Warm office vs Cold kayak

It’s not what I think of as a great day for paddling here. It’s a raw 41° and there’s not enough wind to make the paddling interesting, just enough to scrape the warmth from your skin. That hasn’t stopped Team Sea Kayaker member Bob Burnett from taking students Craig Haelsen and Mark Morel out for a training session. Well dressed for the water, they didn’t hesitate to pose half-submerged with a bit of sculling. They’ve proven one point: There’s not bad weather,  just poor clothing. And now that I’m back at my desk, I’ve proven another point: Even a cold, gray day can be a great day if you’re out on the water.

Mark (left) and Bob headed for the water

Bob Burnett, Team Sea Kayaker

Warming up?

Hockey player saves a game and a kayaker

On New Year’s Day a capsized kayaker was saved by a member of the Winterhawks hockey team of Portland, Oregon.  Taylor Peters was finishing dinner with his Portland host family at their riverside home when they heard shouts coming from the opposite bank of the Willamette River. He and one of his hosts quickly got aboard the family’s two kayaks and paddled across the river. There they found one kayaker out of the water after the capsize of his double. His paddling partner was still in the river. Peters was able to locate the second man by looking for the shadow of his head interrupting the reflections of the city lights that streaked across the river. The swimmer cold but was able to hold on to Peters’ kayak and be towed to a dock where the Coast Guard took care of the two chilled paddlers.

Two days later he scored a game-winning goal in overtime.

Thanks to Moulton Avery for bringing this story to our attention and to NWCN.com for their report.

Freya Rounds Cape Horn!

Freya Hoffmeister has successfully made it around Cape Horn. If you’ve been reading Sea Kayaker for the past two decades, the articles about rounding the Cape put this achievement in perspective.  Howard Rice (SK Spring and Summer 1991) rounded the Cape only to face 25-knot headwinds and fading daylight. With few options for making a landing he headed into a small boulder-lined bay. A large wave broke over him and separated him from his boat. He washed ashore with his face battered, his kayak broken.  On Jon Turk’s approach to the Cape (SK, October 1998) was brought to a standstill by a gale. He was capsized twice in quick succession and had to swim ashore with his kayak. When he reached the beach, a wave threw his kayak over his head and dislocated his shoulder. Marcos Olivia Day sprained his back in a surf landing shortly before reaching the Cape. He and his two partners caught a break in the weather and rounded the Cape. Hours later the winds rose to 90 knots, shaking the stone lighthouse where they’d taken refuge.  Three Argentine kayakers—Pablo Basombrio, Martin Grondona and Emilio Caira— made it around the Cape in 1999 (SK, August 2004) and after landing were pinned down my 70-knot winds. The day they escaped from Isla Hornos, Emilio was so disabled by exhaustion, seasickness and dehydration that they signaled their escort boat for rescue. The seas were so rough that the rescue failed and the kayakers had to make it to shore on their own.

What makes Freya’s rounding of Cape Horn all the more remarkable is that it is not an expedition in itself; it is a small but significant part of a solo circumnavigation of a continent. She has 2400 miles behind her and is averaging nearly 30 miles per paddling day. Freya plans to finish the circumnavigation before her 50^th birthday, May 4, 2014. You can follow her blog at http://qajaqunderground.com/freyas-blog/

Freya is near Cape Horn

If you haven’t been following Freya Hoffmeister’s solo circumnavigation of South America, now is a good time to check in on her progress. She is at the southern tip of the continent making her way toward Cape Horn.  To say it’s a challenging point of land to get around is putting it mildly. There are strong persistent west winds and big open-ocean waves. In the age of sail, rounding Cape Horn was such a significant achievement that those who survived a passage were entitled to wear a gold hoop earring.

On her approach to Isla Hornos, Freya was forced by high winds to retreat—a first for her. A hard landing at the end of her paddling day broke her paddle, her rudder and fractured her hull. She’ll make repairs while she waits for a break in the wind.

Freya  does daily updates so You might want to keep tabs on her web site this week: http://qajaqunderground.com/freyas-blog

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