Speed rolling - old school video

Yesterday I competed (just for fun ;-) in the "Open Alphense Eskimoteer Kampioenschappen". Winner is who does most rolls in 60 seconds. Any rolling technique is allowed. The use of a paddle is compulsory (no hand-rolls allowed). I finished at a (shared) third place with 18 rolls, Govert tricked me out with 1 extra roll, Aschwin was the overall-winner with 21 rolls - congratulations, a very good result!

Tricky in the "Open Alphense Eskimoteer-kampioenschappen" (and different from the contest in the video) is that the kayak is not secured by ropes. Which means that, after some rolls, you inevitably start moving around in the small swimming pool, and you get stuck the edges of the pool. Correcting strokes, repositioning strokes cost time and concentration at the expense of some rolls. When the kayak is held in position you can fully concentrate on the rolling, no correction strokes, and you can squeeze out some extra rolls.

Tips for speed rolling are: put in more brace than sweep, don't bother about a smooth technique: don't finish the rolls by full recovery to the back- (or front-)deck. But in the 60 seconds contest it's not only about technique and power. Condition also comes into play, the lack of oxygen - timing and a good breathing technique helps.
Enough aspects to train on for a better result next year!

The video is 25 years old - Dutch TV nostalgia with Jos Brink, Sonja Barend, Vanessa...

Ocean Paddler - Digital or Paper?

Last weekend I received my paper copy of Ocean Paddler (OP) magazine. That was almost 2 weeks after Richard Parkin sent a message that delivery of issue 24 had started; overseas delivery takes a bit longer than UK-delivery.
To make waiting bearable (?) Richard included 2 weblinks in his mail for the digital versions of the magazine. The first is an "online/page turning" version which can be viewed in the web-browser. The second version is in PDF-format (for printing, off-line viewing or to be transferred to an E-reader). I first logged in to have a look at the "online/page turning" version on the PC. Technically it worked fine, but I didn't like the reading experience. I quickly browsed through the magazine and decided to wait for the paper copy to read issue nr. 24. A little later I experimented with the e-reader on my Smartphone and I transferred the PDF-file to the phone. Beforehand I didn't have any serious expectations about reading OP on the tiny 3.2" screen of the phone, so I was amazed: I read most articles of issue 24 on the phone (in the train commuting from work to home), before the paper version arrived!

Today I got a new message from Richard. My subscription to OP came to an end with issue nr. 24. To resubscribe I had the choice between 2 offers: a fully Digital subscription or a paper/hard copy subscription. I decided to go for "fully digital" and to invest the money I saved in an e-reader. No longer "dead trees" for my OP!

A new boathouse for KV Wyrda

After 24 years the local kayakclub Wyrda had to leave the site in the center of the city Woerden. Wyrda was almost homeless, but found (just in the last minute) a temporary solution. The club now rents an old shed along one of the exit roads. It's not 100% perfect (it's pricey, not all the boats fit in, it's quit a walk to the water) but for the time being it's a good solution. The club now has at least some time to search for a permanent location.
Moving over went very fast - thanks to a lot of helping hands!

Sea kayak rescue - different methods of getting back into the kayak

Scoop rescue - optimized: swimmer facing the stern of his kayak, embracing the kayak with both arms.

Last week I gave a rescue-workshop with a focus on the different methods to get a swimmer back into his seakayak. The standard method which is usually practised in the teaching-programs of the NKB is the "conventional X-rescue with lie back re-entry between the kayaks". It's important to have a standard, but there are different (proven) methods to help someone back into his kayak. It's good for an advanced sea kayaker to get familiar with a wide range of methods: the more methods you're familiar with, the better you can adapt the rescue-method to the circumstances.

To prepare the participants for the workshop I searched the web for video's and/or illustrated articles of different re-entry methods. This proved not to be an easy search. There is an enormous number of (good) video's and articles on sea kayak rescues on the web, but I couldn't find a single resource that offers a systematic overview. (Tip for the members of the Dutch NKB: the article on Sea kayak rescues in Mededelingen 2008/2, by Axel Schoevers. Axel's article gives a good overview but is not illustrated and only available printed).

The result of my web-research for assisted rescues (excluding the eskimo-rescues - that's for another workshop ;-):

I - Kayaks parallel:
a. Swimmer between the kayaks
Conventional X-rescue with lie back re-entry (= the method practised in NKB courses)

b. Swimmer alongside of the kayaks (side entry)
Traditional side entry (pulling up chest and stomach on the kayak first, legs later)
Variation climbing over rescuer's kayak (entry from the side of the rescuers kayak instead of from the side of the swimmers kayak - offers a more stable platform)
Heel hook rescue (leg in first, to make use of the stronger leg and core muscles) - instructive animation on http://www.kayakpaddling.net/(check: safety basics - assisted re-entry).

c. Scoop rescues
Conventional (swimmer facing towards bow of the kayak)
Optimized (swimmer facing the stern of the kayak, embracing the back deck)


II. Kayaks perpendicular:
Ladder rescue

III. Panic rescues
Methods for righting a passive paddler in a capsized kayak:
Hand of god rescue
Bow roll rescue

My little summery is not comprehensive. It's what I stumbled across in my Google-search. I couldn't find video's for all the rescues (and I was not convinced by every video I found..). Suggestions for additions are welcome!
It would be an interesting project to make a series of rescue video's dedicated for the Dutch sea kayak community (but time...). Then we could take into account some typical Dutch habits. Like the fact that Dutch seakayakers rarely use a paddle leash. "What to do with the paddles" is often an issue with rescues trainings in the Netherlands. (The solution is simple: store the paddles under your arms, use them across the kayaks to stabilize the raft, etc.. ;-)

Update 9-2-2011:
- replaced the Youtube-video's of the Heel-hook, Ladder and Hand of God-rescue by weblinks to new (better) videos (from www.kajakk1.no).

Kajakfestival - the 3rd edition

From Friday the 20th till Sunday the 22th of May the Dutch kayak Association NKB organizes the third edition of the Kajakfestival. Just like the previous editions the festival takes place at the site of the Dutch Water Dreams: the artificial white water track in Zoetermeer (NL). During the festival the Dutch (open) Championships Slalom, Freestyle, Downriver racing and BoaterX are held. Alongside to the competitions the festival offers a lot of activities for recreational paddlers of all disciplines. Not only for the white water fraction: Tourers, kayak-polo-players, open canoeists, racers, sea-paddlers and all other kayak- and canoe-enthusiasts are also very welcome!
Last week I had an inspiring meeting with the organization-team of the Kajakfestival. The sea-kayak committee is working on some clinics for the festival. We can't offer salt water in Zoetermeer - but there are some attractive ideas about rolling clinics and rescue workshops. It's still "work in progress", check out http://www.kajakfestival.nl/ regularly - that's the place where (within some weeks) the information about programs, subscription, costs etc. is to be published.

Impression of the first edition: click here.

Video trailer of 2008, the teaser for 2011.

Do you want to help with organizing the sea-kayak-activities: contact me!

The next ice age

For a while it seemed as if winter was over, but low temperatures are back in Woerden. This morning Jaap and I got stuck in the ice. Paddling opportunities around Woerden are limited again: only the canals in the direction of Oudewater (= Jaap Bijzer Wetering, Lange Linschoten) are still icefree, the passage to the Oude Rijn is already blocked by a solid stretch of ice. One more cold night and it's completely over with paddling around Woerden.

The interglacial period lasted about 2 weeks. I managed to paddle about 70 kms in this time. The "kayak-feeling" just started to return. Fortunately the next ice age is said to be a short one. Anyway: next week I won't be paddling with the friends of kayakclub KV Wyrda - speed skating on the ice rink and mountain-biking in the park isn't too bad either ;-)

The snow on the ice killed the fish...

Back in the kayak on the ditches and canals around Woerden, after a break of 8 weeks due to the ice, I was surprised by the number of dead fish floating on the surface of the water.

Obviously this year's long (and early) ice-period has had big impact on the underwater-life.
Usually a layer of ice is no problem for the fish. In the cold water under the ice there is often even more oxygen dissolved than in warm conditions, and fish need less oxygen at a low body temperature. But it's a different story with snow on the ice. The layer of snow on the ice blocks the light. Without sunlight algae and underwater-plants can't produce oxygen, which slowly reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. After a long period of frost and snow-covered ice fish kills occur due to oxygen depletion/hypoxia.

The dead fish are mostly large Carp or Bream - it's a sad sight, but in fact, from an ecological point of view, the selective fish kill (mainly the weak and large ones) isn't too bad: it creates more room for the authentic species.

btw: The fish kill in Woerden is not as dramatic as in the video-clip with the dead fish in Leeuwarden. I assume the waters shown in the video are more shallow than the ditches and canals over here.

Label your gear!

I am a sloppy guy. The last 2 pool-sessions in Alphen reminded me of this annoying characteristic again. I missed a sprayskirt at the end of the each session. After a little quest I could retrieve them - they got mixed up between the sprayskirts of the club. My fault: I should keep my gear better together. No drama, sometimes I just get a bit tired of myself. This weekend (just before the next pool session) I finally labelled the sprayskirts with my name - in order to make at least the puzzle afterwards(which one is mine? They are all black...) less complicated. Of course I should have done this much earlier, so simple and it makes live a lot easier, but when you're sloppy like me: you often neglect these kind of simple things!

Besides sloppiness, there are more profound (Safety) reasons to label your kayak gear. It can avoid search and rescue efforts when there isn't actually a person missing. Contact information can also help rescue teams to narrow the search area in the case of an incident. Sherri Mertz published an interesting article about the recent "Label your gear" campaign of the US Coastguard. Click here for Sherri's article.

Floodwater paddling

Video by de Stentor-TV: Encouraged by a large audience a group kayakers attempts to cross a flooded road in the city of Deventer.

For some people the high water in the Dutch delta is annoying, but overall the high water isn’t causing big problems this year. Today's main news about the floodwater along the river de IJssel is that it was the number one touristic attraction of the weekend. Thousands came to Deventer to watch the high water. Local paddlers discovered new (temporarily) playspots.

Swimming: "de schoolslag"

Video by Lieke.

Falmouth kayak rescue

Details about this seakayaking incident last weekend in Cornwall on Wenleys blog.

Flexibility

In a kayak with an ocean-cockpit some flexibility is welcome to adjust the footrests...

The 2004 Valley Pintail Seakayak is outfitted with the aluminium Yakima Footrests: solid and durable, but inconvenient to adjust. More recent footrest systems are often more user-friendly.

Today we could finally paddle again on the waterways around Woerden. The "ice-break" lasted 8 weeks this year - a record! We (= Jaap, Alex, Hans) paddled 24 km with a strong Westerly wind on the Grecht (together with Jaap and Alex): a good start to pick up paddling again!

The indispensable eye of the lighthouse keeper...

In the last week of 2010 the Dutch Secretary of Infrastructure mr. Atsma presented a X-mas-surprise for the seagoing community: the decision that the lighthouses of Terschelling, Schiermonnikoog stay "manned" in the new year.
This sounds like a drastic change of policy. In recent years the consequent policy of the Dutch Infrastructure Department has always been a hard line of "economization and modernization" (read the posts on Kajakwoerden about Ouddorp 2007, Terschelling 2008). In that policy lighthouses are unmanned. Camera's, radar-devices, computers and a single (on land) Central Marine Traffic Coordination Centre take over the tasks of the lighthouse keeper. The Government had already announced that the last keeper would leave the lighthouse on 1 January, 2011 (= last week).

So in the last minute the Dutch government has changed the plans. Well, not completely: the modernization goes on, the Central Marine Traffic Coordination Centre will take over a lot of the tasks of the lighthouse keepers, but these 3 last lighthouses will at least stay manned during daylight. The argument of the Secretary of Infrastructure is that the human eye is indispensable. Quote from the video: "the human eye (NL: "het menselijk oog") sees it when a swimmer has a problem, when a boat strands on a sand, when a surfer threatens to get into trouble. The human eye has a wider perspective than a camera panning form left to right'. Wise words and you can add that there is no replacement for the local knowledge of our Lighthouse keepers!
The new decision of mr. Atsma was probably also (and perhaps more) motivated by the fact that the Central Marine Traffic Coordination Centre in the Wadden-region simply is not ready yet...
But let's not grumble to much: for the time being, for the recreational traffic including the seakayaker, this is good news!

On the other side of the Northsea, the British experience the same threats. The UK-Government recently presented "proposals for a modernised, fully-networked national Coastguard that can more flexibly manage the greatly varying demands of its workload. These proposals will enable Coastguard Officers to better use their skills and training with a salary that reflects this. We also want to change and improve the leadership, management and support we give our volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers, and make better use of their local knowledge and training." Nice words, you can't be against such good intentions? But behind these lines hide similar plans to drastically reduce the number of coastguard stations, leaving only a few central stations left for covering huge areas. In several (Scottish) regions campaigns have been launched to try to persuade the UK Government to scrap these plans. Read more about the Scottish situation on the blog of Simon Willis.

The seakayak edition of the "Tocht der Tochten"

Today it's exactly 14 years ago since the last edition of the "Tocht der Tochten: de Elfstedentocht" took place. Winners in 1997 were Henk Angenent (in the male category) and Klasina Sienstra(women).
The Elfstedentocht is an epic speed skating competition and leisure skating tour, almost 200 km in length on frozen canals, rivers and lakes between 11 historic Frisian cities. It's held irregularly, in the 100 years of its existence 15 times, because not every Dutch winter permits skating on natural ice. Every year, as soon as a few frosty days pass, the media start speculating about the chances for an Elfstedentocht. With a predicted temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (plus) for the next few days the Elfstedenkoorts (eleven-city tour fever) is now over for a while...

A bit less well known, but no less epic, is the seakayak edition of the Elfstedentocht. This is a non-stop tour with seakayaks along the route of the classic Elfstedentocht. The seakayak event is not presented as a competition, there is only a time limit of 36 hours to finish. But last year some participants tried to push the limits and paddled the 200 km within 24 hours. That sounds like racing...
Big advantage of the seakayak-edition is that it's organized every year. In 2011, for the 9th time, it's held on the first weekend of September.

More information on the Elfstedentocht Non-Stop per zeekajak on the website of KV Onder de Wadden (still 2010 info, is yet to be updated).
Elfstedentocht Non-Stop per zeekajak is also on Facebook

New Years Surf with Vloed Kanosport

This was a very promising start of the new year! This afternoon I joined the New Years' party of Vloed Kanosport and enjoyed a refreshing dip in the North sea. Blue sky, sun shining and good surf, the conditions were fantastic. It was my first time in the kayak after a break of several weeks (forced by snow and ice) and it felt so good to be out on the water again!

I paddled the Tahe Greenland kayak in combination with a Greenland stick. Piet and I were the only seakayakers, the other paddlers used short playboats. I found the surf quit challenging for the seakayak, and was careful not to spear a playboater with the sharp bow of my Tahe ;-)
Anyway, I admit that I am more careful with a seakayak in surf since my little surf-accident last year: I don't want to loose another boat! Yet surfing was good fun. And I sure plan to do this more often to get more practice in handling the Greenland stick in surf. Bracing and rolling in surf is no issue with the stick, but I find that in situations were quick reaction, accelerating or turning is demanded, I am not yet as confident with the stick as with the euro-blade-paddle. (No wonder after 20+ years of practice with the Euro-blade and just one year with the stick..)

Happy New Year!!

2010 - a paddling year in pictures

For the last post of the year I picked 12 pictures as a little paddling-year-in-review exercise. Not a selection of the "best/most beautiful" photos, nor a complete report, but just a random selection of typical moments for "my 2010". I often feel that I paddle not enough - and this year that feeling was at times particularly strong, because I had to cancel several kayaking-activities (due to work, weather or lack of participants). For the first time since may years I didn't participate in the NKB-Vlieland-week ;-(. Nevertheless, looking back on 2010: it was a good paddling year, I enjoyed the trips I was able to make with my paddling friends. Thank you all for the great time! Up to 2011!

A reflection on advances, innovation in the outdoor and kayak -industry...

Blowing the dust off the (more than 20 year) old set of Cross-country skis some days ago, I remembered a blogpost about "innovation" I started to write 2 years ago. For some reason, I never finished and published that post. The intention was to write a few words about the internal struggle in dealing with the fascination for "new" ideas - especially when it is "gear/equipment-related". On the one hand I am a gadget freak, early adaptor: interested in new technology - always one of the first to play around with new stuff (the SNS binding on XC-skis, the self-inflating Therm-a-rest, suspension and click-pedals on the MTB, the first series Garmin GPS, the first series PDA/pocket-computers (remember the Psion in the early 90's?), the Waterproof Digicam - this list is endless...). On the other hand I can also be pretty conservative. I appreciate good quality stuff that functions for a long period. Once happy with some good piece of equipment I usually stick to it. I don't easily swap to something new. This can grow pretty extreme: like the old ice skates - which I bought at the age of 16 and I have used 30 years...

In the perfect winter 2 years ago, I rented a pair of modern Nordic skates and discovered that, for an occasional ice skater like me, the Nordics are a far more better choice. The comfort and handling of the Nordic Skates were a revelation. OK: on a closed track, on perfect ice and a short distance I am able to squeeze out a few kmh extra top-speed on the classic racing skates. But on everything longer than 400 meter, on natural ice I am faster with the Nordic Skates. And finally I skate with painfree feet and ankles! Totally convinced by this experience and with sweet memories of all the tours I made with my old skates, I swapped to the Nordic skates. I regretted afterwards I didn't make this decision years earlier...

In the blogpost of 2 years ago I made a parallel with kayaking and compared the skate-story with a similar experience in kayaking: I discovered that I paddled faster and more confident and comfortable in a modern touring-surfski than in my old competition-racing K1.

A quote from the draft of the blogpost 2 years ago:
The run with the K1-racer reminded me of my skating experiences earlier this year. Just like my old speed-skates the kayak is a twenty years old design made for competition racing. Made for speed, not for (any) comfort. Trained athletes don't bother and just go for maximum performance on the racetrack. Recreational/incidental sporters in suboptimal conditions put a lot of energy in stability and hardly manage in the beginning to perform a proper technique in this kind of specialized gear.

Comparing designs with different goals is not fair. The point to make is: look around, be open for new developments and don't mind crossing borders.

And now to the sea kayakers: that's a quit conservative community in the Netherlands. To some extend I appreciate that: it's good to see that some classic design still perform great, that you don't have to paddle with the latest stuff to have fun, happy not to follow every hype.
But what I regret to see to often:

• beginners struggling in old second-hand Baidarka's and Nordkapps - great kayaks, but it's so much more fun to get into the sports with an easier handling and more forgiving kayak;
• the (older) paddler squeezing himself in a small cockpit - the modern keyhole cockpit makes life much easier;
• smaller persons with dated paddles: too long, too big (blades), too heavy - even in Dutch shops also paddles shorter than 215 cm are available and a solid paddle doesn't need to weight a kilo nowadays...
• experienced paddlers with old bleached-out PFD's - it's not only that modern PFD's are far more ergonomic and offer more freedom in movement, but it's also a safety issue: ever wondered what 10 years exposure to UV and salt-water does to foam and nylon?

Btw: I still enjoy experimenting in the old K1 and I have good fun these days with the vintage XC-skis (though I do regret that the shoes of my Nordic skates don't match with the bindings on my skis... ;-)

Kayakclub homeless?

Hard times for the local kayakclub Wyrda: the town of Woerden has ordered the club to leave the boathouse before the end of the year (this year - 2010!). A quit dramatic development...

More details on the Dutch version of this blog or on the website of KV Wyrda.

XC skiing along the kayak route

"Rondje Kamerik" is one of my favourite kayak routes around Woerden: 10 km with 2 portages, just right for a nice evening paddle or a quick workout in the K1 . Today Linda and I did this route on XC-skis. It was good fun. Btw: paddling is faster!