Oregon Coast Surfing with Lumpy Waters Symposium

Going where you've never gone before. Pushing your limits. Achieving the impossible. And sharing it all with friends old and new. That sums up Lumpy Waters.

The weekend of October 16-18 was a magical experience for Oregon paddling! On this weekend 60+ fanatics gathered in Pacific City, Oregon for Alder Creek's Lumpy Waters Symposium. The three-day coastal kayaking extravaganza was a complete package of instruction (surf and ocean paddling), meals and lodging. It was also sponsored by major paddling companies like Werner, P&H Sea Kayaks, Valley Kayaks, Thule, Kokatat and Wilderness Systems. Also present were Anna and David from Wend Magazine.

Forecasts looked truly ominous a couple of days prior. Just before departing the KGW put up gale warnings with winds in excess of 34 knots, seas of 12 ft and up to four inches of rain in the Oregon Coast mountains! OK. It's Friday at O'Dark Hundred and the car's packed up. I spent time at the KEEN Footwear pre-350.org party the night before, but its effects weren't felt. I hit the road. But when I arrived, it was weirdly quiet. Was this the calm before the storm? Dark skies, yes. But gales? Nope. I had dragged myself out of bed and packed up the car with every piece of kayaking gear I've got. Pyranha Burn for the short boat surf class and my Valley Aquanaut LV for the other classes. Helmet, all the paddles and dry suit etc. Plenty of Ibuprofin.

I took this gig seriously - heading to the Marshall Pool and Columbia Pool on three occasions to practice rolling in both kayaks. Some of that time was unexpectedly spent teaching rescues - but that's OK. I always learn something when I teach.

So it's about 8:30 and there's a fair number of hardy Lumpy Waters participants already here. The staff has my registration packet ready to go. Paddlers, clad in dry suits, look like peacocks contrasting the gray day.

The Cape Kiwanda "kampground" is right across the street from Pelican Brewpub and the Pacific Ocean. And just down the street there's the staging area for classes on the more quiet Nestucca estuary. It's a good location for rougher instruction in "conditions," or calmer flat water stuff. I found the "kabins" interesting. Although this "campground" is stuffed with "perma RVs" the cabins are landscaped in such a way that each seems hidden by itself - with its own fire pit. I had to work to see the RVs from my porch. I was way thankful for the kabin as we had rain - so there was room to hang out the dry suit.

OK time for class! This was my chance to use the long boat in the surf. My first class was the "Fear to fun in the surf." Our instructor Karl Anderson barked 'get your helmet and meet down at the Pelican parking lot ready to go at nine!' Uh, OK even though I hadn't even checked in to my kabin. Alder Creek had everything set up with a kitchen with some early morning food and then a sandwich bar for lunch. Karl and Danny Mongo, our coaches, took us down to the now-rising surf and gently guided us into the surf zone - w/o the boats at first. The idea is go get used to what the waves can do. Like bash your boat into you. You'd better not be between your boat and the shore! We spent a lot of time dealing with launching boats and what to do if you've got to wet exit in the surf. Basically, if you are out of the boat swimming, you need to hold on to the bow and let the waves bring you in. Launching is another matter altogether. Timing is everything. You can set your boat down on the sand but that doesn't mean you're bone dry. There'll be a wave that will let you float down to the water's edge. So once the water from that last wave goes out, you'd best get in your cockpit and snap the spray skirt on! You know there'll soon be another wave which is gonna reach all the way to your boat. From that point, if you have a partner, they can stabilize your boat until you are ready to go. If you're on your own, you'll be knuckle dragging your boat down to the water. We assembled down there, and I was surprised to find that the class was taking us, without boats, into the surf at first. I guess that's a great idea. We experienced the undertow. We learned why it's important to never ever be in between the boat and the beach. We also formed two-person teams responsible for launching and landing boats! We quickly learned how exhausting the surf zone can be launching and moving boats around in the zone. Later we got into our boats and from my whitewater experience I quickly learned how easy it is to brace against the foam pile formed by breaking waves. Seemed like no matter its speed or fury, if you lean into the pile and brace, you can't go wrong. It's fun! Lean the opposite way, instant dump. The only dump I had was when I was distracted and didn't pay attention to the foam pile coming at me.

I certainly enjoyed bracing against the incoming foam from breaking waves. There's a ton to be learned from taking your boat into the surf. It's so chaotic you absolutely must use a lot of different strokes, edging and bracing to stay in control! You're being bashed about by breaking waves, many coming over your head, you're constantly shaking your head to lose the water so you can see. No need for a Neti Pot to clear your sinuses here, either! You've got lots of salt water up your nose all the time!

In the afternoon, my only class was rolling which turned out to be a waste of time. It was the worst pool session of 2009. I know I need to dial it in. But I failed more times in that pool than all the sessions of this year put together. It's partly I was exhausted and partly I was in a completely unfamiliar boat, not dialed in to me. At the very least I should have brought one of my boats. The Habitat 80 I used was so big and thigh braces/hip pads so wide I didn't feel contact and was distracted. I rolled, but not to a satisfactory extent and my exhaustion showed from the surf. I didn't let it get to me. I spent the balance of the afternoon reading National Geographic.

Friday's supper was a Mexi Feast. A hearty fueling after expending calories out there. Everyone was in a good mood. The air was festive, paddlers sharing stories of the day. Then David and Anna of Wend Magazine put on a video/slide show of the day's most embarrasing moments. A good laugh was shared!

Saturday broke darker and windier. Still, it wasn't the gale forecasted. During breakfast I spoke with Karl and then Sean, today's short boat surf class instructor. For me, the short boat class was my ultimate for this weekend. I'd been dying to try my Pyranha Burn in the surf. Even though I know it's not designed as a surf boat, I also know it can surf. It's got a flat bottom and edges. But I was real nervous about what might happen if I had to wet exit and then got dragged by the rip tide toward the rocks. Looking out at the darkening sky and increasing winds, I was like there's NO WAY I belong out there. I was dead set on only staying close and working the foam piles. I thought to myself, "What would happen if I had to exit and got towed by the rip to the rocks, boat with me?" Well, it came time to launch. I was surprised that I just kept battling out through the breakers. It wasn't long and I was further out than imagined! You've got to just bust through the foam piles and stick the blade into the green beyond, and pull through. No doubt the salt water pushing up my nostrils cleared the sinuses!

Well, the wind built and so did the surf. At one point I was defeated by this wave which was taller than my boat's length! I couldn't paddle over it. All of the sudden I was surfing backwards down it toward the shore! Vavoom...and when it was over, I just flipped the boat around and surfed the next one into shore...what a blast! Absolutely a highlight! Unfortunately it was so rainy nobody took pictures of the short boat class!

One of the most wonderful aspects of the short boat class was Dave Graham was there. I know him through my meetup kayak group. He's full of energy and loves surfing. I witnessed him taking another Pyranha out into the surf - and he was so graceful paddling out and then surfing in - total economy of movement. He was just riding the kayak with mostly hips edging and a little bracing with the paddle, probably 150 yards in total!

Sometime after eleven, the wind kicked up significantly and the tide was coming in. As high tide neared, the waves became much more vertical. Sean called us together and declared that the class was officially over, but we were free to practice out there. Sean and the other instructors confessed that in these conditions they'd never choose to go out and surf. It was about as ugly as it gets!

Saturday afternoon, the class was "Wind Management" taught by Rob Avery of Valley Sea Kayaks. I learned a fair amount of unexpected tricks on what wind does to the boat how you can edge it to counteract weathercocking. It was pretty interesting. We also spent some time on towing skills.

Dinnertime Saturday was awesome. The Yankee-Angels playoffs were happening, and the meal took place at the pizza restaurant right there in Pacific City. The thing about this event that was so great was that it's a magnet for people passionate about paddling! Dave Graham was there, and then Fred Harsman, who's passionate about long-boat surfing, showed up. My peers Deborah and Deb from meetup were around, and it was great to see Kate Ross, Dave White, Paul Kuthe, Dave Slover and friends from Alder Creek. David and Anna from Wend showed today's photos. When done, some of us headed over to Pelican Brew Pub for a night cap.

Over there, Rob Avery from Valley Sea Kayaks, Greg from my kabin and Dave Mongno from Werner and I hung out talking shop and watching the Yankee/Angels playoff game. As the game went into xtra innings, and we had more brewskis, it became apparent my Sunday plans might change. The Alder Creek staff mingled in and some harder drinks flowed. Another English style pint. OK time to head back to the kabin!

Uggh. I had that listless micro beer sleep and then 5:30 back at the cabin, the alarm sounds! I can't believe it's time to get up already!

Sunday's breakfast was back at the Pelican Brewpub. Generous mugs of warm coffee arrived at the table, followed by traditional eggs and bacon. I was signed up for the weather-cancelled Cave Exploration and got substituted into another challenging class. It wasn't long before my body and head were saying no, if the weather was like yesterday I wasn't up for another day of this! My head was woozy and pretty much all muscles ached. So I switched out to the 'strokes & maneuvers' class. Well, Sunday's weather turned mellow. I got my "cool-down" class, but didn't learn anything new. In retrospect I could have handled one of the coastal tours.

Lumpy Waters was a great experience. Taken together it was a great weekend for everyone. One of the best things was so many people together enjoying something they love so much!