Paddling out through the surf zone. Last night, the kayaking listservs were abuzz about the building waves on Lake Michigan. Paddlers arranged to meet at 63rd Street Beach in Chicago, Portage Beach in Indiana, and the New Buffalo beach in Michigan to play in the waves. Forecasts varied, but most indicated waves up to 5 or 6 feet at the south end of the lake. We met our friends and fellow Geneva Kayak Center coaches Aaron Litchfield and Chris Hoffman at 63rd Street Beach on Chicago’s south side. The waves were three to five feet and nicely formed. The wind had dropped to 15 to 20 knots. Sharon catching a wave back in. Here on the Great Lakes, waves are created mainly by wind. Its strength, duration and fetch (distance it travels) determine the height of our waves. That means the ideal time to surf is immediately after the wind decreases but before the waves settle down. (You can learn a lot more about this at Go Kayak Now.) Today was made even more ideal by the warm water and bright sunlight. When the sky is overcast and the water is cold, everything feels more ominous and dangerous. Today, it was just pure fun. Alec, Aaron and Chris paddling out to catch another ride back to the beach. After a couple hours of riding waves toward the beach and paddling back out, we decided to explore the clapotis along the north side of the 57th Street Harbor break wall. Reflecting waves combined with incoming waves to create chaotic heaps of water. The four of us felt confident paddling in this area, since all of us are comfortable in pretty rough water, but it was not a place any of us would have gone alone or without other skilled paddlers. Clapotis near a break wall creates chaotic conditions. In fact, once you get comfortable with clapotis, you tend to find yourself seeking it out. Aaron and Alec playing in another area of clapotis south of the 63rd Street Harbor. It’s a treat to get some surf practice in summer. Soon the water will be cooler and the days shorter. We’ll still go out when the north winds blow, but we’ll be decked out in dry suits and toting hot tea. And in early October, when the surf season is in full swing, you’ll find us at The Gales: A Storm Gathering, a new symposium dedicated to rough water kayaking. This is great opportunity for anyone who wants to build skill and confidence in these kinds of...

Alec leads the group onto Section 3 of the Wolf River. We spent the past weekend at a staff retreat for Geneva Kayak instructors. We pitched our tents in a rustic site near Langlade, Wisconsin, and spent our days doing some swift water rescue training and some whitewater paddling on the beautiful Wolf River.  Water levels were high, thanks to a combination of recent rain and snow melt. It was running at about 900 CFS, so many rocks lurked just beneath the surface. But at this level, it provided some nice waves, solid eddies and a lot of fun. Aaron paddles through Gilmore’s Mistake. At this time of year, there’s no question about dressing for the water temperature. It was essentially the same as the air temperature–about 40 degrees–and the wind made it feel cooler. But as long as we wore plenty of thermal layers and kept paddling, we stayed warm.  Scott catches a wave. The same could not be said of the campsite, where it was difficult to stake our tents in some places because the ground was frozen and strong winds threatened to blow them away. Still, we managed to enjoy a campfire most nights and mornings and practiced tying bowlines and setting up Z-drags.  When it wasn’t too windy, the campfire kept us warm.  There’s a huge value to staff retreats. In addition to the training, they provide opportunities to build camaraderie.  Haris, Paul and Greg at the campsite. Jeremy and Emily help prepare breakfast. Ryan picks blueberries. And for those of us who paddle sea kayaks more than whitewater boats, they provide an opportunity to have a steep learning curve once again.  Sharon smiling–a look typical of all of...

Kent Ford. We just completed a three-day whitewater Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) with Kent Ford, one of the most respected instructor trainers in the country, who has competed and won titles in international whitewater slalom racing, coached the US Olympic kayak team, published books and produced videos about paddling technique and instruction, and continues to coach paddlers at every level. Despite all his credentials, experiences and accolades, Kent is a remarkably laid-back, open-minded guy. (Once again, we’re struck by the fact that most of the rock stars of the paddling world don’t let their prominence go to their heads.) The course was hosted by Geneva Kayak Center and taught at the new Yorkville whitewater park, where Geneva just opened its new paddle shop and instructional center. Kent, no stranger to whitewater teaching venues, was highly impressed by both the shop and the park. “It’s pretty darn amazing,” he told us. “It’s the most teaching-friendly of the whitewater parks I’ve been to, but there’s still plenty for a real strong intermediate or advanced paddler. It’s like five miles of class two river features jammed into 200 yards of city park.” We had visited the park earlier with our kids, who did find plenty to do with their considerable whitewater skills. This IDW was our opportunity to get some formal training on how to teach whitewater paddling, as well as some top-notch instruction and critique of our own skills. We’re still processing the experience, but some things are already clear to us: Coming from our sea kayak background, some aspects of whitewater technique are familiar and comfortable while others are foreign and awkward. Both the similarities and differences are valuable, and build our paddling skills. As we develop as coaches and paddlers, we realize that being knowledgeable and capable in various types of boats is essential to becoming graceful and skilled in any type of boat. Certainly, the coaches who impress us most with their technique tend to paddle more than one craft. Geneva Kayak Center is poised to transform paddling in the Chicago area by being located at this great venue and offering all sorts of training opportunities in canoe, whitewater kayak and sea kayak for students and instructors. They brought Kent Ford to Yorkville! We’re grateful for the opportunities they’ve provided and look forward to the ones to...

Panoramic shot of the whitewater park and the new Geneva Kayak Outdoor Center. Most of the time, we drive east to paddle on Lake Michigan. But yesterday, we went west to Yorkville, Ill. to check out Geneva Kayak Center’s new Yorkville Outdoor Center on the also-new Glen D. Palmer Whitewater Canoe/Kayak Chute. It’s a nice location: the whitewater course is right outside the door of the outdoor center, and a concrete walkway allows paddlers to easily carry their boats from the bottom of the run back up to the top. The landscaping isn’t yet done, and Geneva Kayak is still putting finishing touches on the shop, but both are ready enough for action. Sharon and Bill Burton putting in at the top of the chute. Mounds of debris and cement blocks testify to the recent completion of the chute and the work yet to come on the landscaping. The river was high and the current was fast — about 3,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) — so we felt comfortable running it once in a fiberglass boat. From there, we headed down the Fox River.One of the appeals of Geneva’s Yorkville Location is the easy access to a lovely section of the Fox. You can paddle various distances to a number of easy take-outs. At one point, we heard rapids and saw a horizon line ahead of us–the tell-tale signs of what could be a low-head dam. We knew that there was a broken-out dam at this point on the river and that it was runnable, but we decided to get out and scout anyway. Getting out to scout ahead. It turned out to be a broken-out dam of no significance, which we happily paddled through. All that sound didn’t signify much. With air temperatures in the lower 50s, water in the upper 30s and a 90 percent chance of rain, we knew it was going to be an interesting weather day. And it was. At various times, we enjoyed rain… and fog… and even encountered a few small ice bergs floating along. But mostly, we enjoyed a very quiet trip down a pretty section of the fox. When we returned to Geneva Kayak Center, it was getting cooler and starting to rain more heavily, but we hopped in our whitewater boats and spent some time playing in the features. The view at 3,000 CFS There were plenty of nice surf waves along with wave trains and squirrelly eddy lines. A serious play boater might find the offerings limited, but we appreciated the opportunity to paddle hard and tune up our rusty whitewater skills in our newer shorter boats. We drove home in the dark and the rain, reflecting...

Getting on the water at the Big Rock Quarry. The forecast on Sunday was 94 degrees and sunny. A perfect day to either hide inside someplace air conditioned (library, movie theater, frozen food aisle) or go outside someplace wet.We were scheduled to teach a Level 2 class for Geneva Kayak Center at the Big Rock Quarry in Sugar Grove, so outside and wet it was.We love teaching this all-day class, which is typically the second class students take after a two-hour intro class. We start with wet exits, move on to basic strokes, and end with rescues. Students who begin the day fearful of falling over generally end the day feeling more in control of their boats and more aware of what they still need to work on and learn. They know enough to know that they know enough to be dangerous, which is a pretty safe place to...

Justine Curgenven. (Photo courtesy of Justine Curgenven.) Over the course of two evenings, we watched This is the Sea 4. This is a generous package: one disk of shorter profiles of remarkable paddlers and locales; one disk with two longer expeditions.Disk one follows Justine’s now-familiar approach of documenting outstanding kayakers who collectively define the sport. But whereas This is the Sea 1, 2 and 3 were like a kayaking Who’s Who and Where’s Where , This is the Sea 4 widens the lens to explore the variation and diversity of what can be done with sea kayaks themselves. We meet kayak fishermen off the California coast, whitewater paddlers tackling the Ottawa River in sea kayaks, and a Norwegian father-and-son team who hop around on the tops of their boats in the fjords. We also meet a woman who nurses injured wombats back to health, and see Hadas Feldman on her home turf. The message of disk one is something like, “All over the world, people are pushing the bounds of what they and their boats can do. Don’t be narrow-minded about what sea kayaking is about.”Disk two contains two expedition narratives that, like her earlier ones, show why sea kayak trips are so enticing but don’t disguise how hard they can be. The Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) circumnavigation with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme manages to be a loving portrait of a remarkable place, a profile of the whimsical and knowledgeable owners of Body Boat Blade, and a story all in one. (Those of us who met Shawna and Leon at the West Michigan Coastal Kayakers Association symposium last year got a preview of this trip.) Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme. (Photo by Justine Curgenven.) The circumnavigation of the south island of New Zealand with Barry Shaw is considerably more challenging. The two paddled 2,400 kilometers, many of them into stiff headwinds, with limited landing options that were further complicated by punishing surf. At one point, Justine develops an infection and has to be airlifted to a hospital. They often look exhausted and sometimes almost defeated, and share all of that in the footage. At some points, Justine is even too tired to laugh. It’s really a brutally honest documentary; she shares the tough decisions, the discouragement and the fear as well as the elation and excitement. That’s something we’ve always appreciated about Justine’s work, and it’s very much in evidence here. Barry Shaw landing through surf. (Photo by Justine Curgenven.) We’ve found, over the years, that we return to each of the This is the Sea DVDs to review segments we love. The same will be true with this one.Justine and Barry will be showing a one-hour...

Yesterday we received our advance copy of This is the Sea 4, Justine Curgenven’s anxiously awaited sequel to the sequel of the sequel of This is the Sea. Consider her the J.K.Rowling of the paddling world, with lots of great characters, loads of adventure, plenty of magic, but less of the teenage angst. We watched disk one last night and will watch disk two tonight after the Chicago Whitewater Association pool session, so if you were hoping to hear what we think, check back tomorrow. Meanwhile, call Geneva Kayak Center at 630.232.0320 to reserve your tickets to her Nov. 14 midwest premiere.How’s that for...

Saturday was the annual Geneva Kayak Center Kayak Fest, a day of free classes and an evening of socializing–sort of like a mini symposium but with boats and gear on sale and without the sleepover or registration fee.We taught many classes at Geneva this year, so we were psyched to see some of our students again. We were also eager to see some of our fellow instructors, though we anticipate seeing them in the surf on Lake Michigan in the coming weeks (fall is surf season in Chicago) and then in the pool on Wednesday evenings during the winter.It was a beautiful fall day. Some of the trees along the banks of the Fox River were rich hues of orange and gold; geese and herons adorned the water and banks. But best of all, the river was full of kayakers, many of them beginners or near-beginners, eager to learn new skills before the end of the paddling season. Students who attended Kayak Fest were rewarded with free classes and lovely weather. For us, the season isn’t quite over. Dry suits and sufficient skill enable us to safely paddle into November and December. In the coming weeks, we’ll chronicle some of the beauty of Lake Michigan settling into the solitude of its colder season.But for now, we’re enjoying looking at the photos from Saturday. Funny, but people are smiling in all of them! Paul Doughty in a rare moment on the other side of the...