Alaska Kayak School Winter Sea Kayaking – 1st Weekend Report
Halloween 2009, Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska
Surf & Open Water Training: October 31 and November 1

Five paddlers and Tom the “coach” lined up for the weekends fun, Poseidon and the Zephyrs did the their part. We had small 1-2’ surf on Saturday, Halloween, light winds (variable 10 kts) and sunny conditions. Even if at the outset it seemed the 32ºF air temperatures would keep the fun factor down, we were wrong. Small waves peeled off the sand/gravel bar at the mouth of Beluga Slough, a favorite traditional play spot, and fun was on the menu.

Surf safety, wave selection, timing, stern-rudder, low brace turns, edging in surf, and good balance were all on the agenda. Paddling out to the “line-up”, group awareness, and applications of all the flatwater skills made for sore smile muscles all around. Full cold water garb was required: dry suits and all the layers, neoprene gloves, helmet liners, helmets, and a few “storm cags” made the session not only tolerable, but fabulously enjoyable.


All the paddlers pushed the envelope, and some had a few wetter moments than others, but the surfing site lent itself to learning - easy swims and recoveries were all part of the fun. Over edging and “too much paddle” was the resounding admission by the paddler that got over wet, ‘+).

On Saturday paddlers tackled wave after wave until the tide changed and the waves petered out a bit, but by then the fun quotient was so high, it was hard to dampen the enthusiasm for sea kayak surfing, at least in this bunch. Get in position, take off, drop in and glide all became habits.

The new surfers discovered that dropping in perpendicular to the axis of the wave gave better results and all riders went for it, time and again. Waves weren’t big, but were big enough to make the sea kayaks glide gloriously and sent the surfers rocketing toward the beach.

Low bracing into the foam piles once the sea kayaks broached into the “bongo slide” the term for sea kayak side surfing was the move of the day and many a “wet moves” were dodged by the clan off of the effective low brace.

As the tide fell, the waves became tubular and steeper, making some of the runs more challenging and speeding up the action on the faces. No one shied away from the fun though, and all the fun hogs enjoyed great rides.

Gliding runs out on the gentle shoulders were just as rewarding as the late take offs and elevator drop-ins, making the action seem gentle and calming, almost mesmerizing.

On Sunday 1 November the surf had died, and we were all up for an open water paddle from Lands End, at the tip of the Homer Spit, back to town, where we planned to land at Mariner Park, on the Spit’s West side. It was windy and cool, 32ºF and East winds 10-17 knots, so we all dressed warmly and got ready to launch into the 2-foot chop on the steep gravel beach at Land’s End, next to the AK Marine Highway dock.

Seas were calmer on the West side of the Spit and we agreed to paddle 0.7 nautical mile offshore to the West, and to enjoy the small swell, alternating snow flurries and sunspots, as well as the feeling of being out in open water.

Sunny weather turned on us off and on and in spite of the brief flurries, we managed to steel our resolve and turned the end of the day into a bit of a round-robin sea kayak rescue fest. Nobody tested the wet exit, all were previously competent at exiting their boats, and most got tested yesterday in the surf. But t-rescues, various re-entry styles and yank rescues were discussed, tested and analyzed for the benefit of all.

The virtue of the speed of the “yank” rescue made itself readily apparent, but the virtues of the t-rescue, in which the kayak is emptied before putting the “swimmer” back into a drained and dry-ish cockpit was clearly the favorite.

You have to hand it to these sea kayaking fans, the Alaskan spirit lives on in the die-hard commitment to practice in conditions. Air temperatures were dropping past freezing as the day wore on and we approached the take out, but this didn’t dampen the paddlers’ enthusiasm for making sure that they did their part to keep kayaking as a “wet sport”.

Some paddlers, eager to practice in “real” conditions, went back into the frigid water repeatedly to test various re-entry techniques, including the “between the boats hip-thrust” method, which both rescuer and the swimmer help to pull the boats together to make a wide and stable rescue platform.

At the end of the second day, Sunday, we all remarked on what a fun weekend we’d been treated to by the weather and the bay; sprits ran high, and the talk drifted to the next winter weekend when we could pull off another two days of fun in cold, short days of late November. It was sad to see the Anchorage and Soldotna contingent pack up and head North, while the Homer team contemplated the fact we’ve had almost no snow, even though it’s already November. But one fact remained, it had been a really fun weekend with lots of smiles, thrills and skills for all that donned the dry suits and helmet liners. And at least for me, I was impressed with the enthusiasm and cold commitment of the whole team, even after the swims in the icy cold drink.

Check the Alaska Kayak School calendar for the schedule of the winter sea kayaking weekends, and try not to let the winter go by without checking out the action. But do remember, theses weekends aren’t the place to develop your sea skills, these are programs to apply the skills you’ve learned in other Alaska Kayak School programs, and to stretch into a place where you realize you don’t have to hang up the sea kayaking spurs just because it’s past the end of October.

A dry suit with socks, the right layers, neoprene gloves, helmet liner and good company with honed skills and safety awareness will take you far. If your skills aren’t up to the cold commitment, focus on some more pool time and wait until May 2010 when the sea skills weekends in Halibut Cove start the Alaska Kayak School’s annual cycle all over again. The next winter sea kayak weekends in Homer are the Spring tides at Thanksgiving: November 28, Saturday, there is a mid-day High tide of 16.90 ft. @ 1100 hrs. and a mid-day 18.06’ tide November 29 Sunday @ 1142 hrs. Make it to Homer for the Turkey-Day fun; you’ll enjoy the thrill of the chill.

Check the Alaska Kayak School calendar for other 2009-2010 dates of more winter sea kayaking fun in Homer. Call (907) 235-2090 or email info@alaskakayakschool.com for more information.