Peter’s Paddling Blog

Two weeks ago I picked up a second hand Katabatic Master. Actually is was the very same kayak I paddled earlier this year.

Now what changed my mind? The color! No not really though I do like my kayaks to be red and white. No I got the kayak for a good price, which means I dare to rearrange/rebuild the deck around the cockpit. Watch out for the Katabatic rolling machine! Considering I’ve got zero handyman skills, this promise is bordering on hubris.

I did consistently forward/forward style roll the Katabatic last week but I want a ultra low rear cockpit coaming(1.5 cm freeboard) to allow a sculling roll.

The Katabatic’s Myspace Angle

Not quite as cool from this angle….

Katabatic Master

Not your average K1 rudder.

This weekend I participated in the annual Tour de Gudenå race. The largest kayak&canoe race in Northern Europe with around 900 participants.

As usual my training mate Morten came along and his father acted as our helper. I was in my Supersonic while Morten took his Vanquish.

When we arrived at the launch area in Skanderborg we observed that the wind really was as bad as predicted with a steady force 6 from west. Still everybody acted normal and as no provisions was made to alter the course we got ready for the race as usual.

Eirik Veraas Larsen, the 1000m winner from Athens Olympic Games was sitting next to me as the race was started. He and the leading pack were way ahead in a matter of seconds.

The next 10 km Morten and I took turns leading. The kid was clearly stronger than me on the flat parts while I left him behind when we had waves. I guess the Supersonics slightly better stability compared to the Vanquish helped me.

After one hour we arrived at the 9 km long and 2 km wide Lake Mossø. Immediately upon entering the lake we were slightly sheltered from a spit of land to our left and the conditions were still manageable. Still many decided to stop their race there and then.

Having reached the first spit of land I aimed for the next point 2 km into the wind. This is where the carnage started. Paddling and bracing my way I found a capsized paddler around halfway to the point. There were no rescue boats in sight and I got him back into his kayak and he pumped it dry. However immediately upon letting go of the fellow he capsized again. This time I judged we were now so close to the shore that he could swim and I started the chase for Morten.

Close to the next point I reached Morten and alongside we paddled into the surf zone outside the point. We both capsized within seconds and waded ashore to empty the kayaks. Here we found a group of stranded paddlers from various classes(K1/K2/Trainers).

We didn’t want to quit so carrying the kayaks we ran through the forest to the lee side of the point. Morten helped me into the kayak while a Dutch paddler helped Morten. Morten capsized a couple of times and I figured he would quit so I continued alone.

This time I successfully made it through the surf outside the point and pointing my kayak straight into the wind I continued for half an hour. Tracking the coast was impossible as the waves then would hit me slightly at an angle. The weather was clearly deteriorating with the wind at times approaching a force 7.

A couple of times I considered turning back but rejected the idea as that would put me with the side to the waves. Then after half an hour I came upon a capsized K1-trainer and a very cold looking paddler. I offered to put him back in his kayak but he rejected as he had also lost his paddle.

Again there were no rescue boats in sight so something had to be done. I got the young kayaker into his boat to reduce his loss of heat. He didn’t know how long he had been in the water and was bordering hypothermia. For the next 30 minutes we were clinging to each other’s kayaks as we let the wind take us back to the shore. From time to time the wind carried along cries for help from capsized kayakers.

Back in the forest we met a large group of paddlers. Many had tales to tell of capsizing and prolonged stays in the water. Later I was told of a number of very close calls where people only survived due to pure luck.

Soon it was rumored that the race directors had decided to cancel the race and we all would be allowed to start Sunday morning for the 70 km stretch. At that time I was furious due to the incompetence demonstrated by the racing committee and I considered dropping out all together.

I’m still furious and I am embarrassed for the many foreigners coming to Denmark to participate in this race. I’d like to stress that the racing committee behind TdG does not represent Danish kayak culture’s view on safety.

As for the race Sunday I’ll report on that in a couple of days when my blood has stopped boiling.

Update: A heated discussion is taking place at the discussion forum[Danish] at the Tour de Gudenaa homepage. Boy – the viking rhetorics employed by some of the old giants really leaves me cold.

Update 2: Included map of Lake Mossø.

Saturday I picked up a surf kayak in Copenhagen. Build in carbon, weight 8 kg, three fins, space for my long legs, I got it second hand for a good price and it’s red even – Hurray!

The kayak was manufactured by Radical Moves which no longer seems to be in existence. They apparently had a strange way of naming their kayaks. The model I got is a Hooker!

I haven’t actually been surfing with it yet but used it for the Monday rolling session in the sea kayak club. The kayak is average for back finishing rolls. I could only handroll it with some effort. Forward finishing rolls are fine. I consistently forward-forward rolled it with a throwing stick.

Surf Machine

Surfing in real surf kayaks is very much in its infancy in Denmark. I doubt there are 20 surf kayaks around in all. So I did some research to find out what surf kayaking really is about.

I was surprised discover that Surf kayaking is not a discipline organized by ICF the International Canoe Federation. Rather the international competitions are organized by The World Surf Kayak Association. Still at least one national canoing federation, the BCU has taken surf kayaking under its wings

The annual Tour de Gudenaa race is coming up in less than two weeks so I have limited time for playing around in the new kayak.

Sunday it was again time for the 18 km race around the island Thurø organized by the kayak club in Svendborg.
While this race is really designed for the K1-trainer class there is also smaller classes for ICF K1s and sea kayaks.

I had monitored the wind forecast all week as I had to decide whether to go with the Shadow or the Supersonic. Sunday morning I thought the wind looked fine and decided to go with the Supersonic while Morten took his Vanquish.

Well the wind was light alright but the narrow sound outside the kayak club was a boiling inferno with a strong current and endless lines of pestering motor and sailing boats generating waves. Unlike the regular windblown waves at home on the lake this was chaos.

The hosting kayak club.

I believe I wasn’t the only one feeling shit scared as we paddled across the sound to the starting line. Then and there it struck me how completely stupid it was that my Supersonic maiden voyage in the ocean was to be in context of a race.

As for the race itself there’s not much to write on. My brain was for the entire race running in overload mode concentrating on staying in balance. I later heard of numerous capsizes but I only observed one fellow swimming.

One of the hardened race veterans from our club classified the water as the toughest he had ever raced in an ICF racer. We later agreed that completing the race without capsizing wasn’t the least of our kayak accomplishments to date.

Some of the strongest marathon paddlers in the country started in our class and we placed accordingly low. Morten did beat me with 30 seconds though, which made for one hell of an annoying conversation on the trip home!

Was it a mistake to race in the Supersonic? Well I could easily have paddled faster in the Shadow. I was 4 min quicker last year while I’m in a much better shape this year. Still now two days after the race I’m still walking around with a silly smile enjoying the fact that I didn’t capsize.

About a year ago I mentioned the IRiver and H2O Audio compo for getting waterproof sound.

Now since I anticipate frequent capsizes(and swims!) paddling the Moskito, I’m not fond of the idea of using a plastic bag for waterproofing my old player.
In other words, I had an excuse to buy the aforementioned player and waterproof housing.

I’ve been paddling with the player for two weeks now and it works quite good. I tie the player to a bungee on my sprayskirt and operate the player while I’m on the go. That is I operate the player with one hand while the other hand is firmly holding on to the dock…

The accompanying headphones are waterproof and feels absolutely terrible. I plug in my regular headphones.