my commute time.


Logistics

• 7:45am-8:15am Greenlake to Madrona Park
• 8:30 Launch from Madrona Park beach (note: Lifeguards will chase ya away so don't launch while they're around. *ahem* Instead, head south past the pier towards Leschi as there's a pebble beach right past the pier.)
• 9:10 Crossed Lk WA and round bend to head down past Mercer Isl
• 9:35 Head into Slough Entrance
• 10:00 Land Ho
• 10:30 Get cleaned up

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• 7:05pm launch from the office
• 7:25 Exit the slough and Paddle north past Mercer Isl
• 7:50 Round the bend and head west, crossing Lk WA
• 8:30 Back at Madrona Park; unload; walk around to stretch legs
• 9:09 Drive home

Next time I hope to launch earlier so i can be at my desk by 945. Obviously, it's not exactly a time-saver commute but I think it'll be good way to incorporate some consistent medium-distance touring and burn some extra calories. Really, the only part I dislike so far is the whole loading/unloading business and the slough portion as it's rather gross this time of the year, so I end up having to rinse off the gunk. It sure forces me to adopt the low-angle paddling style--those aggressive high-angle strokes tend to leave me splattered with slough weeds and other slimy whatnots.

Yep, good times for sure.

Yakblogger is baaaack! Happy 1/4 2008!!!

Poster design for this year's Hobuck Hoedown! Can't wait...

Well, it's been way too many moons since I last updated the yakblog. The last few months of the year just plain sucked. Work 'issues', a busted surfboat--the repairs for which I spent too much moolah since the dude who 'promised' to pay decided to reneg, more work 'issues', too much eating and not enough paddling due to [dun dun dunnn] work 'issues'.

On the bright side, it was a dang wunnerful snow season, especially with my lovely new used snowboard. Still on the green/blue side but plenty of fun for this snow bunny.

Gotta shed the winter poundage and get back into paddling/surf/ww shape. Had some super awesome sessions out at Westport this spring (chest to head high and clean!) but the last outing left me with a strained upper wrist and a terrible face rash-prickly heat combo. I suspect the pricey new sunblock I just bought, so it's time for another product. Not washing my face properly and then slathering on some more the next day after a camping trip probably didn't help my poor clogged skin pores.

Wrist healing well but will have the doc look at it before venturing into rough waters. Gotta have it back in form for a surf/camping trip on the OR coast and the Hoedown.


More joys for 2008: Work is better now AND in March I became a US citizen! woohoo!

Poster design for this year's Wenatchee River Festival

South Fork Facial and Polo Pleasure

Had some back-to-back excitement this past weekend. Got my first taste of the S. Fork Snoqualmie which became quite the learning experience--a little more than I had expected for an after-work paddle. Flows were really low (179?) but Geoff was pretty sure it'd still be a fun run. Warmed up around the put-in and then made our way down.

But oops! I wasn't prepared for being bumped around in such shallow water and less than 30 feet down I hit a submerged rock and went down. Caught off-guard, I failed to brace and fell over. It wasn't deep enough to roll but my roll instincts were so strong I began the setup and paid the price for it. The current dragged my half-submerged body down and the right side of my face certainly got the brunt of it. Eventually I swam, lost my paddle, regained my paddle somehow and Goeff had to holler for me to get to shore. He got control of my loose boat and I stumbled over to retrieve it. Talk about wake-up calls! I definitely need more practice rescuing myself. All I could do was grin and chastise myself for being a clueless river dork. Thank goodness Geoff's a cool and patient fella.

Emptying out my boat, I could feel my lip swelling. I wasn't bleeding anywhere and my helmet certainly helped save my noggin, so I decided to continue. This time however I made sure to be prepared to be jostled around and got tips from Geoff on reading the river. What should have been a decent II float with some rapids became fairly technical for me at such low levels. Lots of maneuvering and with my large Jive, I had to really watch for those submerged rocks. At one point, I even got stuck. It happened so fast I couldn't lean into the rock and so my hull was trapped on the upstream side with the jets pounding my skirt, which forced me to adopt the 'C' lean position to the right so I wouldn't fall over. All my rocking back and forth was for naught so Geoff had to get out of his boat and help me out once again! What a dude--I so owe him a beer next time round. In hindsight I might have been able to wiggle out but having being tumbled about the river bed, I didn't want to risk getting into more trouble.

At the weir, we portaged it to the next pool and dropped down into the main current from there. By this time, I just focused on reading reading reading and not getting into any fixes. I did end up having to roll when I got distracted and went over but I was so happy that it was deep enough!

Finally at the end of the trip, I was glad for the learning experience but will wait till the levels rise again before going back, especially with my large Jive. Swollen right lip and cheek made me look like a boxer--but bruise-free thank goodness. (Yes--I confess to a streak of vanity.) That night, it was ice ice baby for me!

Polo felt quite tame by comparison. Warm water...mmmm. Didn't mind being pushed over many times since rolling didn't involve painful rocks and I got to score a fast break goal to end the session. Still I didn't exactly escape unscathed--one of the boats did spear me in the ribs so that area's now a little tender too.

Naturally, I'm uber sore on Sunday and still sound nasal-ly from getting my sinuses flushed on the river. Not that I'm complaining: Kayaking rocks! (pun intended, hohoho)

ps--the Salmon are back! Spent some time watching them at the Renton Library above the Cedar. Beautiful...

WOOT!

Photo by Nikki



Would ya know it? I took first in my division in the Baker Bay Kayak Race at Ilwaco last Saturday and was fastest female overall. My first race ever too! I didn't plan on it but while looking at camping options for me and my friends, I found out about it on a Long Beach tourist site. Heard about it before, but now that I've my own boat, why not? Should be fun and it'll give me a chance to check out a new place.

I didn't train too much but as I've been paddling regularly and vigorously, I'd hoped that would pull me through. Took a tour of the bay the day before and got to see loons and pelicans up close, not just flying but lounging on a sandy beach on one of the mini islands just off the coast guard station. Cape Disappointment has a nice launch there and having the sun come out that afternoon was a big time plus!

As usual, my name got messed up in the posted results. But it's really me, I swear! 0_o

Click here for pix from the camping trip. Also a link to Jackie's and Nikki's photos.

WOOT!

Back to blog

Cap'n Yak reporting back from an eventful summer of paddling pleasure. I had hoped to blog all my kayak-related activities but never got round to it. In brief, it's been great playing in the water.
I finally got to paddle to Cape Flattery from Hobuck (thanks to Brian for the invite and Scott for leading) and even cross over to go around Tattoosh Island. Apres-work Tuesdays were spent either playing kayak polo or messing around at the Powerhouse. Much surfing--and getting trashed in some wicked dumpers at La Push during the Surfing and Traditions kayaksurf heat. It's certainly made me appreciate Hobuck even more, speaking of which, I had some awesome sessions while demoing the new Riot Boogie and Mega Bullit-S which totally rocks btw. If I had a couple grand to spare, I'd certainly snag that Bullit. Dropped by Westport to surf w/ Dave and some other folks too. AND of course, my usual paddle workouts mixed in with a little jogging round the lake.



We just had our first round of fog, which means that summer's days are pretty much numbered and the days are noticeably shorter. Erg. But now that I've FINALLY subscribed to cable internet, I'll probably be glued to the other kind of surfing. Plus once I get a 360, it'll be couch time w/ my controller smacking up some Covenant mugs. Bioshock looks really awesome too. Got a chance to play the demo and our QA guy brought in his 360 to work, so I had fun zapping and whacking thugs in several early levels.

3:38am right now. Dunno why i can't sleep--i swear that's herbal tea in my cup. Better sign out.

Skagit Island Overnight

Brian and Marcia had invited me to join them on a South Sound Area Kayakers kayak camping trip to Skagit Island. Dropped by Goat Island to hike up to the abandoned bunkers. Perfect weather--sunny, calm. Currents were just little ripples. There was talk of playing in Deception Pass, but all I wanted to do was chill out at our Skagit Isl campsite. Napped, hiked with the group round the island and enjoyed the sunset and evening stars.

Next morning, woke to blustery conditions. I was more concerned by the possibility of lightning, so I packed quickly and left with two in our party. Brian and Marcia stayed behind a little more. Turned out that the storms didn't happen, but that's ok. Dropped by some farms for fresh produce and indulged in salmon candy and ice cream at Snow Goose.

Photos here.

Rolling and Putzing round the lake

I needed to troubleshoot my regular screw roll after depending on the extended paddle for too long so I thought I'd work on it in the Jive. Seeing as I wanted to pick up a new drybag for the weekend kayak camping trip, NWOC would be the place to hang out. These new bags are really neat now that they have the valve that gets the xtra air out. Plus the material's softer--no more bulky bags. Could only afford one.

Launched from their dock and paddled part of the lake to warm up and then worked on my roll. Once I got it going, I decided to paddle up and down the lake with roll intervals. Paddle for a minute, roll, continue paddling, roll...repeat. Kept the paddling at a relaxed pace for now. Headed to the south end of Lk Union where John and Eric were teaching a basic kayak class. Took a short break and enjoyed watching the students work on wet-exits and self-rescues.

Headed back to NWOC before their class ended so that I could time their return w/ mine (sea boats tend to be on average...uh...a little faster) and use their changing room. Continued the paddle and roll exercise. Tried a sprint and roll towards the end but the regular roll failed and had to revert to the extended again. That's my next goal for sure--all-out sprints and roll drills--so I can execute rolls even when fatigued. All in all, a great evening. Warm air and warm water on a sunny evening.