— Brinestorm

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Tag "ocean whitewater"

[Remember that you can watch this video larger on Vimeo or watch it full-screen by pressing the icon in the lower right corner of the video above.]

I’ve been outside the Golden Gate of the San Francisco Bay on a number of trips this fall, and the video in this post is a compilation of some of these sights and sensations. Mostly small-condition exploration and play, but with some capsizing, side-surfing, and combat rolls thrown in for good measure. Zero injuries, except some wounded pride, and many chances to paddle with some of my local friends and heroes.

Anyone coming to the Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium in January will be in some of these very same environments, so come on out and I’ll see you there!

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Here in the San Francsico Bay Area, the Pyranha Fusion is an increasingly popular rock gardening kayak: It’s about 10′ long, intended for self-supported river running, but it has a skeg for tracking well in flat water. After trying one on the Mendocino coast (which you can see in an earlier blog post and video), its responsiveness and stability was awe-inspiring in ocean whitewater conditions. I knew I had to have one!

But, being a sea kayaker, I was struck by its total lack of perimeter lines. I’ve never seen a river kayak with perimeter lines, but nearly every serious sea kayak has them. When you need or practice rescues and recoveries as much as I do, they are absolutely essential for maintaining contact with your boat should you wet exit…or for someone else trying to recover your boat for you. In fact, a recent pool session revealed that a friend almost couldn’t even lift if after a capsize to do a T-rescue, as the front grab loop was the only place to get purchase.

So, I decided to add some perimeter lines to my brand new boat!

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Every year, dozens of paddlers from Bay Area Sea Kayakers assemble on the rugged northern California coast for a weekend of rock gardening, ocean whitewater, exploratory coastal paddling, food, and drink. This is known as Mendocino Madness. This was my second year. It is always amazing. And this is some of what I saw.

Enjoy the video, and remember that you can view it fullscreen in HD by the controls in the playback bar, or just watch it much larger on Vimeo.

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