Last saterday I joined together with Wieger, a tour from the NKB (Dutch Kajak Association) starting in Muiden. Because of the wind the original destination, the "island" Marken, was changed into Durgerdam which was shorter by as well as offering a more convenient course with the wind and last but not least also offering better surfing possibilities on our way back.
Although the area is very familiar to me, there was enough to be seen: 6 kayakers I did not meet before and two trainies practising for becoming an instructor. They practised issues like group-behaviour and paddletechnics on us.

Further I observed the other kayaks on this course with short waves and with the 5-6Bft.wind blowing at an angle of approx. 25° against us.

I paddled my Nordkapp HM of which the integral skeg was modified by sawing it partially away. Nevertheless this kayak shows in this wind some leecocking when gliding over a wave; not very severe and the kayak could be managed well without working too hard.
Observing the other kayaks I noticed that Mariner and Shoreline did not leecock noticible, while Nordkapp HM (there was another one), POint65 XP and Aquariak leecocked a bit. Unfortunately I missed a observation of the Explorer on this.

Looking at he underwatership of these kayaks I saw my theories fit because the kayaks with a square stern or integral skeg did leecock as well as the kayaks with a high bow, being the result of a designed longer waterline which creates a kinked bowline profile.

From the other kayaks with a more traditional bow and stern I could not see any noticible leecocking. Asking Wieger he told me that his Mariner only occasionally, when hitting an particulair steep wave, showed some leecocking and could easily be steered back on the desired course.

Of course any kayak shows, when exposed to the conditions as described, some leecocking. It is however a matter of design if a kayak deals with this easily or if the kayaker has to work hard to stay on course.

A I look at it, the "old" Inuit did a good job with the design of their kayaks: no long waterlines and no bulky bows.

Why design a kayak with features which make it only a little bit faster while compromising on the performance.
What's the importance of being 0,5 knot faster?

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Circumnavigation of "De Kreupel" at 9 march.

The Dutch have a reputation where it concerns the creating of new land. Normally they create land for human use. This time however they created a forbidden area.

When the shippinglane "Lemmer - Amsterdam" needed some maintenance to make it suitable for bigger ships with less bottom-clearance, they started thinking about what to do with the 3 milj. m3 of sand which would be the result of this operation.

Happily they discovered a shoal in the neighbourhood, named "Kreupel". According to a map from 1568-1573, made by Cristiaan Grootens, this area used to be once an island where fisherman could find some shelter in bad weather. Years later the island disappeared under the waterlevel and was a shoal since.


This shoal seemed the perfect place to dump the sand. And so they did: 2 sandbanks were the result having an area of 70 ha. These islands have a length of 1500m and a width of 500m and were also named "De Kreupel".

The sandbanks are created in such a way that birds can breed and rest there. Around it is constructed a stone dam leaving shoals next to the banks and giving the banks protection for waves.

The creating of the island probably has consequences for the fisherman who used to install their nets at the shoal before. For birds however this has proved to be a paradise, considering the number of birds increased in a spectacular way. Since the construction this perfect resting-place, having nearby places where the birds can find enough food, now is used for breeding by common tern (NL:visdief), Least Tern (NL:dwergstern), Little Ringed Plover (NL:kleine plevier) en seagulls (NL:meeuwen). It is said that 112 bird-species are counted yet.

"De Kreupel" is located 4,5 km from Andijks´ shore. It is managed bij staatsbosbeheer (www.staatsbosbeheer.nl) AND access is not allowed to us.

Part of the plan was the construction of an extra island in the neighbourhood which could be used for recreation. Searching the WWW it became not clear to me wether this island was to be realized or not. The problem was the budget available as well as objections against recreation in the neighbourhood of this birdsparadise.

Jos, a clubmember, discovered the existence of the island and proposed to take a look. This mini-expedition took place saterday 8 march; a windy day, offering challenging conditions, as well as a feeling that people probably got in the past when discovering new land.
We started at Medemblik heading for the empty sea: no trace of an island to be seen yet. We were pushed by a 5Bft. sw-wind; offering nice surfing-conditions.
At first Rob was not convinced at all that the island really exists as it was not mentioned on maps and could not (yet) be found with Google Earth. However being halfway, the island became visible and he had to believe it was not only a virtual island.


We rounded the northside of the island where we discovered quite a lot of Cormorants (NL:aalscholvers). New to us was to see these birds having made huge nests on the ground. We are used to see them having nests in trees which gradually die because of their faeces.
Other birds we could not see today, probably as a result of the windy weather. Surely we need quiet weather to be able to look through binoculars from our kayaks.
Arriving at the southend we discover that there is another, new island under construction. Could this be the proof that the recreational island is coming at the end??

We find some windshelter behind a big machine and after a quick rest, becoming cold, we start heading back. The wind increased in the meantime giving big, steep waves building up against the island. Very nice indeed. It looks like big surf, something I would not expect over here.
Now we face the challenge to cover 9km almost straigth against the wind. In this conditions I regret having taken with me a Baidarka today which, unloaded, offers its big bow to the wind everytime when passing a wave. The result is the only thing I hate in seakayaking: leecocking. Meaning: hard work to keep on course with this big expedition kayak. I am very happy now that I tailorfitted the Baidarka for perfect foot, knee and hip-contact. I doubt it if I could ever have managed to stay on this course over 9km without it.
In the distance we see the silhouet of Medemblik at the horizon: It seems to be there for ever, as it only approached us very, very slowly.

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Underneath a report by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency who had been searching for 2 seakayakers. Everything turned out OK in the end. But had the kayakers communicated their plans of camping on the Isle of May (near Edinburgh in Scotland) before leaving, the whole search would not have been necessary.

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Today it felt about time for paddling some big water again. Apart from Hans (You can click this link for his report about our trip) and me, nobody else was available or was in the mood. As the weatherforecast did not say anything about a summersday, we went to the IJsselmeer, a relatively sheltered place, and planned Muiden-Marken vv., paddling both our AnasAcuta´s.
Early in the morning the black skies predicted heavy weather, but when we shove our kayaks into the water, the wind died and the skies lifted.
Apart from the cold wind this was a good day for paddling; a real "weather window" in between days of storm and expected rain. I enjoyed the skies and the sight of Hans' AnasAcuta dancing the waves.

After a brake at Marken near the lighthouse, alas not in a Scottisch pub but in the shelter of a small shed, we started battling our way back against wind and waves while the wind increased, varying between 5-6Bft. After paddling a while I noticed that I was short of power. Remembering the long period I needed for warming up while paddling and also being cold after waking up this morning, this seemed like a signal something being different from normal. Or was this just my punishement for having not paddled for 2 months? Or did I consume my energyreserves while cycling to my work last monday, trying to cover the 75km as fast as possible in the morning before 9.00h?
I don't know, but anyhow I tried to keep up with Hans' pace. To reach higher speed I lengthened the strokes with my Kinetik wingpaddle by adding more trunkrotation. This worked reasonably well. But: having covered half the distance my lower back started hurting suddenly. That's frightening because with a malfunctioning back you are in problems.Remembered being rescued with Willem Molengraaf a few years ago because of serious problems with his back. Ah, I also remembered now that this trunkrotation which I was practising, is only possible in a (racing) kayak without back-strapping. I warned Hans (always communicate about how you are feeling!) and he proposed to change paddles. This was a good idea as I noticed after a while, paddling Hans Nordkapp paddle (heavy it was) with less trunkrotation, that the pain diminished and disappeared finally.

On our way we saw only few birds. One silhouet caught my special attention: it was quite different from what is normally been seen around here and seemed yet familiair, remembering having seen it once before. I watched the size, silhouet and the black tips at the underside of the wings. However I forgot to pay attention to the shape of the head: bad bird-watcher! So searching the books afterwards I thought it must have been a "Jan van Gent" (Sulla Bassana # English: Gannet), but I am not completely sure having missed the details about its head.

Having reached Pampus we changed paddles again. This time I remembered that I learned last year that excessive trunkrotation with this kinetikwing paddle did not add much to efficiency. I just forgot this today. Also remembered now I learned that I should paddle while putting most energy in the forward part of the strokes.
So while paddling like this in a somewhat higher frequency now, I had no problems anymore keeping up with Hans. And most important, my back did not hurt anymore, just feeling tired. But this last part of the trip I enjoyed most: waves coming from aside while being confused a bit by other waves. The AnasAcuta seems like flying, probably she likes this kind of conditions most.

Interesting that while always trying to change and experiment with paddling styles to get most out of it, I now got into the boobytrap of choosing the wrong style for the day.

Details: saterday 2 februar 2008, distance 31km, temp water 5°C, air ±5°C, wind west 4-5-6Bft.

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Did you ever have the feeling that seakaying is fine but that carrying the kayaks afterwards is a torment?

Of course toggles have been developed to bring comfort in carrying, but after paddling for a day or after having played in heavy surf the muscles of my hands and forearms are probably too tired to like gripping a toggle for carrying a kayak. So I have often to rest when carrying two kayaks or change hands when carrying one.

Once, while roaming the beach, I found a very strong band. I picked it up (all people from fishermans-villages like finding things ; in Dutch = "jutten") because I got the idea that it might be useful for carrying kayaks. First I experimeted with it, carrying from the shoulders, but I found this too clumsy to be practical.

Next thing I invented was wrapping the band around the wrist, like you do with a plastic shoppingbag when it cuts your fingers, just to take the strain away from my fingers.
That works, so I bougth 2 metal clips to connect to the toggle-ropes and sewn an endless ring from the band. So just put your hand in the band and click on. That´s all; it´s so simple!

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