Whew! What a crazy couple of days ...
At long last, an update! Trust me its not that we have nothing to report, its just that we've been so insanely busy.
Our week of craziness got underway on Sunday with the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. As last year, Dave and I coordinated the kayak support team for this event. The swim has two separate events a 1.1 mile swim and a 4.4 mile swim across the Chesapeake Bay from Sandy Point in Annapolis to Hemmingway's on Kent Island.
This year the 4.4 mile race had a very late start - 2 pm instead of the customary 10 - 11 am start time. This had us a little worried as the weather tends to deteriorate throughout the day and we'd be paddling back across the bay about the same time all the power boaters decided to head in. To avoid the late paddle back to Sandy Point we decided park at Hemmingway's, paddle across the bay before the 4.4 mile start and then escort the swimmers back. We were greeted at Hemmingway's by large signs telling us where to go, a parking area dedicated to the kayak support team, and a primo launch site inside of the Bay Ridge Marina! The race organizers definitely out did themselves this year in making us feel like an important part of the race.We had listened to the weather radio in the car on the way over and the forecast had been ok. Winds forecast at 10 - 15 knots with no thunderstorms. That was significantly better than the day before when it had been blowing 20-25 knots with a small craft advisory. However the forecast was a bit premature. By the time I launched with a group to paddle to Sandy Point the winds were 15+ knots, with waves in the bay topping 3 feet and another small craft advisory issued. This was going to be one interesting swim!
It turned out to be one. In addition the winds we had some significant current washing through the channel which frequently had the swimmers swimming on a 45 degree angle just to stay in the lane. We had a smaller crew of kayakers than last year but what a great crew they were. Perhaps the weather scared some people away but we ended up with was a team of strong paddlers many of whom had supported the swim in the past. Of the 600 plus swimmers this year we ended up pulling more than 40 out of the water. For perspective last year we only had to pull out about 10! Needless to say all the kayakers were exhausted at the end of the day but what a great feeling! Thanks to all who came to help out!
Exhausted as we were, Dave and my week on the water was only beginning. Monday morning we loaded up our boats and headed down to Mason Neck for day one of our ACA Open Water Instructor Certification Exam with Mike Aronoff. We had certified to teach kayaking four years ago and it was time to update. It was raining and cold when we met up with everyone and got on the water. Mike put Dave and I to work pretty quickly critiquing the strokes of the other candidates, helping with rescues and in scenarios. Once everyone was thoroughly wet and cold we headed in to shore. There I presented a short lesson on tides and currents. Dave had to present a much longer session on navigation. Both talks were good and I think everyone enjoyed the hands on nature of the navigation class.
Day two had us at Lake Audubon to review more advanced strokes and to get immortalized on video. Its always entertaining and incredibly useful to watch yourself on video. I tend to be my harshest critic when I watch the play back. Once all of that fun was over we jumped into the car and headed out to Ocean City MD where we would have our final day on the water.
Day three dawned just like day one -- rainy, a bit windy, and not at all feeling like June. That coupled with a water temp hovering in the low 60s drove me to my dry suit. Once everyone assembled Mitch from Coastal Kayak lead us out into the channel. He kept talking about significant currents and eddies but it all seemed pretty tame. We paddled across to a beach from where we could walk to the "front side" to check out the ocean and the wave action. The surf looked fun, not too steep or big and it was breaking a little ways from shore. An ideal place to practice launching and landing in surf! I guess when Mitch saw that it was just too good to resist and we were all running back to our boats to paddle over to the over side. Mitch directed us into shore one at a time with us hopping on the back of waves and riding in. Once back on shore I gave a brief talk about launching and landing strategies and then set up a course so we could all paddle out through the surf and then paddle back in. What fun! We did this a bunch of times and could have stayed out there all day.
Mike and Mitch finally put an end to this fun and told us it was time to head back. As we paddled back into the inlet we got a good look at those currents Mitch had talked about earlier. Some good standing waves were starting to form in the middle that would have been fun surfing had we not been totally exhausted and they not be totally in the middle of the shipping channel! We paddled back around to the point, had some lunch, and continued talking about the challenges and risks of paddling or leading groups in these more open coastal environments.
ACA certification classes are a lot of work and a lot of stress but really are a great teaching tool. At the end of our three days we left with more than just a new acronym to add to our resumes. I left with new paddling friends, new teaching methods for my bag of tricks and new ideas on how to teach the old stuff better. It was a fabulous couple of days but now I need a nap!!
