In Michigan, April Showers Can Bring May Gales

The point of this article is not to demonstrate what a fearless idiot I can be. But rather to point out some of the things you'll need to do to advance as a paddler. Before going out in this storm there were countless hours spent practicing capsize and rescue skills and some well remembered ice water dunkings. We were on a well populated chain of lakes that we were very familiar with and had top notch gear and sea worthy kayaks.

One look at the internet and we quickly cancelled the afternoon lesson and tour. Rain along with 30-40 mile an hour winds were predicted all day. The students all sounded relieved when I called them on Mother's Day morning. I'm sure several of them had some butterflies when they looked out the window that morning and saw their lawn furniture hurtling around the yard. Most made arrangements for another upcoming class. Although I was disappointed to cancel the class as it looked to be a great mix of students from all over Michigan, I was determined to use the horrible weather to my advantage and get in some much needed paddling in rough weather.

Teaching beginner kayak classes in mid-Michigan is a lot of fun and I've had some great times out on the water on countless mornings and evenings. But in order to keep safety and paddling skills sharp, it's important to get out in challenging conditions and that's not very easy where we live inland. While the rivers do rise quickly and can push a lot of water at times, there is rarely the kind of blow-down conditions you find along the ocean coastal areas. So most often we are out practicing in pretty benign weather which really doesn't tell you if you are truly prepared for the little disasters that occur when things get dicey. The time to test your clothing and gear is under a moderate level of duress so that when things really hit the fan you can rely on those things under your direct control. Will your paddling jacket do the job? How about your bracing skills? Are you as strong as you were last year?

As I started to put my gear together I found myself completely in the dark but for a very good reason. The power had gone out as it often does here whenever there is high wind along with rain. I fired up the laptop and hooked on to my favorite website for National Weather Service Conditions and was amazed to see that the wind speed was 28 mph, building, and gusting up to 50 mph! Whoa! This was a whole new level for me. I put a quick cell call into Todd and found he was already packing his gear and had reached the same conclusion as me….safety in numbers. He came over with Joel and we headed out to a group of lakes that would provide the maximum distance for the wind to blow across (fetch) and build the best waves. Finally a chance to stretch our skill levels in a controlled environment on waters we knew and with paddlers we were familiar and comfortable with.

Just getting the kayaks off the truck was a lesson itself. They wanted to fly off the second they were unleashed and take us with them. Any gear we set down on the beach would instantly be swept away so we developed a team strategy to outfit each paddler and boat, one at a time. The water in the launch area was actually pretty tame but we knew the second we rounded the little island and headed out the channel into the lakes we would get the full brunt of the wind coming across over two miles of water. It started to rain again and believe it or not Todd and I exchanged smiles. No better way to find out what will leak and where it will end up than today! We pushed off shore and rounded the island and were slammed in the chest with a steady 30 mph gale. The kayaks were targeted straight in to the wind and tracked straight as they generally will but the effort was pretty amazing without any chance for easing into our strokes as we usually do. Just pausing for a few seconds to adjust a zipper and you'd feel your kayak going backwards. I was now really glad that we had gone through a complete gear check on shore and went the next level up in clothing layers. The air temp had dropped ten degrees in the last 90 minutes as the front pushed through and we had erred on the cautious side and were all pleasantly warm under our paddling jackets, hats, pfd's and spray skirts.

We paddled across a little lake that usually took only minutes but was a real grunt to reach the far shore and pod up in the calmer water. We made some equipment checks, footbrace adjustments and worked out some hand signals in case we could not hear each other over the wind. We were the only ones nutty enough to be out and had zero wait to pop through the narrow channel into the big lake. Wow! Strong whitecaps were hammering up into the channel and I actually had trouble drawing a breath as we paddled into the gale. I normally paddle with the lightest grip possible to avoid tendonitis but found the carbon paddle was almost torn from my hands with each stroke. This was a little discerning as I knew that a tight grip led to a tense upper body and I needed every bit of suppleness I could muster to stay afloat. The tops of the waves were being torn off by the wind so were only two to three feet due to the shallow shoals in the lake. This led to the water "rebounding" off the bottom of the lake and making very "confused" waters that wanted to pitch and pull the boat all over in milliseconds. While I'd paddled much bigger waves in the Great Lakes, they were somewhat regular in distance apart and height and I could get a rhythm going. But not here and not today. Staying afloat was the first order and making some progress a distant second.

Our strategy of paddling abreast and not letting anyone drop back was a good one as looking over your shoulder proved to be impossible. I saw this as a strong warning to be aware that you take a lot of things for granted that you have to throw out the window when the weather rules. And even my own voice was torn away from me in the howling gale so we had no hope of hearing each other and I was pleased we'd had the foresight to work out a few very simple hand signals. We struggled up the lake and Todd motioned us over and we ducked into a channel and took a little rest and regrouped. We were keenly aware that out on a huge body of water we would not have this safe haven opportunity to rest and would have had to raft up and would have lost all our forward progress in a matter of minutes. We decided that the best use of these incredible winds and downdrafts would be to practice paddling across the wind with it pushing right into our sides. This causes kayaks to weathercock or lose course and we wanted to see if our various strokes and leans could keep any semblance of a heading across the lake. We threw everything we had at it before dropping skegs and even then it was very hard work to keep a cadence as we'd have to throw out a brace in a hurry to keep upright. But we made the far shore and headed up into the full force of the wind now somewhere in the high 30's and occasional monster blasts we could only marvel at.

We were dressed for immersion and even with the stinging rain were warm. But as it was so early in the season we decided against trying wet exits, rolls and tows as we could all feel our muscles starting to knot up from the constant exertion. It was humbling and we knew that we had planned well but had reached our upper limit for being in control and turned around and surfed back. The shallow shoals made the surf irregular and mixed and one second required a full lean to starboard and the next second a hurried and graceless lean to port.

Once on shore we repeated our teamed efforts at gear gathering and loading boats. We were glad we didn't have the chore of pitching camp today and only had a 20 minute drive back home. I drove home in full paddling dress and decided that what the hell, while I was protected from the gale I might as well grill the salmon I'd prepared outside and my family roared with laughter as they looked out and saw me on the deck with my goofy hat and boots and jacket happily torching the fish.

Later that night I made a little check list of things and gear that had been a real asset and those that were not the best choices. I wished for example I'd brought along my narrow blade paddle as the wind just ripped my larger one. I realized too that I needed to have a pair of cheap reading glassed on hand as some of the things I needed to do show me that I really needed my close-up vision. My clothing choices had been perfect. But my best decision was to go with two other skilled paddlers which is the ultimate equipment backup! I found out my new rain hat stayed put at 40 mph and that my new neoprene gloves were light enough to allow me to do things with them on that used to require taking off my old gloves. That wouldn't have worked today in these winds. Even trying to get a drink from my deck bag was an extreme act. Hmm…maybe I should get a pfd mounted water pack with a hose after all. I soberly admitted that I wasn't in as good as shape as I usually was in mid May. Busy schedule, weather and age had all insidiously snuck in to limit my stamina. While a few years ago I could have pretty much toughed it out through any physical effort, I know knew there were nagging injuries that had to be dealt with before heading out on the next trip. I could sense that the little two hour session in the storm had expanded some old limits but created some new limits that I must heed.