Virgin Islands Sail and Dive! Part 2

In addition to great sailing, the main activity on our trip was logging some amazing self-guided scuba dives.  When we’d arrived at our destination, it was time for some diving. 

We dove every day, and I wound up logging 8 dives before the trip was out.  I had initially planned to try to do multiple dives each day, but found that the relaxed pace of diving when we felt like, rather than whenever possible, was really nice. 

All six people on the boat were scuba certified, so we’d usually dive in shifts, with 2 couples diving while the third couple stayed on board in case there were any problems.   Thankfully, all of the dives were great and the folks on the boat usually just helped the divers get in and out of the water. 

It turned out that the frequent diving was a good thing, because the shower on our boat had a bad hose and was out of commission by day 2.   Aside from some salt-crystal build-up in the  ears and eyebrows, though, the daily water time kept things tolerable on the boat for everybody. 

The water was in the high 70’s with great (60-80’) visibility.  To make it even better, the dive sites were all pretty easy to navigate and full of vibrant, healthy coral and other sea life.  We saw a shipwreck, turtles, rays, a couple octopus (octopii?),  and all sorts of cool fish.  We spent a surprising amount of time in the presence of large (4-5’) barracudas, who paid us no attention except when I was chasing  them to get photos. 

We saw lots of the cool looking little trunk fish, beautiful angelfish, and goofy looking cowfish.  Overall, the diving was great – especially considering it was all unguided. 

Between the diving, the weather, and the company, it was hard not to love the trip.   Hope you like the pics!  Till next time…

Virgin Island Sail and Dive trip! Part 1

Whew, it’s been a long time since my last blog.   I’ve let lots of cool stuff go unnoted, but I’m finally getting back to it.   At the end of January, Kim and I joined four friends for a totally different kind of trip than we’re  used to - the British Virgin Islands!  I’ve got too many pics for one post, so I’m  doing one for the sailing and general trip stuff, then the next post will be about the (awesome) diving. 

Kim and I started our trip bound not for the BVI, but for  San Juan, Puerto Rico.   We would have had a layover there anyway, so we decided to stretch it out a bit and have a day to show Kim around San Juan.   I had been there a couple of years ago (the blog post is here), so it was really fun showing Kim around.  We did Old San Juan, Fort Morro, a tour of the Bacardi distillery, and more.  Really love that city!

After San Juan we caught a short flight over to Tortola in the BVI where we met up with the rest of our group.  We spent that night at the Treasure Island hotel, then got on the boat the next day.   That was the start of 6 days living on a 44 foot sailboat wearing huge floppy hats, drinking Ting, cruising from island to island, and scuba diving.  No cell phones, no computers, no internet.  Nothing but wind, water, islands, and great company.  It was awesome.  We’d get up in the morning, pick a destination, then hoist the sails and get moving. 

Neither Kim nor I had ever really done any large boat sailing, so we had a lot to learn to make ourselves useful.  Thankfully the other 4 on the boat had all done this trip before and got us  up to speed pretty quickly.  Before we knew it we were cranking on sheeting lines, reefing sails, and getting to know all of the cleats, drums, and other stuff that goes with sailing. 

We had great wind (~20 knots) the entire trip, so the sailing was more exciting than I had anticipated.  When we were under way,  we spent a good amount of time heeled over to the point where the leeward gunwales were  underwater and the waves were splashing up on the deck.   It took a bit of getting used to, but was really fun! 

Once we got to our destination, it was time dive!  We had amazing diving on the trip that’s worth it’s own post, so for now I’ll just leave it at that.  At night we’d find a sheltered bay, hook up to a mooring buoy (harder than it sounds, as you have to fish the mooring line out of the water with a long pole from a moving boat), then settle in for dinner, drinks, and games. 

The downside of the trip came on our last full day sailing, when Kim tripped on the very steep stairs and broke two toes.  Luckily, she’s a tough girl and even managed to get a dive in after that!  

On a trip where tight quarters could have made for tough times, it was wonderful to have such an easy-going group.  Ryan was our very skilled captain who managed to get us where we needed to go and keep us upright, Krissy was an amazing cook, Jason was the experienced first mate who caught mooring bouys and kept the halyards and reefing lines straight, and Kim, Suzanne, and I filled in wherever we could.   Thanks to such a great group, it was pure fun from beginning to end, except maybe that broken toe. 

 

 

 

Beginner Kettle Run

  Rachel, Barb, Lisa, and Kim all got their first whitewater runs in on a steaming hot day on the Kettle!  Nick was along for his first run of the year, but looked like he’d been at it all season.  Amy and I were there to help guide them all down the river at about 460 cfs. 

Because of the state shutdown, we had to start about 1.4 miles above the normal put-in at the Highway 23 bridge.   This gave us a great warm-up and a chance to learn some final skills before jumping into the whitewater. 

When we did arrive at Banning, we took out, scouted Shoulder Hole and had lunch.  The bugs were vicious and we looked more like a bunch of pox victims than paddlers by the time we got back in the boats.  That didn’t slow anyone down, though.

From there, we put in and the newbies got their first taste of whitewater bumping down through Shoulder Hole.   Everyone aced it!   From there, it was off to the races.  The waves in Teachers and the rocks in Mother’s delight each claimed one swim, but other than that the newbies absolutely owned the river.  

The highlight of the day for a few of the newbies was the seal launch off of a cliff into the river.  At this low water, the fall was probably close to 15’, so it was definitely exciting!  Not a bad way to jump start a paddling career!

By the end of the day, we were all bug-bitten and tired, but definitely left the river as successful whitewater paddlers! 

Wolf Video

Here's the video from the trip down Section IV...

Peshtigo and Wolf

What do you get when you mix 8 good paddlers, 3 warm and sunny days, and some great whitewater?  A ton of fun. 

That was exactly the situation May 6-8 in Northeast Wisconsin.   For those who haven’t been there, it’s a beautiful area with several fun class II-IV whitewater rivers set in white pine forest.   It’s where I spent much of my early paddling days, and going back always feels a bit like going home. 

Bill K, Brian J, Nora, Amy, Mike T, James I, and I all played hookie from work and drove out Friday morning.  Amy and I arrived at Bear Paw in the early afternoon and shortly afterwards James and Mike arrived.  Nora, Bill, and Brian had all arrived earlier and were out on the mountain bike trails in the area.  Once they returned, we all headed out to the Peshtigo. 

Peshtigo

The Peshtigo is about 40 minutes from Bear Paw and has some the most continuous whitewater in the Upper Midwest.   There’s a bit of a paddle from the put in, but then the fun is on for the next couple of miles.   It was around 700 cfs (8” on the bridge) for our trip.

The first three rapids (creatively named First, Second, and Third Drop) are packed close together and include a big side curling wave feeding a hole in the middle and several river-wide ledges that had to be punched.  Our group tried various lines through and around the features, and everyone styled it. 

On Five-Foot Falls Bill led us through a sloping river-left line with 3 consecutive holes at the bottom.  It was a fun route I hadn’t tried before and everyone made it through, though me and one other paddler got flipped in the final hole. 

The final rapid on the Pesh was Horse Race, which is a long, curving rapid with a fun and chaotic final slope to it.   I had Amy follow me down and she absolutely nailed her line.  Everybody else picked their way down, taking a couple different variations of the same line.   Great rapid, great fun, no flips. 

Wolf, Section IV

Section IV is one of my favorite runs in the Midwest.  It’s a long, its got a  lot of flatwater on it, and you have to pay to run it, but those downsides are more than made up for by the beautiful scenery and fun, unique rapids. 

There are 6 main rapids on the run and 5 or 6 more minor ones.  The entire run is within an Indian Reservation, and the Menominee  have kept the shorelines almost completely natural.  There are no houses, no docks, and almost no man-made structures at all.  Instead, it’s white pines, leafy trees that turn beautiful colors in the fall, and lots of wildlife.  The only exception is the rafts.  If you go between Memorial Day and Labor Day, it’s generally jammed with rafts.  If you go outside of those times, though, you can pretty much have the river to yourself. 

Each of the main rapids is unique from the others, and each changes significantly with different levels.   When we ran it,  the level was just under 700 cfs.  That level opened up some different lines in Upper Ducksnest and both the Upper and Lower Dells.   The line we ran through The Upper Dells involved riding the top of a barreling side-curler into a large, chaotic hole.   The left line through the Lower Dells was looking very sketchy, but the far right was good and there was an easy line down the middle from left to right.  There were also a few awesome surf  waves in the canyon. 

The biggest difference was Big Smokey Falls, which was about 4 times wider than it usually is in the fall.  Instead of a narrow slip-n-slide lead in, it was more like a normal rapid with holes, waves, and side-curlers leading toward the falls.   There was a bit of a hole at the bottom of the falls, and those that didn’t boof generally got flipped, but spit back out relatively quickly. 

On the whole, it was a great trip.  I’m already looking forward to the Fall Colors trip!

Section III

On Sunday most of us had to get back to teach at the intro night for Canoe U, so we opted for  a quick run down Section 3 of the Wolf.  The level was high enough to let us shoot right through the boulder gardens.   

Boy Scout was a fun dodge and eddy fest with about a million possible lines and good river-running fun.  Hanson’s had good surf at both the upper and lower tiers.  There was also an audience of several fisherman on the rocks on river right.

Gilmore’s had several good, lively surf spots in store for us.  It was at just the right level that you could wash off of one feature and right onto the next most of the way down the rapid.  The surfs were mostly fun, bouncy pinball fests and it was a great way to end the run. 

 

 

Cold, wet, and fun weekend!

What do you do when it’s about 40 degrees, windy, and rainy?  Lots, actually.   The weather last weekend definitely left something to be desired, but it didn’t stop the fun! 

Saturday morning began with the Get in Gear 5k race.   It was the first time I’ve ever run a race in raincoat, but Kim and I and a couple of other friends managed to have a great time and get some much needed exercise.  Saturday night was a pretty awesome birthday party, so Happy Birthday Ben!

Sunday is where the real action started, with a trip up to the North Shore.  The Kettle River Paddlefest was going on in Sandstone, but neither the freestyle competition in full winter gear nor the downriver race against a 25mph headwind was all that appealing. 

Instead, a whole bunch of paddlers headed up to the North Shore of Lake Superior to hit the creeks.  The recent rain and snow had run right off of the saturated ground, so the creeks were flowing! 

There was a large group that was doing laps on the Lester, and it sounded like they had a great time.  Nora, John J, and I decided to head up to the French instead to see what it was like at a medium-low level.  For John and I, this was our first time running that river. 

We weren’t disappointed.  Even though the water was low, the French had lots of little ledges on it combined with a few big slides.   We definitely donated some plastic to the rocks, but there was plenty of water to have fun.

All three of us had cameras, so there are no shortage of pics.   These are just mine – the others have better ones, but I haven’t been able to get them yet.  I’ve also included one video here, but there will be more to come from Nora’s helmet cam when I get around to editing them.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verm Weekends

Well, the old Vermillion has surprised me again.   After missing out on the two prime weekends on the North Shore, the shallow class II-III river seemed like a pretty meager substitute, but it turned out to still have one more trick up its wet, chilly sleeve. 

I went out for an afternoon run with Bill and Bob mostly just to get on some water and catch up with a couple of guys I hadn’t paddled with in quite a while.   I was having some knee problems that made it difficult to get into the playboat, so I was down there in a creeker.  It was a nice day with great company, but I still didn’t feel the excitement that paddling always brings. 

Last weekend, a whole group of paddlers went down for a run, and this time I was able to get in the playboat.  We had a blast.  There were paddlers I’d known for years, some I’d only met once or twice, and even a couple people that were totally new to me. 

Graeme, who is the only person I know to paddle the same model boat for as long as I have, finally got a new one!  It was great watching him put it through its paces.  There were also some people that were still getting their feel for some of the features, so there was plenty of new-ness to go around.      

The water level was good (about 165), the energy was great, and we ripped up every feature on the river in a way that I haven’t done for probably close to two years.  

So, now that my stoke has been refueled by some great paddling companions, I’m looking forward to some upcoming trips!  Wisconsin, Canoe U, and (hopefully) another trip out to Colorado are all in the cards for the coming weeks, so it should be awesome! 

SYOTR

Polar Plunge!

Wow, the 2011 polar plunge was a huge success!   People donated over $2100 to Special Olympics for us to jump into a hole in the ice in Lake Calhoun.  It was definitely cold, but also definitely worth it. 

This was my fifth Plunge, and every time has been a day of awesome energy and crazy fun.   This year was no exception, with 9 other Plungers in our group.   We met up for breakfast and a little liquid courage in Uptown, then headed on the shuttle over to the lake.    At the lake is always a crazy and fun scene.  There’s music, all kinds of crazy costumes, hot tubs, and of course one big hole in the lake.   The best part of the whole thing is the energy that comes from a couple thousand people all soaking up the fact that they’re about to do something crazy!  Our theme was W-W-W-Where’s W-W-W-Waldo, so be sure to look for Derek (aka Waldo) peeking out in the pictures! 

We had a ton of fun, but that really is balanced by how much good the money will do with Special Olympics.  We really can’t thank those who donated enough!

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Verm!

I finally made it down to the Vermillion for the first time in 2011.  For the first time in a long time I wasn’t part of the ice-breaking crew that made  the actual first run of the year, but it was pretty chilly all the same. 

The temp was about 17 degrees when we put on, and there was a stiff wind that added a nice bite to it.  Nora, Amy, and I were all bundled up under our dry suits, though, so once we started walking/climbing/slipping our way towards the put-in we were fine. 

This was Amy’s first winter paddling experience, and the ice ledges and frozen gear didn’t slow her down a bit.  She did great, even practicing surfing down in Donut! 

It was also Nora’s first descent in her new Big Dog kayak that she won in a nation-wide contest.   Though she was still working on getting the outfitting set, it sounded like the boat performed well overall. 

As for the river, the level was probably only about 75cfs, but it was running winter-fast, so there was fun play at both Railroad and Donut.   Mostly, though, it was just nice to back on the water with friends.  Looking forward to a new season!