Blog - The Naked Kayaker

FAST Sea Kayak Seminar

8/28/2010

What a beautiful day for a paddle! Today I helped Rob teach the FAST (Fall All Staff Training for COE) sea kayak seminar. The students were all COE instructors for different sports -- mostly climbers -- so they were a really enthusiastic bunch! We met at East Shore Park and went over the basics (fitting in boats, wet exits, deep water re-entries, and basic paddle strokes) and then went for a short paddle punctuated with mini play-times. Most people were really excited to try t-rescues, and some people even worked on their roll. Dan got his roll on the second try! It was very exciting! Everyone was excited to hear about the tri-weekly pool sessions available to all COE instructors, so hopefully they'll be back for more.

I didn't take any pictures, but we could see Todd (COE director) snapping shots from the shore, so maybe we'll make it into next year's catalog! The strap on my camera snapped a few days ago so I'm trying to find ways to remedy that...

Yay kayaking!

Return to Ithaca

8/25/2010

I haven't been a very good blogger lately... or kayaker for that matter. That's what school and working at the kayak shop do to you. At least I can be optimistic that when I graduate and have a 9-5 job I'll have more time to paddle!

Now that I'm back in Ithaca, Ben and I made it out on Monday morning for a solid paddle around the south end of Cayuga. A little under 9 miles. The weather was very eerie, with the sun shining through dark clouds that continuously passed over our heads. The strange lighting made it feel like the world was about to end. But we paddled through the random drizzles anyways...

No pictures... I was lazy. No map because I'd just be reposting one of the previous maps. Sorry, lame post! This weekend I'll be helping Rob teach the COE Fall All Staff Training sea kayaking seminar, so that should be fun.

I found out today that my master's project will have to do with developing a method to calculate stream flow in the inlet channels to Cayuga lake. Right now they have various ways of estimating the flow based on flow measurements upstream, but they want a way to do it more accurately right in the inlet. My adviser even suggested that I might get to take a small boat (i.e. kayak) back and forth across the channel to measure the flow. I'll post more info when I find out more about it!

A Relaxing Evening on Irondequoit Bay

8/3/2010

On Friday nights, Morgan leads a group called the Easy Gliders (a chilled out version of the Rough Riders) on a paddle from the shop onto Irondequoit Creek or Irondequoit Bay. Arno and I decided to join them this Friday for a nice evening paddle to the bay bridge and back. We arrived at the shop a little early and decided to try out the shop's newest addition: the stand up paddleboard.

For the kayaking trip I tried a P&H low volume Cetus. It was the most comfortable of the three boats I tried over the weekend. It's about a foot longer than my Avocet. There is a handy little hatch in front of the cockpit for easy access to snacks, cameras, water, and sunscreen.

Back at the shop we relaxed by the creek with a bottle of wine (carbonated grape juice for Arno!), cheese, and crackers before heading back to Dave & Morgan's house for the night.

Click "Read More" to see swan photos and a map of the route...

Playing in Sprinklers on Canadaigua Lake

8/3/2010

Playing in a water fountain at the north end of the lake.

Jeff and I met up at Canandaigua Lake State Marine Park at 8am on Friday morning. I managed to leave my euro paddle in the back of Dave's car the night before, so I spent the morning practicing my greenland stroke. For this trip Shannon let me borrow her elegant Pilgrim Expedition. This boat was smaller in the hip area, but roomier for my knees. It fit really well!

We paddled out to some-point-I-forgot-the-name-of where we snacked on plums and dark chocolate granola bars (yum!) supplied by Jeff. A few ominous-looking clouds passed over us, but luckily it only rained for about 30 seconds. Click "Read More" for pictures and a map...

Rough Riders - Forward Stroke Clinic

8/2/2010

After a long drive from NH with an overnight pit stop in Ithaca, I made it to Rochester in time for Thursday night Rough Riders. Due to Big Purple's poor fuel economy when suspended in the air (the fuel economy on the water is infinite!), I was without my boat this weekend. This forced me to continue boat shopping by trying 3 new boats. For this paddle, Heather kindly lent me her beautiful low volume Romany. The deck is a lot lower on this boat than on my Avocet, which made my legs fall asleep. My knees need their space! The Romany also has a much flatter hull (bottom) than my boat.

Welcome!

This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.

In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology.

Happy Paddling!
Nena

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