Sea kayaking is HARD!

Jeez! I'm hoping to enter a race (as a two person relay) in early Oct which has a difficult kayak section in it and I feel so out of my element it's beyone embarrasing.

I've been in a kayak twice in my life and have both time done about 8km. The first time (single)I zig zagged across the sea like a blind man and both times, I SUFFERED terribly. Yeah, yeah, I still use mostly arms (how much do you expect me to learn in two sessions) but the second time wasn't that bad and the third time should be better but, it's still DIFFICULT! Cycling (on/off road) is natural and trail running is easy (even though my endurance stinks) but kayaking is such new territory it's overwhelming.

I almost petrified thinking about kayaking against a current with 8ft waves coming at me.

Anyone else here kayaks? This link seemed to help but, any other suggestions would greatly help.

P.S. I can't swim and suffer from motion sickness. LOL. This is not going to be fun.
Thanks.
eebowler

Hello Eebowler,

Sounds like a fun race...

You need to start by learning the basics. Brent's forward stroke method is excellent. It allows you to obtain speed with minimal effort. I highly recommend using it.

However, if you can brace and maneuver your kayak, you will end up in the water. You may want to practice a wet entry to prepare for this.

Once you learn how to handle the kayak, waves are pretty easy. Things get hairy when you add wind and wind gusts to waves.

The next concern is currents. I would think that they would hold the race when currents are favorable, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

Finally, make sure you are dressed for the water temperatures. In my neighborhood the water is cold and I have to dress warm for the water. This means that I go through a lot of water while paddling.

Good luck.

Tom

Silverfox said:

However, if you can brace and maneuver your kayak, you will end up in the water. You may want to practice a wet entry to prepare for this.

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LOL. I assume you mean: 'if you can't brace....." Yeah, we did re-entry the first day and it wasn't fun at all. My paddle kept drifting away This was in calm waters. Some time soon, we'll be doing this in deep sea with rougher seas. Don't know if I can even paddle that far as yet.

SilverFox said:

Once you learn how to handle the kayak, waves are pretty easy. Things get hairy when you add wind and wind gusts to waves.

The next concern is currents. I would think that they would hold the race when currents are favorable, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

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This link: http://www.wetdawg.com/pages/touring/roughwater/roughwater_sk.php scared the **** out of me. On a good day, there WILL be waves, wind and currents through one section of the kayak. I don't think even in tandem I'll be ready for this.

BTW, Caribbean sea temperatures are warm compared to what most westerners are familiar with. I guess an average surface temp of 28 deg C.

I have sea kayaked for years. Did some nice trips in the Virgin Islands and in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica. I have a Feathercraft folding kayak and it is very stable even in big seas. I have been in 10 foot swells with no problems--all bets are off in breaking waves, though. oo:

It is not really hard to kayak. You just have to do it enough to get comfortable. I am prone to motion sickness (cars, airplanes, and sailboats), but have never had it in a kayak even when I'm on the water all day in rough seas. The motion while kayaking just doesn't seem to affect me. I don't think it will be a problem for you.

I would recommend that you learn to swim. That would make you much more comfortable in the water if the kayak goes over. The times I have been capsized by big waves don't upset me. I am very at ease in the water and simply self-rescue and climb back in the kayak.

I would recommend that you spend as much time as possible in a kayak prior to the race. Learn to brace and learn to get back in the kayak if you capsize. Practice paddling so you can paddle at least an hour or two with no breaks. It may be hard at first, but your body will quickly adapt to the strain. Learn to swim and be happy in the water.

And the number one thing-- HAVE FUN! Sea kayaking is a great way to see some beautiful and isolated places where few people can go. :thumbsup:

Hi eebowler,

I have been paddling for years on various surf skis which are a type of open deck kayak. I am self taught and don't doubt I have taught myself some really bad habits! :green: I appreciated your link on the stroke and I even printed it out.

There is nothing better than water time to get comfortable and competent on the craft. I don't believe kayaking is hard but like many activities in the ocean, you can waste precious energy trying to fight forces that you can't really hope to win against. You need to learn to move with these forces and "flow" with them. If you are in a strong rip current, you can spend your time and energy holding yourself stationary or with little progress into the current or you can move perpendicular to the current and get out of it.

The ability to stay afloat and move around in the water is not the same as being a strong and efficient swimmer. I assume that you will either be in warm and bouyant water or wearing a wetsuit which provides floatation if you are in cold water? In either case keep close to the boat!

I highly recommend you get a leash for your paddle that keeps it attached to the boat!! If you are in breaking waves, the leash might present itself as a hazard and keep a knife attached to your body. Otherwise, even if you do capsize or end up in the water, if you are holding on to the paddle, you are connected to the boat.

I met a guy out surfing the other day and when he told me what he did for a living, I realized I had heard of him. We are going to meet for dinner this weekend and I look forward to some of his stories!!

Familarity is the key to enjoyment and success out on the water in a kayak, IMHO. Walking is hard for all of us initially but it becomes natural to the point of being taken completely for granted.

The only thing I consider hard and certainly intimidating on a kayak is the eskimo roll required on closed deck boats!! :green: I found the concept so intimidating that even though an eskimo roll is not something you do on an open deck boat, I wanted to see if I could master the technique. I made a seat belt that would hold me strapped onto the deck of my first surfski and with the cheating aid of a small scuba bottle with regulator also strapped to the deck, I taught myself how to roll. With the small scuba bottle, I probably had 20 minutes of air time inverted on the surfski. This seemed like a great way to visit the kelp forests off Monterey. I could paddle around and if I saw something interesting, I could just roll upside down, stick the regulator in my mouth, a mask over my face and clear the mask of water and hang suspended. The down side was that other kayakers and anyone watching from the beach thought a serious accident was in progress when they would not see me come to the surface!! I was always by myself and on one roll over to watch a bunch of jelly fish swimming, I stayed inverted for about 5 minutes. When I rolled back up, I was surrounded by a half dozen kayakers who were all totally freaked out! Duh! One day getting the small scuba bottle filled at a dive shop the owner asked me what I was doing with the small tank and when I told him he said oh, so you're the guy!! I asked him what he was talking about. It seems that on one of my excursions a number of people on land had seen me flip over and then no activity on the boat or no sign of me surfacing prompted a panic and the Coast Guard was sent out for the rescue! I guess I rolled back up and paddled away prior to the coast guard arriving at the scene. Bummer! I gave up my new found "sport" after hearing this. I had great plans of using this technique on Maui during whale season but I realized that no matter what I did interms of flags or some type of writing on the bottom of the boat, an inverted kayak was just a bad picture from afar!

Sorry to digress with the story above but I wanted to point out that the ocean and a kayak is not inherently dangerous but the comfort and skill level of the kayaker makes all the difference. You can actually have some great fun and experiences!!

LouRay: Maybe my body was a bit run down from a recent (and lingering ) cold but on my second trip ,(the first one I took medication), I DID feel motion sickness and had to try my hardest to focus on the target and to keep paddling!

Swimming would be a good thing expecially if the kayak gets away from me :candle: but sadly, time is lacking and I have to focus more on cycling and running than actual swimming. I'm not afraid of the water but more afraid that I'll have to swim through it. lol.

McGizmo said:

Familarity is the key to enjoyment and success out on the water in a kayak, IMHO. Walking is hard for all of us initially but it becomes natural to the point of being taken completely for granted.

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Logically I KNOW this but i somehow don't remember suffering this much when I started cycling or running (jogging more like it.) I've never been a waterbaby so I guess there's 30 years of fear to overcome in order to feel comfortable. Oh yeah; practice, practice, practice.... I'm still freaked out though.

The fastest guys apparently can do the kayak section in 3 1/2 hrs. They use surf skies similar to what you pictured. I'm expecting to be in the water for close to 5 hrs! At least I'll have someone suffering along with me... This race's going to be a bleeping eye opener!

BTW Mc Gizmo, please try not to roll over into a school(?) of the wrong kind of jellyfish!

eebowler,
Well hats off to you regardless!! :thumbsup: In terms of the motion sickness, I am usually fine and I have done a lot of water activities an some pretty scarry off shore sail boat races. Everyone can be a victim of sea sickness; it just depends on the conditions. There are a number of drugs that can help but most have undesireable side effects and would be very illadvised for use in a race. One thing that many swear by is ginger root. Even gingerale and ginger snaps have been claimed to be effective. I found the ginger root too strong for my gut but you might want to give it a try prior to the race to see how well you digest it.

You probably know that keeping your eye on the horizon can help the body assimilate and "understand" the motion it is experiencing and reduce the upset.

Hello Eebowler,

Once you have the basic concepts down and have some experience using them, the next very important thing to do is make sure of your fit in the boat. You will have much more control if your knees and feet can lock you into the boat. You also end up with better leverage for bracing. In a race you are trying to minimize any lost motion. If you are solid with the boat each stroke will carry you further.

Tom