California Kayaker Magazine - Summer 2011 Issue
California Kayaker Magazine - Summer 2011 Issue
California Kayaker Magazine - Summer 2011 Issue
inside:
Eppie’s Tips
Baja Surf Condo
Paddle Ergonomics
Swimming for Kayakers
and more…
2 www.calkayakermag.com Summer 2011
Summer 2011
Issue 6
Publisher/Editor Contents
Peter Donohue
Assistant Editor
Sylvia Wu
Contributing Writers 9 10 18
Dan Crandall, Mary Ann Furda, Scotto
Galbreath, Steven Malone, Marna Pow-
ell, Eric Soares, and California Kayaker Features In Every Issue
Magazine
Break even! I know, you are reading this for the kayaking content, but the magazine is also
supposed to be a business. And this issue is the first where the magazine’s ad revenue is
covering the cost of printing, distributing, and paying for the articles and photos. Couldn’t have
done it without the advertisers who have shown their belief in the magazine.
The downside to more ads is less room for content, so some articles I hoped to run had to get
pushed to the next issue... but this gives you something to look forward to! I try to find a bal-
ance between the number of ads with total pages, and it won’t take too many more ads before
I will increase the magazine page count—which will then allow for more content for you to
read.
The added revenue has allowed me to increase the print quantity for this issue to over 11,000
copies. And we added some distribution locations, so we are now in over 200 outlets! And I
hope to continue to grow the magazine even more.
Happy Paddling!
Peter Donohue
Editor
editor@calkayakermag.com
Y
ou are kayaking down the rapids in the
upper Sacramento River south of Castle Swimming in a cool creek on a hot summer day
Crags and crash into a rock, capsize, and Photo by Eric Soares
fail to roll. The cold water makes you gasp enjoying the view just close to the surf zone. Suddenly,
for breath. Your boat gets away from you and heads a seven-foot wave forms up outside. One person yells
downstream. Your friends are a hundred yards or so and everyone turns seaward to get to safety before the
downriver, waiting for you. What do you do? wave breaks. Everyone makes it through but you. The
If you are a good swimmer, this is no big deal. While wave dumps on top of you. You know how to brace and
in the shallows, you turn on to your back, put your feet stay with the wave as it bounces you all over the place.
up, and look downstream for obstacles. You are ensur- Then it flips you over and you fail to roll up. Next thing
ing that your feet do not get trapped in rocks. Once you you know, your boat is sitting serenely on the beach a
reach a deep pool, you breast stroke over to the easiest hundred yards away while you bob around inside the surf
side of the river and scramble up the bank. You then walk zone. What do you do?
on shore down the river and join your friends, who have If you are a good swimmer, this is no big deal. You signal
retrieved your boat. A happy ending. to your friends that you are okay and, clutching your pad-
But here’s another scenario. You and your friends have dle, smoothly swim sidestroke to the shore and retrieve
kayaked from Princeton Harbor near Half Moon Bay, your boat. You wait for another small set and then paddle
have easily made it around Pillar Point in three-foot out and rejoin your friends. All’s well that ends well.
waves and are heading north at Ross’ Cove. You are all I’ve been canoeing and kayaking for 50 years. This does
not make me an expert, but I have learned valuable les-
sons over the years. One essential lesson I have learned
is that swimming skills are more important than kayaking
skills. Let’s see why.
Back in 1972, the movie Deliverance sparked the river
running craze. Every yahoo I knew crunched their canoes
in their local rivers. We all wore cotton, no lifejackets,
and many of us could not swim. A week after I capsized
and destroyed my canoe, one of my high school buddies
drowned in the cold water of the upper Sacramento River,
near where I wrecked my boat. He could swim in a pool,
but not in a raging river.
A dozen years later I taught myself how to kayak in the
surf in lovely Santa Barbara. When I moved to Half Moon
Bay, I played in all the local waters. I was amazed to
learn that many boaters were not proficient swimmers in
swells at sea or in surf. A few years ago, two hours after
I left the surf, a kayaker died at Pillar Point in three-foot
waves, with occasional seven footers coming in. Nobody
saw him die, so we don’t know for sure what happened.
The author practices swimming with his paddle. He
doesn’t just carry the paddle, but uses it to help him move
through the water.
Photo by John Lull
6 www.calkayakermag.com Summer 2011
But his lungs were filled with salt
water. I thought to myself, why did he
not just swim in a hundred yards? My
question will never be answered.
Over the decades, dozens of kayak-
ers have told me they don’t plan on
capsizing when they go kayaking
(who does?), which they use as an
excuse to not dress for immersion.
Another excuse is that they have
faith that their nominal or even non-
existent swimming skills are enough.
Then you read the kayaking accident
reports: time and time again the kay-
aking victims got cold and could not
swim, often with fatal results.
don’t trust the illusion that it’s “mild Put on the neoprene hood stuffed at Eric Soares is a member of the Tsunami
outside” so you don’t need to test the bottom of your gear bag. Your Rangers, an ocean adventure kayak
the waters. Just wade out and swim rubber boots fill up with water and team. Eric has written two kayaking
around for about three minutes or make it almost impossible to tread books and produced three kayaking
DVDs. To find out more, go to his website
so, no big deal. Does your paddling water? Swap the boots for those
www.tsunamirangers.com.
jacket fill up with water and impede extra thick divers’ booties. PFD hike
your mobility? Uh oh—better put up around your face? Readjust it or
on your dry suit. Does your dry suit try out the spare.
leak? Better make sure the zippers In the photo to the left, taken at Pillar
are fully closed. Your head is cold? Point in Half Moon Bay, California,
www.valleyseakayaks.com
O
nce upon a time, I accidentally came ergonomics |ərgə-nämiks|
home with a kayak. Three feet from shore
the angels sang, the Earth shook, and my plural noun [treated as sing. ]
life changed forever. Having no experi- the study of people’s efficiency in their working
ence or instruction, and not even knowing another environment.
kayaker had me clueless about everything. I fin-
ished my paddle excited and happy and so darned ergonomics. More Truth: Any paddle can be used ergo-
sore I could not lift my arms. Luckily it had a cockpit nomically for your body. This is about your body!
I could drag my paddle across for leverage because So what do the “experts” say about paddle length and
I seriously could not lift my arms. Fast forward to feather angle? Cascade Canoe and Kayak Center’s
today and my quest to teach ergonomics to anyone founder and former USA Canoe/Kayak National Develop-
who will listen. Avoiding injury, paddling efficiently ment Coach, Dan Henderson, conducted biomechanics
and ergonomically are subjects about which a very (physics applied to human movement) research while
thick book could be written. working on a Masters’ thesis. Henderson found that for
This article will address one piece of paddling ergonom- racing efficiency a feather angle of 55° to 75° (with 60°
ics—paddleshaft and feather angles using the “Euro” being the most common) and a very high shaft angle is
paddle. Now would be a good time to brush up on all that the way to go. Henderson used science, data, paddling
forward stroke technique stuff about rotating your torso expertise, and ergonomics on his research, and for racing
and using your lower body for leverage and strength. I would hang on every word he has to say.
The Myth: For years paddle manufacturers have “feath- Are you doing “Park & Play” whitewater? Freestyle
ered” the paddle blades at various angles supposedly to whitewater experts say to use an unfeathered paddle for
allow the paddler to cut through the wind and waves with bow stalls and such. Surf kayaking experts say that an
the blade in the air while the blade in the water does its extremely feathered paddle will act as a super bracing
job pulling the boat to the blade. Okay, what happens if tool plus allow the non-driving blade to cut through when
the wind is from the side? Do you never turn? you punch through waves to get to the outside.
The long sea kayak paddles are made for that low in your But for most paddlers, it depends on your personal posi-
lap “touring stroke” which is (supposedly) easier to main- tion of comfort. We all have different bodies with different
tain over distance for long periods of time, while the short histories and it also depends on what you want to do in
whitewater paddles are meant to be used with a high your kayak. I am not racing anyone and I began this sport
shaft angle “power stroke” which is (again supposedly) after experiencing injuries to most of the joints in my
more difficult to maintain over time and causes more body. For me to have a nice time paddling, my position
strain on the wrist, arm, and shoulders due to the bigger of comfort, even in a sea kayak, is a short, fat whitewater
bite it takes with each stroke. paddle with a 45° feather and a high-shaft angle. This
is the combination for my body (5’6” all legs, no torso
The Truth: Any paddle will hurt you, perhaps causing length) that does not hurt. Adding good forward stroke
permanent injury if you repeatedly use it without proper technique to the combination of feather angle, shaft
End of the power phase with left blade. Good shows the relaxed grip of the right hand pushing while rotating torso and
leveraging by pushing with left foot. Bad shows pulling with left hand and arms doing all the work.
angle and shaft length means I can Straight wrists: Your hands on the your arm straight out in front of you
paddle comfortably for long periods paddle should be a little farther apart and make a tight fist. Do you feel the
of time. than your shoulders. Look at your muscle tension in your wrist, in the
So what does all this actually mean? hands. Your wrists should not be tendon bundle above your elbow, up
Whether you are racing, day-tripping bent inward or outward. If your grip the back of your arm and into your
or in an expedition, you need to pay is too tight this will cock your wrists shoulder? Do you think maybe this
attention to your body mechanics and inward. A death grip will also give could be bad for you? Now relax
not get hurt! Here are some places you sore arms no matter what else your grip in the air. Feel better? If you
to start: you do! Try it without a paddle: put have a bent-shaft paddle then put all
T
here it is! I can see the footbridge that marks the beach as I jump out to navigate the ten yards up
the finish line! I’ve made it this far through to the actual finish line and the spectator and media
the rapids and currents and now, with ¼ mile lined finishers chute. I stumble as I hit the sand and
left to go I can hear friends and family yelling realize that my legs are not working! I’ve been driv-
at me from shore. Time to pick up the pace. At 200 ing the kayak so hard with my legs that the transi-
yards I can hear people screaming from the bridge tion to running erect is just not happening. After all
and the finish—time to pick it up a little more. “Don’t of this, will someone now run past me from behind?
screw up NOW” is repeating itself loudly in my head I will my legs to carry me the last few steps and
as I put the pedal to the metal for the last 100 yards. suddenly—it’s done. I made it all the way through
I’m at max rpm now, paddling with everything left in without screwing up and in the process, gave it all
the tank and nobody is going to pass me! I drive my that I had.
boat right at and through some of the hundreds of This scenario, or something like it, is repeated every
unselfish and friendly folks who volunteer their time July in the minds and bodies of over 2000 athletes. They
to help make this annual event happen. I feel a little are all a part of the popular Sacramento tradition that is
bad (but only a little) as they scurry out of my path Eppie’s Great Race! Known far and wide simply as “Ep-
once they realize I am not stopping in knee deep pie’s”, this event has inspired thousands of folks over the
water for them to take possession of my boat and years to get out and run, ride, and paddle their way to
paddle. I drive my boat at full speed right up onto some form of fitness so they could participate in this race.
You can see them every year as spring turns to sum-
About Eppie’s Great Race mer, the days get hotter and the Great Race draws ever
The Eppie’s Great Race is the “World’s Oldest Tria- closer. They are on the residential streets around Sac-
thlon” and the country’s largest kayaking event. It ramento and on the bike and running trails or the Ameri-
includes a 5.82 mile run, 12.5 mile bike and 6.35 mile
river kayaking elements. This event has categories for
male and female individuals in multiple age grouped
“Ironperson” categories as well as many different team
options, including open, family, corporate, adaptive,
tandem kayak, sit-on top kayak and many, many more.
Kids can join the fun with the US Bank Kids Duath-
lon, a 2-mile run and 5.75-mile cycle for kids 17 and
younger.
According to founder Eppie Johnson, last year’s race
had 2070 entries with over 1200 kayaks or canoes in
the race! This year’s race is on Saturday, July 23rd and
Eppie is expecting and hoping for over 2200 entries.
All proceeds from this event go to Sacramento County
Therapeutic Recreation Services to help those with
physical and mental disabilities.
Information can be found at
www.TheGreatRace.org
Have a photo that shows the beauty of kayaking or otherwise makes people think?
We’d love to see it. Send submissions to editor@calkayakermag.com.
Include the background story and what camera was used.
T
he surf was fierce that November morn- surf kayaking became a pleasure unto itself. Two-week
ing. Paddling into the surf, I had expected Mexican vacations while working led to retiring in Mexico.
moderate-force waves, but this wave hit Renting out our Oregon home led to wintering in Mexico.
hard. And, preparing only for the main wave, Kayaking was no longer sandwiched between work shifts,
I had ignored the other wave refracting off the cliff. but became a daily option. It may seem odd to bring a
Capsizing, my helmet slammed the sandy bottom. surf kayak up and down a high-rise condo elevator, but it
Humbling me more, hours later when showering, I works!
found my ear canal filled with sand. Oceanfront condos have advantages for surf kayakers,
It was much easier to treat my ear staying in an ocean- and not just for nursing sand-filled ears. It’s nice to have
front condo than if I were tenting. Over the next two days a gym for strength building. The biggest advantage is us-
I poured dishwashing liquid and vinegar into the ear, ing the swimming pool for perfecting rolls. Many condos
letting streams of water from the showerhead hit the ear have no rules against kayaks in swimming pools. Once a
canal, and laid down on the couch on my side. All while building’s units are sold and a homeowner’s association
listening to ocean waves. After frightening thoughts of is formed, it’s hard to institute new restrictive rules. Who
a ruptured eardrum, I saw a local physician. For $6 he would think of writing that rule anyway?
examined my ear and said the eardrum was fine. I can build skills essential for the ocean in the safety of
My wife and I are campers. We tent in national forests to the condo pool. After each surf session, I do daily home-
avoid the high-density campgrounds. Hotels and condo- work of 20 onside and 20 offside rolls. And if I found while
miniums had been alien worlds. Others stay in condos surfing that I need confidence for a second roll after a
but outdoor people like us stay in tents, we thought. failed first attempt, I would add practicing failing my first
Sunny winters were also foreign. Tenting and rainy winter roll, and making my second roll. If on my last combat roll I
months may only be tolerable sometimes, but that dis- had difficulty getting into the set-up position, in the pool I
comfort was good for the soul. Wasn’t it? roll over in unusual positions, and practice getting into the
set-up position underwater.
Over time, our interests drifted to new arenas. Sea
kayaking competency demands surf kayaking skills, then Beyond the rolls, I practice a version of the paddle-float
Greenland Paddles...
where will you take yours?
www.joeoblenis.com
A
s a retailer, I’ve seen a whole spectrum of than a way to get on the water and have some fun. Some
buyers. At one end was the guy who want- are lighter. Some are faster. Some track better. Some are
ed a green kayak. Within fifteen minutes of more comfortable. But unless you have a really specific
telling me his one and only parameter for use (like taking your dog) that requires a really specific
buying a boat, he drove out on his way to the Rus- feature (like an extra large cockpit), don’t stress it, almost
sian River with a new green kayak on his minivan. any rec boat is going to give you years of paddling fun.
At the other end was the couple who came back Things to think about: cost, weight, comfort, tracking and
to the store every four months mostly complaining safety.
that they hadn’t bought a boat for her the last time
they were in. Then we would pull all the boats off COST:
the racks so they both could sit in them again. Long If you use it, it doesn’t really matter what it costs, it’s a
after my lunch had cooled (buying a hot lunch is great deal. If you don’t use it, it doesn’t matter what it
my hugely successful technique to get people into costs, it’s a bad deal. That is to say, a thousand dollar
the store) they would ask for a fresh set of catalogs kayak that gets on the water once a month is a great in-
and go have lunch on the river watching the happy vestment while a two hundred dollar kayak that becomes
people paddle by in the water below. When they a permanent fixture in the garage is not.
missed their next four-month appointment I soon
forgot about them. Then one day after I had just WEIGHT:
picked up a nice hot slice of pizza, they wandered If you can’t put the kayak on top of your car, you’re prob-
back into the store, bragging about the great deal ably not going to go kayaking very often. You’re going
they got on Craigslist. The boat was short. The boat to pay more for less weight. There’s simply no two ways
was light. The boat was inexpensive. And unfortu- about it.
nately for her, the boat was built specifically for a
child of no more that a hundred or so pounds. There COMFORT:
was no point in me saying anything but congratula- Just like paying more for less weight, a more comfortable
tions. She’d find out soon enough without me. And seat is going to cost money also. Why? Because they
besides, I had cold pizza waiting. cost more to make. And unfortunately you can’t just put
Buying a recreational kayak is one the easiest purchases a better seat into a cheaper boat. Kayak manufacturers
you can make. Why? Because with few exceptions, you with über comfy seats usually build their kayaks around
can’t go wrong. A rec boat is by definition nothing more the seat. The seat is really the selling point of the boat.
TRACKING:
My favorite comment I hear about a kayak is that it
doesn’t turn very quickly. Congratulations. Unless you’re
a whitewater kayaker, you don’t want a boat that turns
quickly. It’s not like you’re out there dodging dolphins at
50mph. What you want is a boat that tracks easily in a
straight line. Rec boats have been notorious over the
years for not tracking very well, mostly because they’re
so short. But today’s recreational kayaks are consider-
ably better. They’re better thought out, with sharper entry
and exit lines on the hull. The materials are more rigid
so the boats don’t flex as much in the water. What this
means is simply you’ll work less and enjoy your time on
the water more.
SAFETY:
Here’s the deal: recreational kayaks are for general
recreation. They’re not meant for surfing Bolinas. They’re
not meant for making the Inside Passage to Alaska.
They’re designed for even the first time kayaker to sit flat
on the water comfortably on relatively pleasant days. Rec
boats are wide and stable. Most people don’t wear spray
skirts. A lot of people bring their dog. As a result, the vast
majority of these kayaks have the very bare minimum
of emergency flotation, which makes it difficult at best
to get the water out of a swamped boat. A flooded boat
won’t sink, but it also won’t float high enough to get back
in. Manufacturers build boats like this for three reasons:
keep the price low, keep the weight down, and also
because the chances are very small that you would ever
tip the boat over (if you paddle in the conditions the boat
was built for).
For added safety, at an added price, you can get a rec
boat with watertight bulkheads and hatches in the stern
or (better yet) both bow and stern. The additional flotation
provided would make getting back in to a flooded boat
from the water easier (with proper training of course).
Another option that adds more safety but has the rec
boat’s ease-of-use is the slightly wetter ride of a sit-on-
top kayak.v
MOUNTAIN SPORTS
KAYAKS • RAFTS • SUPS Kayak Center Retail Store
CANOES • ACCESSORIES Lake Del Valle 2455 Railroad Ave.
Regional Park Livermore, CA 94550
Classes•Tours•Sales•Rentals
WWW.CLAVEY.COM
H
ave you ever been out paddling and had a This review covers the Pentax Optio WG-1 and the Ol-
dolphin surface right in front of you? That ympus Tough TG-610. To help you decide which of these
would be something great to get a picture cameras you may prefer, we have posted on our blog
of. Probably you think water and cameras (calkayakermag.blogspot.com/2011/05/camera1.html) raw
don’t mix, so you didn’t bring one. Or if you did, you images and video files taken under a variety of conditions
have it safely locked away in a dry box or bag and that would challenge any camera. We set up the cameras
not accessible in time to get the shot. side-by-side with similar settings and tried to press the
shutter buttons at the same time. We then posted the
For a few years now there have been “waterproof” cam-
files exactly as they came out of the cameras, unedited,
eras. At first, they weren’t always waterproof enough for
so you can see exactly how they would look (and also
kayaking needs or they did not take good enough photos
read Exif information, if you know what that means and
to make us happy. But over the years, waterproof cam-
how to access it).
eras have improved to the point where they are viable for
use on (and off) the water. With that in mind, California OK, on to how the cameras did…
Kayaker contacted a few camera manufacturers to get Picture Quality: both were good, but the Olympus
“kayak ready” cameras to test and report the results back pictures were a little better. In addition to being visibly
to our readers. able to tell when you look closely at the photos, we had
Our focus of this review is cameras that you would use a hint that this would be the case when we saw that the
holding in your hand (we will be doing a review of “mount- Olympus file sizes were larger. The Pentax photos seem
able” cameras, like the HD GoPro and Oregon Scientific to generally have a little too much green in the picture,
ATC9K, in our next issue). We wanted cameras that were where the Olympus was on the edge of being washed out
reasonably priced, would fit in a PFD pocket (so always (overexposed, so too bright). Both the extra green and
accessible), and waterproof enough to withstand what the washing out are easily adjusted with software, if you
we may dish out in more aggressive kayaking situations find the need to do so.
(such as surf or whitewater). And we focused on the Kayak photography tip—California Kayaker Magazine is
features and attributes of these cameras that would be always looking for good photos, and we prefer that the
important to kayakers. photos be taken in the highest resolution possible. To do
Blow up of an action photo of Lucy O’Brien going over a pour-over off the Sonoma Coast taken with each camera
(Pentax on left, Olympus on right) at the same time. These pictures show both how the Olympus has better quality,
and the Pentax faster shutter speed (having caught Lucy earlier on the wave).
this, choose the highest megapixel Kayak photography tip—with point though both are rated at 720p (a high
option the camera allows and also and shoot cameras, you can reduce definition rating), the Pentax video
choose the finest detail (least com- the shutter lag by turning off the resolution was better. The Olympus
pression—which for both of these flash and pre-setting various settings benefited from being able to take
cameras was a choice between 1 (shutter speed, aperture, etc.), if you longer continuous videos, given its
star, 2 stars, and 3 stars, with 3 stars know what would work best for the max file size of 4 gigabytes (versus
being highest resolution). This is what conditions. Or try taking the picture in Pentax’s 2 gigabytes) and that its
we did for the photo tests. an Action/Sport mode setting, if your files were about 1/3 the size per
Shutter Lag: digital cameras are camera has one. minute.
known for having shutter lag, and Video: the Olympus has a very nice Shape and Form: We liked the larg-
this can make the difference between one touch video button to start/stop er LCD screen on the Olympus, but
whether you capture the picture of recording, greatly speeding up the saw good and bad about its automat-
the dolphin surfacing, or just the time it takes to change between tak- ic lens cover. The cover did protect
splash of its tail. Shutter lag is the ing still photos and videos. But even the lens from water drops when the
time it takes from when you press
the shutter button until the camera
figures out what settings too use
(focus, shutter speed, flash or not,
etc.) and then takes the picture. In
full auto mode (where the camera
figures everything out, which would
be the mode with the longest shut-
ter lag), the Pentax was significantly
faster (shutter lag of about a half
second versus almost a full second
for the Olympus). Other modes also
revealed the Pentax to be faster.
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