A little trip desired

This has been playing on my phone off and on all day,,,,

Crazy?

or an example of how SEAWORTHY seakayaks truly are? 

Or the ‘power of “AND” ‘thing,,,,

I have not, admittedly, been in water THAT big to date.   Be`en in some cray cray waters on the main lake of Cumberland, right after Ohio released the lockdowns and everybody and their cousin was out in in force on that lake.   BIg houseboats making waves that were ridable but little predictability.   Much like the clapotis the guy in the above vid, is getting hit with near the cliffs.

When “dry land” is awash like that and accessible take outs are on the other side of the chaos, one thought goes through my head: “No one is coming to save you, KEEP PADDLING!”   or; “You WANTED THIS, now face it!”  

Funny things is, I get into that stuff, and the sphincterometer is pegged, but after a few moments of “aw-shit!”, it becomes fun.   The boat doing the boat thing, my hips loosen up and the waves roll under me as easy as you please, and the paddle strokes become unconscious moves, timed to how the waves are approaching.   Dig in on the back side, adjust heading on the face and tops, and keep paddling.       At the start, I am making bracing strokes, and after a short time, I am just paddling along, braces not needed.  The boat may be leaned over so far, the skirt edge is buried, but that boat feels as stable as a dock under me.  

Watching the above, I LONG for getting in water that is a bit more dynamic than wind driven waves on an inland lake.   White water doesn’t call me like that, even though a lot of the skills are the same or very similar.   But, as you can see above, that IS NOT flat water paddling,,,, 

some day,,,,,   Just need to keep honing my paddle skills and condition flexibility.       Last weekend was a plus, my only failure was fatigue, fighting those winds,,, And I know I need work on distance/endurance: thats the reason I want to hit 100 miles a month this year.  Watching the above video, I doubt I could have duplicated his run, not because of the waves (not exactly anyway) but because my arms would  have been noodles before rounding that point.   Seeing those waves breaking on the cliffs,,,  wow,,,   They don’t ‘look’ that big near the kayak, but if you pay attention to how the horizon changes, you realize he is moving up and down A LOT,,, BIG waves passing under him.

some day,,,, I won’t be stuck in KY forever,,,,