Ron, Clyde and I drove down to Tors Cove for a paddle to La
Manche yesterday....
There was some swell running and
we had a little fun following the coast line down to The Shadies.
There was an iceberg off of Great Island...
There was another iceberg near Cape Neddick and we decided to
paddle the couple kilometres across La Manche Bay to get a closer look…
From the berg we followed the coast along Money Cove and
then Bluff Head Cove to La Manche. There
was confused water along these coves as the swell came into the coves and
rebounded back out. I felt a tippy-ness
in my Nordkapp – a feeling I had not felt in a long time. I attributed the feeling to the fact that I
have not been paddling much this year (this was only my tenth time) and it has been a long time since I
paddled in any amount of confused water.
As soon as I rounded Herring Cove Point the confused water disappeared
and my hull felt normal again. A
thought came into my mind... “I am not
the paddler I was a year ago….
We took out at La Manche and had our lunch, discussing kayak
things, and watching the many hikers going about the trail.
Without anyone saying “let’s go” we all just started
gathering up our items and heading for our kayaks. It was chilly and we were anxious to get
moving.
I didn't take any more pictures...
We paddled out of the cove into
a headwind of about twenty kilometres. I
had on my neoprene gloves but my hands were really cold in the wind. I wished I had on my paddling mitts. Once
we rounded Shady Point our headwind turned into a beam wind… The next kilometre or two was bouncy until we
started to get protection from the wind inside the islands.
I was ahead of the other guys when I got to Pee Pee Island so I floated about, waiting for them. They
had stopped so Ron could put on his neoprene gloves. His bare hands must have been pretty cold as
mine had been quite cold with my gloves on.
When they caught up we carried on but I had to pee… must of
hung around Pee Pee Island too long! I
landed on the north end of the beach at Saint Michael’s to do my business. When I got back into my kayak I was backing
out and the water sucked out and then rushed in and swamped me. I dealt with the water and got going. When I rounded the little headland Clyde was
waiting for me but Ron had continued on.
Clyde and I took our time, playing along the shore where the
swell made things a little fun here and there. There was
a spot somewhere around Burnt Cove Island where the shit happened.
Clyde was ahead and paddled into this little ‘spot’. When he cleared I took my turn but as soon as
I went in the water sucked out, dropped maybe three feet, and seconds later the
wave came in to get me. I did a little side-surf, turned my bow to paddle out, but the water sucked back out again and
the next wave got me. It pushed me back
in and my hull was on some rocks. I went
over and braced and seemed to hang there for a second. I think the water was still moving out and I
was suddenly under my kayak. This is how I
remember the events that followed over the next few minutes…
The last time I rolled was the first week in September
last year, but my instinct took over and
I set up. I was nearly up but in the
turmoil I went over again. Everything
was white. My Greenland paddle was
twisted and so my hands were 'backward'. Rather
than take the time to slice the paddle around in the water I simply switched my
left and right hand positions and made another attempt. Clyde later said he thought I had another go
at it but I do not remember. Regardless,
I was over again and sucked in some water; I guess I forgot I couldn't breathe down there. I
popped the skirt and surfaced. I was
coughing a bit and kinda felt like I might puke.
I actually had my feet planted on the bottom a couple times
but then the water would come back in and float me. At one point I could feel the seaweed caught
around my foot and the thought came into my mind that if the water came in high
enough and the seaweed had a good hold of me… well, I wondered if I could hold my
breathe seeing as I was doing a little coughing after swallowing some water…. I kicked my leg to get if freed…
It’s funny how time seems to slow down when you’re getting
pushed around like that in the water. It
seemed like I was out of my kayak for a good minute by the time Clyde seen my
predicament and got turned around to help out…
He had his tow rope out and threw it to me, but the end wasn’t sufficiently weighted and it did not reach
me. My sunglasses came off and I grabbed them before they sank. Clyde made a second attempt with the rope and it
seemed closer but I could not reach it.
I thought to try to scramble up on the rocks but I didn’t relish getting
on the inside of my kayak to do it. I
flipped my kayak upright and grabbed the bow toggle and started kicking to swim
it out of the spot I was in. It got
knocked over though and so I kept kicking and then tucked one end of my paddle behind my back
and used it as an extension to my arm to move the upturned kayak along while I continued to kick my legs. Then I got a friggin’ cramp in my calf! Jesus, what else was going to happen!!! Then I realized I did not have my hat and figured I would have to go back in for it when I got back in my kayak.
After a few strokes I was out far enough for Clyde to come alongside. I held on to his kayak and mine and he
paddled and I kicked as best I could with my cramp to move us further out. I remember saying to him that I had lost my hat... I really like that hat. "I got your hat" he told me. When I asked how he managed to get my hat he said it was just floating there and he grabbed it. That made me happy. "Did you get any pictures?" I asked...
I held onto his bow as he started to perform a
standard T-rescue. I came up along the
outside of my kayak and, perhaps being chilly and tired from my swim, I had a
hard time grabbing the deck line on his bow.
I finally got hold of it, sunk back down into the water, hooked my heel
into my cockpit and pulled myself up on my back deck, lying on my stomach. I took a couple seconds and tried to spit up
the ‘lump’ in my chest as I hung my face between the kayaks, and then rolled into the cockpit.
There was a small bit of water in my cockpit
and Clyde grabbed a pump and pumped it out for me; I guess I looked beat out to him. I got my skirt on and then I held Clyde’s kayak
while he stowed his tow line away. I was
chilled and tired. We stayed rafter up
for a while, discussing the event and what we might have done better… we
decided we should both start carrying our throw bags along with our tow ropes…
a throw bag would have really come in handy in that spot. In my opinion, I thought the rescue went rather well, considering it's been a long time since either of us had done any rescue practice.
We got going after I felt I had sufficient rest, but I was thankful my swim occurred close to the
cars so I didn’t have to far to paddle.
Ron was on the beach when we arrived and we gave him a precis of the event.
It was a great day for a paddle, despite my swim... We had sunshine, an
iceberg, a nice lunch spot, some confused water, some headwind, some beam seas,
and some rougher water swim and rescue practice.
Ron headed home but Clyde and I stopped for a coffee on the way to warm up.
