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"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea."
-- Isak Dinesen
Suggested books and readings
The Ten "Commandments" of Sea Kayaking
Sea kayaking during thunderstorms and lightning:
Lightning Strikes and Paddling
Every sport I practiced was a bit challenging at the beginning. Sea kayaking made a notable exception. It was not challenging... it was simply a traumatic experience. I still remember clearly the day when the guy of the nautical store called saying that our long awaited 2 seats kayak was finally arrived.
The store was close to the Giulianova's harbor. "Here's your kayak, enjoy" said the guy. Me and my twin brother Andrea had to bring the kayak back to Tortoreto, about 4 km away. Clearly, paddling. We had never touched a kayak before but we had studied the paddling technique on a book and we are confident we could easily cover that distance. The sea is calm, a perfect day for paddling.
We expected the guy to help us to bring the kayak (about 40kg) to the shore, but he thought differently. "You'd better go that way, through the harbor". 100mt from us there was a small slide, leading inside the harbor. The slide was incredibly slippery and I think it was a miracle that we manage to lead the kayak over it without breaking our necks. Once in the water, we both manage to enter without capsizing (2nd miracle in a row).
The worst is over, we think. But then we start paddling... Our kayak is weaving in the harbor like a crazy boat. After a few minutes of frustration I decide to sacrifice myself. I jump in the filthy water of the harbor and reach the stern of the kayak to act as human rudder. It works. Finally we are on track, although we proceed very slowly, with my brother paddling with two paddles as if they were one.
Perseverance is the key to success
On my Inuk Absolute18 (cscanoe), paddling with my friend Pino (on his surfski)
The harbor of Giulianova during high season... not the easiest place to start kayaking
We are struggling but nobody helps. A boat goes past us and the guy rather than offering us a rope to get us quickly from the harbor is kind enough to warn us... "You cannot stay here! If the coastal guard catches you here, they will kick your ass very badly!" Luckily enough, our presence goes unnoticed by the coastal guard and we finally exit the harbor and get back to the shore.
We are already exhausted, and we still have 4km of paddling ahead. In the meantime the wind starts raising, and the sea conditions worsen. On the plus sides, we are getting the hang of it and our weaving is now much less pronounced. But we were doomed... The sea conditions keep worsening and the waves get bigger and bigger. As we had zero experience we were paddling too close to the shore: it was safer, as the water was less deep, but we did not consider the nasty waves you get there. In fact, near the shore the waves interact with the sea bed and change shape, increasing in height; moreover, near the shore water moves back and forth, causing waves to break.
It was only a matter of time. Finally, the "killer wave" arrives. Never offer the side to the waves, always face them with the bow... that was the first sea kayak lesson we learned that day. That killer wave hits us violently on the side. We capsize. The kayak gets filled with water. We try to remove the water, with little success.
The rest of the journey consisted in us dragging, alternately, the heavy as hell kayak, half filled with water. We get back home two hours later than expected. We finally managed to empty the kayak and brought it to our garage. We are exhausted, knackered. In the following two weeks none of us even looked at that kayak. But then, as the memories of that day started fading, a new chance came... and things changed quickly.
My first sea kayak was a very basic one. Very wide, very heavy, very slow. Clearly, it was exceptionally stable, so stable that soon enough I started to enjoy paddling with rough water, as a rodeo challenge. Despite it was a 2-seat kayak, I soon found myself kayaking solo. Kayaking solo on that heavy K2 was a very good training... but a change was needed.
The change was a very significant one. A kevlar-carbon, very light Inuk kayak, one of the fastest skulls ever designed, which I got from one of the finest kayak manufacturers, CS Canoe at Pordenone. I reached Pordenone and when I tried it on the river Livenza I immediately felt in love. To be honest, on the river I struggled with both stability and direction, but I knew that things would have improved with time.
And it was so. My first year with the new Inuk was amazing. I was faster and could easily cover 10km, which was an heroic deed before. But there was still room for improvement.
The following year I changed paddle, from the classical flat one to the more powerful wing type, and changed my paddling style accordingly. Results: 33km round trips touching the harbors of Giulianova and Martinsicuro became an almost daily routine.
I leave usually very early, when it is still dark. The sight of sunrise while paddling in the silence of the sea is worth a few hours of sleep!
The making of a kayak like mine -- CS Canoe
Dolphins kayak encounter in Alba Adriatica (by S. Calisti) -- I wish I was that lucky!
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