Gig Harbor Kayak Club

Newsletter

January 1999

 

Paddle & Events Schedule

February 1999

2/12/99 Night paddle Thea Foss waterway in Tacoma. Trip Leader Phil Lynch philip.m.lynch@boeing.com We will leave the Gig Harbor Park and Ride at 7:00 PM and Launch from the small Thea Foss Park on Dock St. (just off Schuster Parkway, and just East of the grain loading silos) at 7:30 PM. Dress warm and bring a light of some kind to be legal.

2/21/99 Picnic at Blake island Trip leader Rob Richardson or Phil Lynch philip.m.lynch@boeing.com. Lets meet at the main camp ground on the island by the Marina at 1:00 PM. Some folks will launch from the Southworth ferry dock at noon others may want to leave from the Harbor or Olalla etc. Thom may leave from Tacoma who knows? Bring a picnic lunch and picnic toys. Any one wanting to shuttle back from Southworth needs to make the necessary arrangements needless to say.

March 1999

3/7/99 Herron Island over in Carr Inlet. Trip leaders Jenny Berlin bignewf2@aol.com and Nora Miller. This will be a very pretty area, well worth the short drive. To catch the tide we will leave the Gig Harbor park and ride at 7:30 AM and launch from the small private ferry terminal that services the island at 8:30 AM.

3/12/99 Night paddle in Gig Harbor. Trip Leader Mik Mikitik kayak@clearlight.com, what kind of name is that anyway? This will be our Standard Paddle. The tide will be starting to come in so we will probably head north but who knows. We shall " take a look around and see which way the wind blows".

April 1999

4/3/99 Duwamish Waterway and lunch at the Seattle Water front. Trip leader Eric Bjorn ebjorn@hotmail.com.    We know what kind of name that is don’t we. We will meet at the northbound truck scales / rest area by enchanted village in federal way at 10:AM. We will caravan up to the first Ave. bridge boat ramp and launch from there. The tide will be with us in both directions if we take a long enough lunch. Bring some money, plastic or sack lunch.

4/9/99 Fox island night paddle. Trip leader Liz and Marty Sebren. Lets meet at the boat launch at the fox island bridge at 7:30 PM. The tide will be just starting to come in so we will head east and try to keep up with Liz, (AKA speed queen).

4/17-18/99 The Great Blake Island Camp out.  The kickoff camping trip for the SUMMER. Trip leaders Phil Lynch and Jim Davis jim.davis@weyerhaeuser.com. The best bet is to meet at the Main Camp ground on Saturday afternoon. The tides are not good, a 13-foot change with the low of –1 at 12:40 PM Saturday afternoon. Southworth beach is a slippery slimy long walk at a -1 low tide. (Been there done that). I (Phil) might leave Friday night to, a) get an extra night on the island, and b) avoid the rush in the mush Saturday. Lets talk Jim into launching early Saturday, say at 9:00 AM from Southworth and coming around the west side of the island to avoid the rush of the flood tide at the south east point of the island. Yeah that’s the ticket!

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The Great Potluck

2/28/99

Our annual pot luck dinner 5:30 PM at The Gig Harbor Kayak Center (AKA Mik & Debbie’s joint). Jim Davis and Phil Lynch will do a "how to pack a kayak" demo. For those of you whom have camped with Phil or Jim you know they can stuff a boat with a lot of stuff. "Stuff is good" is their motto. So bring some eats and join the fun. It’s a good way to meet other paddling type of folks. Drinks, Plates, Silver, Provided.

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Welcome these new paddlers to the kayak club:

Sue Gorman from the Purdy area. Fred & Trudi & Mandy Strickland, Ken & Julia Lombardi, and Rick Buell & Denise Reardon all from Gig Harbor.

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Washington Water Trails Association
Annual Meeting

Please join us at Washington Water Trails Association's 1999 Annual Meeting. The fun will take place Friday March 19th to Sunday the 21st at the Best Western Wesley Inn off Hwy 16 in Gig Harbor. The list of events includes paddles (lead by your very own members of the Gig Harbor Kayak Club), a wine social with sea chanties & sing-alongs, dinner with live & silent auction, and the opportunity to win two round trip tickets to London on British Air! Shop at the auction (some items include a Pygmy Arctic Tern Kayak, a Patagonia wet suit, various gear, and tickets to the new Benaroya Symphony Hall). Meet WWTA sponsors such as NW Outdoor Center and Folding Kayak Adventures, and learn about their products. It's a great opportunity to meet new paddlers, have fun and support WWTA! Please call us at the office for a schedule of events 206-545-9161. Zoe

Gig Harbor Paddlers are "hosting" these paddles for the WWTA folk:

March 20th Sat. 10am to 1pm Gig Harbor Paddle (easy & fun).   Start at Gig Harbor Boat Launch.  Lead: Jim Davis

March 21st Sun. 9am to 2 pm.  Purdy Spit to Cutts Island.  Meet at the Best Western Wesley Inn on Kimball Drive in Gig Harbor at 9am.  Subject to wind and weather...trip plans could change.  Lead: Phil Lynch

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It was a dark and stormy night …

Well it was somewhere in the world but not at American lake on new years day. We kicked off the 1999 paddling season with perfect weather, sunny skies and no wind. 12 folks showed up for the first paddle of the year and we had a great time. Even Mik squeezed a few hours off from running the Kayak shop and joined us. There were lots of various water fouls around and only a few powerboats.

There were also some other things flying around. Namely a foam rubber, water soaked Frisbee and some kind of foam football with a tail. Mik does like his water toys and I have to agree with him on the fact it is good boat handling practice. We played a game of "stick the Frisbee on someone’s boat" which is a version of keep away. There was also an exhausting game of some sort of follow the leader that Mik brought back from Whales last summer. We were all pooped but we did cover some water during the game. All the while there was the splat of the football hitting next to someone’s boat and splashing them. At lunch break, Mik and Matt entertained us with some Eskimo rolls, even the ducks, that had joined us for lunch, seemed to enjoy the show.

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Gig Harbor Night Paddle

It was a calm and relatively bright night Friday, the 8th, when seven of us left the Gig Harbor boat launch. We were on the water about 7:45 and paddled south with an incoming tide making good time and almost reaching Pt Evans before our previously arranged turn-around-time. Two of our members decided to paddle on to the point while the rest of us turned around. Once at the boat ramp, a couple of us had to go, and the remainder stayed on the water and went disturbing the birds’ peace up to the mouth of the harbor where Crescent Creek empties. It was quite a pleasant evening all in all. We didn’t get off the water until about 10:30.

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Trip Report

Gig Harbor Lighted Boat Parade

December 12 1998

Paul & Jenny Berlin, Jim Davis, Mike O’Hare, Phil Lynch, and Phil’s grandson Jason Wade, all showed up for our first participation in the Gig Harbor lighted boat parade. Jim and Mike had a sail mast mounted on their Easy Rider boats with lights strung up to form a tree shape. Jim had made a small brightly colored sail, which he had lit up. Another 4 lighted kayaks from the Tacoma Mountaineers club joined us. With 10 decorated kayaks we made a good showing. The parade plan was to make three trips around the bay, but we departed after two laps. Jason, at age 15, was the only one that wanted to go another lap and keep up with the powerboats. Ah, to be young again.

The other 39 or so decorated powerboats went on and ended up doing a large loop outside the harbor.

The Gig Harbor Police boat guided the parade. Next was the lead boat, "Sea Cloud," complete with Santa and Mrs, and then us! The event coordinator was the skipper of the boat, "In The Cards." We had talked earlier and decided that for safety’s sake, it would be good to have us up front. Mike, Jim and I all had VHF radios and kept in constant contact with the other boats and the coordinator. It was great fun. Phil Lynch

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Trip report: Kayak caroling

It was in the mid twenties with a 20 knot gusting wind, and with safety being our number one concern we cancelled the event. It would have been a very unpleasant paddle and difficult to maneuver around the piers and boats.

Kayaking is supposed to be fun, and it didn't sound like it was going to be fun.

Phil Lynch

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Gig Harbor Parade
…Something to be thinking about

The Gig Harbor Parade is coming up June 5. We were a big hit last year, no one had ever seen Kayaks in a parade before. We got a lot of comments and are invited back this year. J

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The Long Distance Touring Stroke

by Ed Gillet (via AOW BBS)

Many athletic people, accustomed to using their legs for transportation, are nonplused when they are faced with their first 15-mile paddle. Why is it that some people can paddle strongly all day while others burn out in an hour or two? What are the day-long paddlers doing differently? Long-distance kayaking, like cycling, skiing, hiking and other endurance pursuits, requires conditioning, training, and above all proper paddling technique.

In this essay, I'd like to sketch the elements of an efficient kayaking stroke, so that anyone, regardless of size and strength, can paddle confidently over many miles.

Efficient paddling doesn't require a great deal of upper body strength.

Strong-armed people might appear to be strong paddlers at first but arm-only paddlers rarely go the distance. Some conditions do require power - surfing, sprinting, and paddling against a strong wind. But most of the time on a kayak trip you'll be trying to keep the boat moving forward at the cruising pace of 2.5 to 3.5 knots.

Beginning kayakers are all arms when they paddle. All they can think about is pulling the paddle through the water. Beginners seem to be clawing at the water. An accomplished paddler's stroke looks longer and smoother. Even when the beginner and pro paddle at the same stroke rate, the pro's kayak moves faster, while the pro seems to be hardly working.

What's going on here? The paddling pro is working with a different model.

Rather than thinking about pulling the paddle through the water, the pro thinks of the paddle as almost stationary and tries to pull the kayak past the paddle. The long kayak paddle is used as a lever to move the boat forward. Using leverage to pull the kayak past the paddle allows the experienced paddler to employ every major muscle group including the lower back, abdominal muscles, and thighs in moving the kayak forward. For a really powerful stroke, forget about paddling through a liquid. Think of the water as viscous mud.

If you pretend that you are levering yourself along through a sea of mud when you paddle, you'll have the elements of a power stroke.

Here are some points of concentration:

Try planting the paddle in the water as far forward as you can reach with a slight forward lean. Push forward with your upper arm at jaw height until the pushing arm is almost straight.

Use your lower arm as a fulcrum. This increases the leverage in your paddle stroke and prevents you from pulling too far back with your lower arm. Keep your feet on the kayak's foot-braces while you paddle. You need something to push against so you can pull the kayak along with you.

Near the end of your arm extension, a little torso twist combined with a forward thrust of the shoulder adds extra power to this stroke. End your stroke with your arm upper nearly straight and level with your shoulder. Your fist should be at chin level, and your thumb should be at the centre-line of the kayak deck.

Keep a relaxed grip on the paddle. When you grip the paddle too tightly you feel tense, your forearms tire and cramp and you promote tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. If your hand falls asleep during or after paddling, or your wrist and forearm are swollen and sore from paddling, you're probably gripping the paddle too tightly. If you are using a feathered paddle, and you think you are developing carpal tunnel problems, try adjusting your grip on the paddle shaft so that very little wrist movement is needed to feather the blade.

Always try to keep your wrist, forearm, and shoulder in a straight line for the pushing part of the stroke. Try stretching tight forearms by bending your wrist while pulling your fingertips towards your elbow.

Most kayaks have flexible backrests to prevent back injuries. The drawback to this kind of backrest is that they give little lower back support. Consequently, people who lean back in the seat are quickly uncomfortable. Leaning back or slouching while you paddle destroys the symmetry of your paddle stroke too. A slight forward lean while you plant the paddle gives you a longer stroke and lets you rest your back. Sitting up straight strengthens your abdominal muscles and allows for the torso-twist and shoulder-thrust that make up the efficient forward stroke. With practice, you can learn to "hang" horizontally on the stroke and you'll feel no lower back fatigue at All. If your back begins hurting, simply lean and stretch forward on the next stroke. Stretch your neck and drop your shoulders every few minutes. Vary your paddling technique slightly through the day, resting some muscles while you work others harder. Relax, breathe and look around.

With practice the paddle will disappear and you'll be surprised how quickly the time and the miles fly by. The more poised and relaxed you are in rough water, the more energy you can put into moving forward to your day's goal.

Paddling upwind can be hard work but you can still make good progress against the wind if you bear down and paddle effectively. When it's really windy and headway is difficult, wait for a lull in the wind and then paddle hard to the next spot where you can rest. Work your way upwind as close to the beach as possible. Take advantage of natural windbreaks like points or rocks or kelp beds for rest stops. Don't try to power up the faces of waves, you'll wear yourself out quickly working against gravity, and your kayak will pound - slowing you down. Do accelerate down the backsides of waves, helping gravity accelerate your kayak into the troughs between waves. Remember that boat speed is paramount. Don't let the kayak slow down, especially when you are paddling upwind. Keep the kayak flat - don't rock the boat - and control your stroke so that you don't pull too hard at the beginning or end of the stroke. Pulling too hard makes the kayak porpoise up and down and slows your progress. If you concentrate on your bot speed and work every little wave, the hours will fly by. Set mileage or distance goals, not time goals.

You'll know that you have attained true paddling enlightenment when the paddle seems to take on a life of its own. You only need to guide the paddle through the water to move forward. A balanced stroke lets you rest your arms and back while you paddle, and a leveraged stroke means you can paddle strongly with little fatigue. The act of paddling becomes automatic, unconscious and effortless. When you have truly mastered the long distance touring stroke, you will be able to relax and enjoy the rest of your kayak trip.

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Membership/Treasury Note:

New members and renewing members may now make their $20.00 annual membership checks out to "Gig Harbor Kayak Club." We have a savings account and a post office box. If your address label is highlighted in pink it means that your membership is due within the next quarter. Please mail your check for $20 to:

Gig Harbor Kayak Club

P.O. Box 2264

Gig Harbor, WA 98335

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Regular Club Happenings

Club meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm at Mik’s shop. All members are welcome.

Paddles are usually held locally the first Saturday or Sunday of the month.

Night paddle is Friday evening following the first Sunday of the month at 7:30pm.

Weekend paddle are normally on the third weekend we plan an overnight trip or a longer, out-of-the-local area paddle.

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Gig Harbor Kayak Club Officers

President: Jim Davis  jdavis@wdni.com

Event Coordinators: Phil Lynch philip.m.lynch@boeing.com &
Oskar Hinz Oskar.Hinz@PSS.Boeing.com

Treasurer: Paul Berlin  pberlin691@aol.com

Membership: Jenny Berlin bignewf2@aol.com