Our local environment. Photo credit: Joyce Ann When we think about taking advantage of a local paddling environment, we tend to think about exciting and even exotic things: rock gardens, tidal races and tiny islands. Here in Chicago, we don’t have any of those natural features. Our 28-mile shoreline is manmade, an urban coast comprised of beaches and break walls, punctuated by piers and harbors. Our shoreline is highly developed, and in places, the offshore waters are bustling with tour boats and recreational traffic on summer weekends. How do you take advantage of that? Some of Chicago’s offshore manmade structures: the Chicago Harbor Light and breakwall. In fact, this environment is ideal for a course on risk assessment, leadership, group management and good decision-making. These were the foci of our recent Open Water Journeying course, which we created to enable students to plan and execute safe and enjoyable day trips. Participants in our Open Water Journeying course making sure their boats and kit are ready for the day’s paddle. Over the course of the day, we assessed the actual risks we faced that day and found ways to mitigate them. We discussed general principles of leadership and group management, agreed upon ways to communicate among ourselves, and practiced communicating with lock tenders and commercial vessels. Following appropriate protocol to hail the lock tender on a VHF radio. We developed strategies for safely paddling through areas with complex boat traffic patterns. We kept together as a tight group during longer crossings and correctly estimated the time it would take us to complete them. Keeping a group together during a longer crossing. We launched and landed on docks and other structures. Chicago offers a variety of launching and landing challenges. We’ve long appreciated other features of our shoreline: the break walls that generate exciting clapotis when waves approaching and leaving them collide; the north-facing beaches where we can surf when conditions are right. But it’s easy to overlook this area’s other environmental assets–a hazard of paddling any place that’s very familiar–or to regard them as negatives. Following proper procedures in the Chicago Harbor Lock. Photo credit: Joyce Ann Sure, there are days when we wish there were less traffic, and we definitely take advantage of every opportunity to paddle or coach in places with more beautiful and interesting natural features. But wherever we are, we try to appreciate what we have. And when we’re on the water in Chicago, that’s Lake Michigan’s urban coastline in all its manmade glory. Making good choices before a complicated crossing through boat traffic. Photo credit: Joyce...

Mariners and coastal dwellers consider nor’easters trouble. Paddlers on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan consider them a gift.The forecast for today was NE winds 15 to 25 miles per hour and waves 4 to 6 feet building to 5 to 7. That’s the kind of geeky weather detail that lights up the message boards and clogs up bandwith on Chicago paddlers’ iPhones.So yeah, we went down to the doggie beach/water trail launch site at Montrose. The waves were big, frequent and chaotic. But the water was still warm and friendly, so in addition to playing in the waves, we took the opportunity to practice swimming our boats in to shore.We knew (or believed) a few things going into this: That boats travel more slowly upside-down than right-side-up, that you always stay upwave of your boat, that it’s best to hold the end toggle and avoid putting a finger inside the loop, that anything loose would soon be gone, that breaking waves would cause the boat to lurch.Some observations:– Even though Alec was prepared for the boat to lurch in larger breaking waves, one wave managed to tug it out of his grip. It tumbled upright and waited for him and he was able to catch up with it.– Sharon found it best to swim off to the side behind the boat so that she wasn’t hit in the face or thrown on top of it by a breaking wave.– Alec found that holding the paddle was easier if he kept it below the surface of the water.Both of us were surprised by our lack of desire to come out of our boats in breaking waves. It seemed to go against everything we’ve worked on–the ability to stay in our boats and in control, particularly in challenging conditions.But that’s exactly why we did it, so that if it happens in the future unintentionally, we’ll have some experience to fall back on....

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, here’s a 3,000-word...

The forecast today was rain and waves. So as soon as the kids left for school, we packed up and headed to Montrose beach to paddle with Scott Fairty. This wasn’t supposed to be a paddling day, but you don’t just let 2- to 4-foot waves get away unsurfed. Guess which car is ours. Synchonized paddling? The waves were rolling in nicely at the beach, but the area just north was chaos. Waves were hitting the “sheet piling” (shoreline retaining walls) and bouncing back, creating surf in both directions and at times meeting and combining to create waves twice as large. Going…. Going… Gone! Waves like these can be intimidating. They may be more of a challenge to your confidence than they are to your skills.Paddling in conditions like these, we realize how well our kayaks handle chaotic waves if we let them. Sometimes we just bob around in confused conditions without bracing to see how little we really need to do. But today, some bracing was necessary.Forecast for tomorrow: See you tomorrow, Scott? Sharon out to...

North winds at last! The forecast was 3- to 5-foot waves, so we hastened to the lake. This time we wore drysuits, only to find that some of the surface water had returned and the water was relative balmy–somewhere in the mid-60s.We love practicing rescues, but don’t often have an opportunity to try them in the conditions in which we’re most likely to need them. (Especially this year, when we’ve had very few big wave days.) So we took turns putting each other and ourselves back in our boats. Alec and Hannah complete a t-rescue. Alec completes a scramble (cowboy) self-rescue. Every time we do this, we are struck by how well these rescues work in conditions, but how essential it is to move quickly and hold on to everything (boats, paddles, people). We typically teach rescues in calm conditions in which paddlers are unlikely to capsize and try to convince our students that in real conditions, any lapse of attention can lead to serious complications. If the rescuer lets go of the casualty’s boat, it can whip away in the wind. If the casualty lets go of his or her boat or the rescuer’s deck lines, they can quickly be separated. If anybody lets go of a paddle, they may never see it again. Working on rescues in real conditions is the best test of your...

We gently paddle the surface of the lake, leaving no trace behind. As soon as we unloaded out boats near the 59th Street Harbor this morning, we could tell how dramatically the season has changed. The sun angled low through the crisp fall leaves still clinging to twigs overhead; the algae that made the ramp slippery during the summer was gone; fishermen were casting from the barren piers in the outer harbor; there was only one boat left in the inner harbor, and it looked forlorn. We paddled out in the middle of the channel with no concern for traffic because there were no boats in sight.The wind was about 10 knots out of the northeast, causing waves mostly in the two- to four-foot range, which collided with one another and built a little higher off the breakwater that protects 63rd Street Beach. The surface water temperature is in the mid to upper 50s now–poagie weather.We didn’t have a lot of time, so we paddled south toward Rainbow Beach, enjoying the crashing of waves hitting the boulders along the shore, and then back north to 63rd Street Beach, where we caught a few nice rides on fairly gentle surf. We saw three boats in the distance headed for dry dock, and interrupted a gaggle of geese floating near the harbor mouth.Lake Michigan must get lonely in the autumn. Perhaps that’s why she thrashes her shores in the fall before subsiding under a blanket of ice in the winter. Either that or she revels in her solitude after a summer of assaults by jet skis, motor boats, tour boats and yachts. We like to think she enjoys our company, at least, as we gently paddle her surface, leaving no trace...