Struggling through the wind and waves...

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Things began going wrong early.  Winds are normally out of the northwest, which is the reason I planned on doing Tour Ohio kayaking from west to east.  On this morning though, it was coming out of the northeast, which would be putting waves on my bow and pushing me back all day.  We’d planned to meet at a park west of Lorain where I was told I could camp by one of Nathan’s friends who knew the area.  The only problem was the park didn’t exist when we arrived at the given address.  We gave up that search and went to the public lake access in Lorain.

After unloading my gear and kayak into Nathan’s Jeep, we left the van and drove to Sandusky Bay where we found a private put-in location on the eastern end of the Bay.  After loading all the essential camping gear into his 13’ Starcraft, I climbed into my kayak and pushed off into a head wind and a light chop.  I needed to paddle west at first and go around Cedar Point…the land and the amusement park.  It was an interesting view, seeing the rides and hearing the screams from the water, which were few at 7 in the morning.  I hugged the shoreline while Nathan boated in the marked channel a hundred yards to my starboard.  I was making almost 4 knots, but I had a favorable wind and the waves were manageable.  I had to paddle three miles to get around the point where all that would change.

I could see the open waters of Lake Erie as I approached the point from the shelter of the coast.  It didn’t look good, which Nathan confirmed.  I didn’t want to quit though, so I rounded the point moving east and began taking the waves head-on.  For the next 15 minutes I worked through a 1-3 foot chop and when large pleasure crafts passed and their wake was added to the mix, I found myself rocking and rolling with little forward progress. 

I have reasonably strong paddling skills from years on the water, but this was something different than I’d experienced before.  I never felt unsafe and in fact, was enjoying the challenge.  The problem was that my support boat was also struggling in the waves and coming along side for any support was impractical at best.  I’d also slowed to less than 2 knots at which speed it would take me all day to get 15 miles…nowhere near our take-out point.  I talked to Nathan and we agreed it was not a safe or ideal situation and decided to abort.  I turned my kayak with some difficulty in the chop and wind and then began the trek back to our starting point.  Returning was a breeze because the breeze and waves were now pushing me and I made it to the take-out in a little more than half the time.  In all, I’d spent 2.5 hours in the water and covered only 6 miles or approximately 4 miles less than I could have in more reasonable conditions.

For the remainder of the day, I struggled with my plans for kayaking as it related to Tour Ohio.  My goal had been to create a trail that included three disciplines and would be something recreational activists could follow.  Lake Erie, with its unpredictable nature, was proving to be a poor choice for the average distance kayak event.  As we traveled, I considered the many scenic rivers that emptied into the lake and how much more I enjoyed kayaking on them.  They were safer, much more scenic, easier to travel alone, and far less intimidating.  I made up my mind that they would be my destination and become part of Tour Ohio beginning with a run of the Grand River in the eastern portion of the state with the mouth reaching Lake Erie it’s a short distance from Fairport Harbor – a navigable distance of roughly forty miles.  To this I could add a stretch of the Upper Cuyahoga, some time on the Black River and possibly the Sandusky River and some of Sandusky Bay. 

So…though disappointed in the outcome, I’d had an epiphany about kayaking, Lake Erie, and how all this fit with Tour Ohio.  I believe the rivers will be a much better choice; more doable for the average, recreational kayaker.  I returned home with thoughts of when I’d pick up the kayaking, but thinking it best to hold off until after the bike/hike.  This would allow me to concentrate my final two weeks on the necessary preparations for three weeks on the road. 

Kayak duration:  Two hours and 30 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  90-110 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1200.