On Saturday July 29, I did my first 12 mile paddle with KIOCC. And later that afternoon I joined what remained of the Kent Island Practice Paddle (KIPP) group for another 7 miles in my surfski. I'll start this blog out by saying I feel kind of guilty about my day. It was blistery hot but compared to what my friends in the KIPP group went through it was a relatively easy paddle day.

Every year KIOCC has to move the outriggers from the Yacht club to an offsite location because of a hydrofoil boat show which takes over the Yacht club. One of the club members, Chip, has a house with water access about 12 miles from the Yacht club so we were to paddle as many outriggers as we could over to his house. We all met at Chip's house on Thompson Creek around 8:00 then we carpooled back to the Yacht club for a 9 am launch. Chip had pancakes, coffee and fresh fruit waiting for us. Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day so I ate as much as I could without getting sick. I knew we had a hard paddle ahead of us.

That also gave me time to check in by phone with my friend Susan who was on the KIPP paddle. We compared notes about where the outriggers would be paddling and where the KIPP group was headed. We decided the best course of action was for Anne, who was providing van support for the paddle, to meet me at the Yacht club for lunch. And then I would join the group for the final leg to Love Point.

So they (KIPP) started their day off outside in sweltering heat. I started my day off in an air-conditioned house dining on pancakes.

The outriggers were on the water around 9 am. I got seat 5 this time, my kayaking friend Neil was in seat 4, and John, who I think started the club, took seat 6. One of the things I love about paddling the 6 man outriggers is the social aspect of it. We kept a good pace but it wasn't so hard or fast that we couldn't carry on a conversation. And I love it when the whole crew shouts the transition commands. We had a fun but strenuous paddle. We stopped once at Stinky Island for a water break and some people took a short swim, but it was pretty much a straight 12 mile paddle.



We had two six man crews and I think one double and one single. The other six man crew was mostly composed of people who were training for a race so they were keeping a good pace. We kept pace with them and gave them a workout as they tried to catch us paddling up Thompson Creek. Someone on my crew made the comment that they thought they could pass us because our crew had a newbie on board (me). This made me paddle even harder. To our credit the race crew never caught up with us!



We beached the outriggers at Chip's and he brought out the watermelon. Then some of the paddlers drove back to the Yacht club for lunch and a meeting. Anne met me there and joined the group for lunch. Again ... my day was rather sublime compared to what the KIPP people were going through. While they were paddling in sweltering heat I was back at the Yacht club dining on crabcakes, coleslaw and diet Coke.

After lunch Anne and I went out to the beach and tried to contact the KIPP group by radio. Unfortunately we couldn't make contact. So Anne decided to drive to another part of the island which was closer to Parson's Island, where they were supposed to stop for lunch, and contact them by radio from there. I threw a beach towel on the grass under a tree and took a nap. It was a big crabcake!

Sometime later Anne phoned my cell to tell me she had made contact with the KIPP paddlers. One would be bailing but I was to meet the rest on Parson's Island. Parson's Island is about 4 miles from the Yacht club. So I started unloading my surfski and supplies for the paddle over. Just as I was putting the ski in the water my friend Nigel paddled up and Anne drove up in her van. Nigel is a BCU 5 star paddler who has just joined the outriggers. He also lives on Kent Island in a subdivision across from Parson's Island. Anne was nervous about me paddling out to Parson's alone so she was very relieved when Nigel offered to paddle out to the island with me.

I was really expecting to meet up with 7 paddlers. As it turns out two paddlers bailed on the beach across from Parson's. Susan and her friend Cliff paddled past us in a state of distress. Cliff was throwing up and looked horrible. Susan didn't look much better. Marshall who was leading the group seemed to be in a zone ... he didn't say much ... just paddled. Saki, of course, was his ever chipper self. He must have eaten his wheaties that morning. So my friend Nigel took off to help with the two paddlers who were stranded. And I met up with the remaining paddlers.

Two of our group bailed after Kent Narrows, which left Marshall, Saki and me for the paddle back to Love Point. I flipped the surfski once after Kent Narrows and realized I was more tired than I thought or maybe I ate too many crabcakes. I knew Saki wanted to try my surfski so I thought ... why not let him do it now. So we switched skis with about 3 miles to go. Saki's Futura C4 is a barge compared to the S1-A which is only 16 inches wide. It was quite amusing watching him wobbling back and forth on the ski. But to his credit he never flipped over. And it was pretty choppy out!

After we had gathered up all the paddlers and put the correct kayaks on the correct cars we headed out to a local seafood restaurant for dinner. By this time Susan and Cliff had recovered the correct color in their faces and everyone was in a better mood. And as Susan likes to say at the end of her posts ... it was a good day.

Sunday became a much needed rest day for me. I wanted to join the outriggers for the novice paddle and cookout but I was just too tired. Shannon came over around 2 to work on her kayak in the basement. We were both pretty much zoned out. She worked in the basement while I cleaned upstairs. Neil had sent me instructions on how to make a kayak stand out of PVC pipes so I went to Home Depot and got the materials for my next project. I hope to have pictures of the completed kayak stand later in the week.

-Susanita

On Saturday, July 22, about 26 people participated in Marshall's Eastern Neck Island Kayak Camping Trip. The paddling was great as always but what really stood out about this trip was the food. Here is but a sampling of the great food we enjoyed on this trip. To the left is a photo of Marshall's strawberry shortcake, Ralph's blueberries and Marshall's homemade whipped cream. We also had grilled salmon, grilled marinated shrimp, homemade herb bread, fruit salad, many different kinds of vegetable and pasta salads, sushi, brownies, cookies and wine. For those who came to the paddle but didn't stay for dinner, you missed out. It was a feast! And all the food was consumed before the thunderstorm hit the campground.



All day long we fought the odds with the wind and rain. As Shannon and I drove on to Eastern Neck Island the sky was dark and crackling with thunder. Along the way we ran into Ralph, who reported that a severe thunderstorm had been spotted on radar and was heading our way. I really didn't think the trip would go as planned but when we got to the put-in we found that most of the kayaks were loaded, ready to go and people were anxious to get on the water. Because of some of the crazy adventurous things I have done in previous lives (hiking around the rim of active volcanoes, backpacking through Central America, ... ) I figure I've already used up about six of my nine lives, so I carefully choose my adventures. Thunderstorms make me nervous. Shannon and I debated the odds. Shannon seemed anxious for some serious surf action so we decided to join the group and venture out on what looked like a potential thunderstorm paddle.


Because the wind had picked up and we had such a big group Marshall redirected the trip to paddle up Church Creek which was more sheltered from the winds and growing waves. Brian and Saki, who like to paddle fast anyway, led the group, scouting out the river and potential lunch spots and communicated with Marshall by radio. Leading such a large group with so many different skill levels is not a small task. Through the combined efforts of Marshall and others keeping tabs on the group with their VHF radios, the group stayed together and no one fell behind.

We stopped for a quick lunch along the shore of Church Creek but the wind was picking up and Marshall decided we should head back to the put-in at Bogles Warf. Some of the stronger paddlers assisted the slower paddlers who were having trouble with the wind by towing them back to the put-in. As we were paddling back, the sky would darken and the winds would tease us. But except for a few light sprinkles the rain that threatened never came.



When we got back to Bogles Warf, Shannon, who is still trying to decide on her next kayak, decided to test paddle and roll Peter's red Anas Acuta.



She did several rolls and I tried to capture them with the movie feature on my digital camera. To see Shannon rolling in action go to the Movies page on my website. I combined all the rolling clips into one. Also this is the last photo we have of Shannon's paddle. She left it at the put-in and when Marshall went back to look for it ... someone had already taken it. It was a nice paddle and hand-made. It will be missed it.

We got to the campground around 2. The sky continued to tease us with these big rolling black clouds. I set up my tent and headed for the shower. Marshall had pulled three picnic tables together for the group dinner and the food preparations began early. We were all afraid that the sky would break loose any minute. So we had an early dinner a little after 5. Ralph brought out his ever powerful Mojo wand which doubles as a marshmallow roaster. See photo to the right. But even with the power of Ralph's Mojo we were not able to keep the rain away.

It was around sunset when the sky really darkened. The combination of the sunset and the heavy storm clouds created an orangish pink glow on the horizon. A group of us headed for the deck which overlooks the bay on the west side.


The wind had really picked up and whitetops were forming on the water. We stayed for a while watching the lightening light up the sky. And then someone pointed to a band of showers approaching us from the distance. I decided to make a run back to the tent. About 10 minutes after I had settled into my tent the thunderstorm hit. I don't have a watch so I don't know how long it lasted but it definitely pushed my tent around for quite a while.



I had forgotten my sleeping pad so I was sleeping on an old blanket which was really no different from sleeping on bare ground. It was a fitful sleep. I had really strange dreams all night long. The next morning Shannon, who enjoys relating dreams almost as much as I do, recalled her dreams which were even stranger than mine. I won't reveal the intricacies of her mind, but I will say that in my dream someone was stealing my shoes.

The rain drizzled throughout the morning. I delayed getting up until I absolutely had to. Fortunately there are some early risers and someone had made a fresh pot of coffee. Ralph cooked up the turkey sausage he had brought for dinner but never cooked. And those with heartier appetites feasted on a sausage breakfast. I had another cup of coffee.



Some people took off early Sunday morning. But about 12 of us headed back to Bogles Warf for another paddle. This time we would make it all the way around Eastern Neck Island. The wind was calm and the sky was clearing. We took one break about half way around the island. Shannon went for a swim while the rest of us took a break on the beach. We got back to Bogles Warf sometime around 1. Shannon and I drove to the office and visitor center to see if anyone had turned in her paddle. No paddle. We can only hope that whoever took it recognizes it as a kayak paddle and doesn't mistake it for driftwood or worse ... firewood.



Thanks to everyone for a great trip. And especially thanks to Nancy for organizing the group dinner, all the kayak herders with VHF radios and to Marshall who continues to organize these great kayak adventures.

-Susanita

On Saturday, July 15th I drove to Seaford, DE to participate in the Nanticoke Riverfest Canoe and Kayak Race. This was to be my third race. I was excited about racing the surfski again and anxious to see what my pace would be on another river. I left the house around 7 am and got to the put-in a little after 9 am. I had planned to do some casual paddling on the river before the race. But what I hadn't planned on were allergies.

I have allergies. In fact, I'm allergic to so many things (cats, dust, mold, pollen, ... air) I just stopped keeping count and decided to take the allergy pills every day. Only sometimes I forget. And sometimes I forget several days in a row. And sometimes the days go by like weeks. So I hadn't taken the allergy pills for a long time.

I was about 30 miles outside of Seaford when the sneezing started. Acute allergic reactions always start so innocuously. By the time I got to the put-in my eyes were tearing, my face was swollen and my hands and feet had started to swell as well. I've been hospitalized 3 or 4 times for acute allergic reactions which progressed to anaphylactic shock so I was starting to get a little concerned. I took an antihistamine. And I waited.

I met some of the other racers and killed time by chatting about kayaking and racing. This guy who goes by the nickname "Ice" entertained me for about an hour with various stories. Occasionally I'd ask for his assessment of the swelling around the face and eyes. Things weren't getting any better. Another antihistamine.

By the time Susan and Kathy drove up I was starting to wheeze a little bit and I felt faint. Susan took one look at me and asked, "Do your hands always shake like that?" No. I took another antihistamine. I knew if the antihistamines didn't kick in I'd have to shoot myself up with adrenaline. I carry an Epi-pen which is a one shot dose of adrenaline. But it's a heavy dose and I didn't want to resort to extreme measures unless I had to.

Around noon we took the picture at the top of the post. My hands and feet had stopped swelling and everyone agreed that my eyes were recovering. I concluded that it wasn't my day to die, so I decided to race. I usually feel a normal rush of adrenaline when I'm competing and adrenaline is the drug of choice for allergies ... so I'm thinking that the race might actually be therapeutic. At least that was my rationalization.



The race started at 1 pm. There were maybe 20 kayaks total. A few surfskis, two outrigger canoes, a few plastic bathtubs. There was pretty much one of every type of boat. I didn't do any paddling before the race as planned so I was unsure of the current. It turns out the current was much stronger than I had expected. And there was a lot of gunk in the river. I set the GPS to beep at me if I fell below 4.5 mph. It beeped at me alot for the lap up the river. I wasn't sure if it was the current that was slowing me down or if there was seaweed wrapped around the rudder. So around mile two I decided to take the bold step and stop a casual rec boat kayaker coming down river and ask her to clean the rudder. She pulled off a big chunk of seaweed.

My pace picked up a bit but I was still struggling. Just as a group of us were nearing the turn around I decided to ask for one more swipe of the rudder. Kathy very graciously pulled off another chunk of seaweed.



The return lap down the river just flew by. It's always reassuring when you see nice big numbers in the MPH screen on the GPS. I finished the race at 1:22, which was not a good pace. Only two guys finished before me, but I was still disappointed. The first lap up the river really hurt me alot. I need to talk to some people about the rudder and seaweed issue. I have a kelp guard in front of the rudder, but obviously it wasn't keeping gunk from accumulating. Some racers keep two rudders and use a cut off rudder for racing. I'll have to ask around till I find a solution. And train harder. Wye Island is but two months away.

-Susanita

"Aloha means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. It is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. It's to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

It is this concept more than any other that distinguishes the Hawaiian culture. It also allows an outrigger canoe club and its members to grow and thrive."

Taken from the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club (KIOCC) guidebook.

This was my third paddle with the KIOCC. I initially joined their Sunday paddles as a way of cross-training for the surfski. I knew they were serious about racing so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a nice group of people who are serious athletes but who also like to have fun. They told me they like to win, but the club is more about team spirit than winning. It's a good group of people.



Sunday is novice day so there were a few other novices besides myself. Chip began the practice by demonstrating proper paddling technique and going over the commands. In an outrigger canoe each seat has a purpose. The person in seat 1 sets the pace while the person in seat 2 calls out the commands. The person in seat 6 (at the rear) steers the boat. Initially I was worried that my small size would be a drawback to participating, but Chip assured me that for the six person canoes it's all about rhythm.



Chip organized the boats and put me in seat two in the four person canoe. They also filled five spaces on the six person canoe. I hadn't been to practice for a few weeks so my canoe paddling skills were a little rusty. For one thing the paddle stroke for a wing paddle is entirely different from the paddle stroke for a canoe. The club likes to use nicknames (the only other one I remember is buttercup who set the pace in seat 1) and somehow I got the name surfski ... so surfski (me) was reprimanded more than once on the first leg of our paddle. That's ok. I needed to work out some bad strokes.



We took two breaks while we were out. At the first break, Chip went over paddling technique and he switched the boats around. I got switched to the six person canoe ... this time in seat three. I get the impression they like to keep the little people in the front. After the second break we headed back to the put-in and some people took out OC-1's ... one person outriggers. I went out for a paddle in the surfski but I didn't last very long. The wind had really kicked up and I was bracing every third to fifth stroke. I came back to shore and Neil encouraged me to go out again ... this time facing into the wind. I did. And I flipped. It took me three attempts to remount the surfski. And that was it for me for the day.

Aloha

Susanita

I asked Shannon to pause so I could get a picture of the Mirage in the Gorge, to which she replied, "What about me? Take a picture of me." Ok. So here's a picture of Shannon paddling my Purple Mirage in the Rocky Gorge.

On Saturday, July 8th, I picked up about eight paddlers for a social paddle in the Rocky Gorge. The plan was to meet at the Brown's Bridge put-in at 9:30, but by 8:00 I still hadn't heard from Shannon. So I called her and woke her up. She answered the phone with, "Hi Susan." I think she was expecting my call. After debating with her the pros and cons of sleep vs kayaking on a warm summer day I convinced her to get up, grab something to eat and make the short drive over to my house. Shannon is looking for a new boat to replace her wooden strip boat so I loaded up the Mirage so she could take it out for a test paddle.

We got to the put-in right on time and found most people already there. Several people who emailed that they were coming didn't show. And a few people who didn't email did show. We also picked up two new paddlers at the put-in, Sherman, who paddles a custom made strip boat that looks like it belongs in a museum, and Rowe, who just acquired a plastic recreational boat. It was obvious that he was fairly new to paddling so around mile 2.8 mile he decided to head back to the put-in. But before he left we had some nice conversations about paddling, different types of boats, and of course I told him about CPA.

Todd, who paddles with Pirates of Georgetown, entertained everyone by reciting poetry for most of the trip. I suggested he do it in another language (because I really don't like poetry) to which he effortlessly switched into Russian, then gave a synopsis in English. I didn't understand either the Russian or the English version. Scott and Dave were two other paddlers who joined that I had never met. Dave paddles with the Baltimore Pirates and Scott came down from Frederick and was paddling a new Chesapeake Lightcraft kayak he had recently finished. Sue and Rich, who are both Pier 7 Pirates, also paddled with us.



My friend Russell emailed right before I left the house that he had just got my invitation and couldn't make the Brown's Bridge put-in so he decided to put-in at Scott's Cove and meet us on the river. We ran into him a few miles outside of Scott's Cove. It would have been a perfect day to do a conditioning paddle in the surfski, but this was a social paddle so we kept a nice steady pace of about 4.3 mph. I hung back near the rear. I knew if I was in front without view of the group ... I would be tempted to paddle too fast. The surfski really doesn't like to go slow.

The debris which filled the Gorge last Tuesday was mostly gone. That was a trip I didn't blog about ... mostly because the paddle was so frustrating. I had gone out that day armed with my GPS and my IPOD and had set my Garmin Forerunner 301 on race mode. On race mode you pick a pace for your virtual training partner and race against it. I picked a virtual racing partner with a race pace of 5.8 mph. I also set up the GPS to beep at me when my pace fell below a lower threshold. The paddle from Brown's Bridge to Scott's Cove is about 6 miles. One loop of 12 miles would be about the distance of most kayak races. I thought I had planned out the perfect kayak workout. However, what I hadn't planned on was "gunk." The Gorge was filled that day with "gunk" ... leaves, twigs, and this mysterious bubbly, slimy stuff. Just when I would get up to a good speed the "gunk" would wrap itself around the rudder and drag me down to a crawl. I spent most of the day cleaning the "gunk" out of the rudder. And the final insult was after I finished the 12 mile paddle my GPS beeped to inform me that I had lost the race. Arrgh!

Today the water was perfect and most of the "gunk" was gone. And even though it would have been a perfect day to race ... I kept a nice leisurely pace. We got back to the put-in around 2. Shannon took out Todd's Necky for a paddle and Dave's Montauk. Both nice boats. But ... they're not purple!



Later I went to a party at Uber Bob's. Ran into Bob, Gina, and Rick ... from the Tangier Trip ... as well as some other paddlers. We relived some of the stories from our trip and of course ... I told the story again of how I won the PA State Kayak Championship which started this whole blogging thing! I don't know how much more mileage I can get out of that one. Believe it or not ... some people are starting to tire of that story! Gina offered to loan me a tiara from her days as float queen. Hmmm.

-Susanita

On Monday, July 3, I met Rick at the Brown's Bridge put-in for a leisurely paddle around Rocky Gorge Reservoir. Rick was working on different paddling strokes he needs to master for an upcoming BCU coach test in Vermont. I brought my surfski so I was only interested in paddling straight. While Rick was working on his BCU strokes I worked on my forward stroke. I did a few sprints but mostly I just paddled around. Rocky Gorge is a reservoir and thus has no real current and since power boats are not allowed, no wakes either.

We did take some time to explore a few of the inlets and coves. Saw some large turtles and lots of blue herons. And I took this shot of a mystery white ball which appears to be held closely by spider legs. I kept thinking that this would be a great place to practice paddling technique on the surfski, but it was just so ... quiet. Rocky Gorge is definitely for nature lovers. I didn't bring the IPOD because I wanted to be sociable, but if I came out alone on the surfski I would definitely bring some tunes.

-Susanita

On Saturday, July 1, five of us hiked the Chimney Rocks Loop in Michaux State Forest. Most of my photos didn't come out but I did like this photo of the sun coming through the trees and hitting the sign for the Appalachian Trail. We didn't see a lot of wildlife on this hike except for the lone bald eagle soaring overhead while we lunched at Chimney Rock. The forecast was for temps in the 90's but the streams were filled from the rains last week which sent a cool breeze through the air.

Afterwards we grilled burgers and relaxed by the lake at D.'s brother's house. It was nice to chill out with the group, sit by the outdoor fire, and tell stories. I got home a little too late and slept in a little too long to make it to my scheduled kayak outing but I hope to get out tomorrow.

And, yes, I did receive those incriminating photos of our friend in Key West. If I ever do something like that ... please don't take pictures!

-Susanita