Weather Curse...Training Day!...14/11/2013

Weather Curse...Training Day!...14/11/2013 He’s cursed. We’ve been trying for weeks to go fishing on the sea; week 1, too rough, go paddling in it. Week 2, too rough, go surfing in it. Week 3 was windy, week 4 on the broad, windy again…I’ve lost track but it’s been pretty much no-go every time. He only has Thursday mornings anyway and here we are, the fifth week, still and flat yesterday, still and flat the day after, 25mph offshore then. Garry, burn some incense or sacrifice a lamb or something PLEASE! Isn’t stopping us though. He’d been on the river at the weekend, paddling the long haul from Beccles to Oulton Broad, something like 10-11 miles, seeing as he’s got the Scupper while I’m using the Cuda he might as well! So far, rough, surf, wind and tide hasn’t phased him, the diving experience showing in the comfort around and on the water. Presumably in as well? I may sound patronising but that’s not the intention, just a flavour of why we did what we did. I was on shift and knew I’d be knackered so said to be at mine for 11, this would give us a couple of hours at least. No wasting time with traffic, no sitting around deciding not to bother making an effort. No, if we’re going to fish sometime he’s going to need to anchor, this was as good an opportunity as any to practice that. And self-rescue. We dragged the yaks down to the beach, me bitching all the way as I was still tired, undernourished, thirsty, had a headache, had the heavier yak and workmen had closed off the ramp and doubled the distance. It’s not like I need the exercise. We paddled out after a quick ‘show and tell’ on how to deploy the anchor, just a top up really as Garry had been through all my anchoring videos time and again and had mentally done it a fair few times. It’s not quite the same as seeing it live or doing it but he was certainly clued up. We launched and paddle dout. It was sheltered close in but once out we got hit by the wind, long gusts interspersed with less, a slight bit of wave action but not much, the tide running but not too fast…Ready? Ready. I got the camera out and started to film – this is Garry’s first ever deployment of the anchor, in perhaps 1.5kt tide and 25mph wind blowing him off at 45 degrees… Nope, not phased at all. Turn and recover? There wasn’t any point giving it a second go! Move onto self-rescue.It was a pity we hadn’t got larger waves and rougher water because that’s a great thing to train in – you don’t fall in when it’s flat unless you’re a halfwit. Like me when I fell in when it was flat but that’s another story. I was looking for an opening to dump him off when not expecting it, for the sake of realism, the shock factor etc, but it didn’t really present itself. Anyway, strong wind blowing us out all the time, mid-November, North Sea and I go in to do a quick practical demo – apart from showing the technique this also shows that I’m not being an arse and getting someone wet to be nasty. He’s already watched the videos a few times so has an idea of it but this is easier to show in reality, the feet floating, the positioning and so on. He’d been quite concerned after watching Si’s run of fails when he first got the Scupper (purely down to being used to doing them on a Caper) especially as he’s taller and heavier but…the camera was rolling… [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvJocmuCSfc[/video] One’s fine, but no tiredness to contend with…again…again…now capsize… Everything was done fine and smooth, no panic, no struggle and sensibly too – I’d said earlier, relax, take your time, wait until you’re ready and if things feel wrong, move around…well, his feet floated up under the kayak so he moved around to the other side. That doesn’t sound all that much but I was really chuffed because if that went in, a small mention amongst the rest, then it bodes really well for everything else. The trouble was it was all too easy so we just paddled in and got blown out againa few times before we decided on an assisted rescue. It was going alright until he ended up with his face inches from my crotch. That kind of threw us both! Honestly, it’s the smell of squid and cod on the drysuit mate! Now what? Umm, I tied off the Cuda to his, grabbed my paddle and hopped in, explained about swimming with the aid of the paddle, ie paddling oneself along. I was upwind of the yaks and I can honestly say that without the paddle I would not have reached them as they got blown further out; I had to go some as it was. Last thing, just for the sake of it, swap kayaks. Without getting wet. We drew alongside and with me up forward he clambered across into the seat of the Cuda before I hopped across and into the Scupper. Back in my favourite chair at long last! It felt very, very strange! Yep, I felt cramped, hunched, squashed, cozy and far more in tune with the hull. The back support was really bugging me though and the different position of my legs all took some adjusting to get used to again. Padlding became so much easier. Garry said he felt exposed, could feel a wobble but was comfortable. We paddled in and he was made well aware of the difference in performance between the two very different craft. Battling the wind progress wasn’t all that swift but not all that bad either though I’d have hated to have had to get in from the buoys a mile and a half out like Si and I had been forced to do when the wind blew up one time a few years back. We landed smoothly and I left Gary to drag the Cuda home, let him bitch!