News from Central Iowa Paddlers

Volume: 1 Issue 1

October 2010

Paddling Opportunities
___________________________

Maquoketa River Water Trail Dedication & Float

Ongoing Paddling Activities in Central Iowa

October Event Calendar

_______________________________

Trip Reports
_______________________________
Deceived by Deception Pass

_______________________________

Paddling News
___________________________
IRR Rivers Rock Event a Success

Raccoon River Scouted in Prep for VIP Float

Safety Lessons that Avoid Safety Issues

You can now pay your CIP member dues online!

Just How Do you Join CIP's Yahoo! Group, Anyway!!!!

Who We Are:

Central Iowa Paddlers is an informal group of paddlesport enthusiasts formed in 1997.

What We Do:

The mission of the club is to share paddling information, promote paddling opportunities and paddlesport safety, and encourage care of our aquatic
resources for both new and experienced paddlers.

CIP Board Organization and Club Policies

CIP is now on Facebook

Share your trip reports, event details, pictures, videos with other members of CIP!

Join the CIP Yahoo Group!

Benefits of a Yahoo Group:

facilitates member to member communication
Timely Information about cancellations and short notice trip opportunities
offers group discussion among members
eases the burden of one person having to communicate all group messages.
You get to choose how you receive CIP's emails

Click here to learn how to join CIP's Yahoo! Group: paddleiowa

Quick Links...

CIP Website

Paddling Iowa Website

Skunk River Paddlers
Des Moines River
Prairie Rapids Paddlers
Iowa Whitewater Coalition
Iowa Rivers Revival

DNR River Programs
Project AWARE
IOWATER
Streamflow Gages

Greetings!

Welcome to CIP's NEW Monthly Newsletter! With this inaugural issue, we are combining the venerable CIP Newsletter with the up-start CIP Monthly Update. This new publication is your window to what's going on in the Central Iowa Paddling community. We hope you enjoy it.

Your editors are Steve Parrish and John Wenck. We are looking to you for both contributions to our pages and feedback. What's working and what would you like to see? This month we have paddling news, trip schedules, trip reports ... and more.

As always, please feel free to contact us:

Membership dues & emails for CIP List:	Newsletter, Information, Questions:
Lynn Aldridge Lynn-Aldridge@uiowa.edu 641-363-4451 Central Iowa Paddlers P.O. Box 17 Des Moines, IA 50301-0017	Steve Parrish sbparrish@q.com 2834 Druid Hill Dr Des Moines, IA 50315 515-284-6910
Send Dues, email announcements, pictures	Send articles, trip reports

Deceived by Deception Pass
By Steve Parrish

Have you seen those movies where they suspend the character in space and the scenery seems to revolve around him? So, in the movie The Matrix Neo is transfixed in time, but all that is about him appears to be spinning around. This is loosely the form of vertigo I experienced while caught up in the currents of Deception Pass. I had just worked my way into an eddy, happy to be in calm water only a hundred yards off shore. I had broken the hold of the currents and was just starting to feel my shoulders and grip loosen. But when I looked up, I saw the mainland a half mile out moving swiftly to the right. It appeared the land was moving like a boat plying stationary waters. I was in a calm eddy pool, but the earth was passing by in a dizzying swirl. If I looked at this bizarre anomaly any longer, I was going to lose balance ... or lose my breakfast! I had to make the earth stop moving by having me start paddling.

It's interesting to note what causes us to stay awake at night when worrying about a trip the next day. Preparing to paddle the northwest face of Isle Royale, several of our group slept poorly the night before. They worried about tracking around 13 miles of rock wall without a break. Me? I slept fine that night. But, thinking about a solo paddle in the currents of the Pacific Northwest, sleep was not to be had. I was in Anacortes Washington, the so-called "gateway to the San Juan Islands". When I had picked up my boat and asked the outfitter about the tides in the area, he said "the tides aren't bad; it's the currents you need to worry about." He then gave me a thick booklet with tide AND current tables. The former I've dealt with; the latter was new to me. I couldn't make sense of how current tables worked, and how they differed from tide tables. I didn't sleep well, wanting to paddle the well known Deception Pass, but feeling clueless as to when to safely enter the pass.

It was a beautiful morning, and I was safely ensconced in my kayak plying flat, windless waters. I left the beauty and protection of Bowman Bay, with a goal of Deception Pass, less than a mile away. The pass separates Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands, and is a earthly sphincter that passes millions of gallons of Pacific tidal waters to and from the mainland. This notorious paddling challenge is best managed at slack tide. My reading of the tables was that at 9 am there would be an ebb tide (water going out), with it going to slack tide around 10 am. So, I went towards the pass at 9 am, figuring the worse that could happen is that the outflowing current would block me from getting into the pass. But, the water appeared calm and I was confident. I paddled right into the pass. The Deception Pass Bridge, looming 180 feet above the water, spans a huge gorge that is so beautiful as to be mesmerizing. Since I apparently didn't have to fight currents, I was busy photographing the magical sights of the pass and the bridge.

As I paddled under the bridge, I also paddled into the jaws of the pass's currents. Just as I was securing my camera, I looked to my starboard beam and saw a two yard wide whirlpool draining water into the unknown. Looking further up, I saw water pillowing up above unseen sub-currents. Standing waves were to my right, going no where in particular. I quickly figured out that I was not in slack tide and I needed to get out of the currents. The ebb tide I thought I was in was in reality a flood tide, pulling me into the pass. I started paddling towards shore, barely missing another whirlpool a few feet in front of my bow. Within a couple of minutes I was able to break loose from the current and get into a calm eddy pool. And THAT is when the surreal vertigo scene unfolded. I seemed to be suspended in the calm pool while the world was caught up in the currents. In reality, the pool, though lacking turbulence, was moving at a 3 or 4 knot clip, making the stationary shore appear to be moving

Not having time to analyze the absurdity of my perception, I knew I had to use the many eddies to make my escape. I pointed my boat back towards the open ocean, and proceeded to work my way under the bridge and out. I avoided whirlpools and standing waves by hop scotching from one eddy pool to another, blasting through the eddy lines as quickly as possible. All said, between the time I was in the clutches of the pass and the time I escaped, not 15 minutes had passed. But I had added immeasurably to my paddling skill set. I learned that you can't rely solely on current tables. I learned that you can't judge water flow by how stable your boat feels; you have to look to a reference point to make sure you and your boat aren't being suckered by the sea! And, I learned that Deception Pass is better as a movie scene than as something to be attempted by a solo paddler.

Safety Lessons that Avoid Safety Issues
by Steve Parrish

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

--Gordon Lightfoot

I recently returned from a successful kayak trip on Lake Superior, one with no safety issues. Rather than passing along safety advice learned only as a result of something bad happening, let me suggest ideas that help avoid problems in the first place. Perhaps not as exciting as tales of woe, but problem avoidance ideas can be just as useful.

Know Your Plan - Our circumnavigation of Isle Royale involved a significant amount of research. We not only had maps; we had GPS campsite waypoints programmed in, and we had inland portaging escape routes determined. Most trips don't involve this much research, but the point is to know your plan in advance. Where are you going; what obstacles might there be; what is your backup plan?

Equipment is Key - Beyond a PFD, there are ways to assure a comfortable and safe trip. Checking a weather radio is key for any trip taking more than a few hours; Do you need a spare paddle, or perhaps a towrope? Are you carrying a safety kit with First Aid, water, sunscreen and dry clothes?

Before and After Plans - If on a river, create a plan for ferrying cars and equipment, and be SURE the paddler with the downriver car has keys in possession. Likewise, be sure everyone is aware of the possible length of the trip. Nothing messes up a trip like a paddler midway through who suddenly has to get home.

Word of Mouth is a Form of Safety - Ask advice from people who have paddled the area in the past. Check with locals as to any recent changes in navigation, water levels, takeouts, etc.

Know What Kind of Water You'll be On - River paddlers may not understand the challenges of a long lake crossing; lake paddlers may be surprised by river currents; and we mid-westerners can be totally fooled by the tides and currents of the ocean. Nothing wrong about trying something new, but know what you don't know before you put in.

Know Each Other - Ego, misunderstandings, and shyness can all be safety issues when it results in a paddler not being up to the trip. It's not only okay, but necessary to ask each other about skill levels. For example, there's nothing wrong with being unable to execute a self-rescue, but it is wrong to not disclose this fact to a group with whom you're planning to make an open water crossing!

Safety is more than common sense. It is reading, advanced planning and preparation. Many safety skills come with experience, but better to know these skills in advance than learn them the hard way.

Maquoketa River Water Trail Celebration and Dedication - Fall Float Trip

Please join the Jones County Conservation Board on Saturday, October 9th, 2010 to celebrate and dedicate the Maquoketa River Water Trail Project. During the last 3 years countless people and organizations have contributed a lot of time and funding, to make the project a success. The program will include speakers from Jones County, the National Park Service, the IDNR, Iowa Dept. of Economic Development - Vision Iowa and the IDOT Federal and State Recreational Trails Program. After a tour of the new facilities at Pictured Rocks we will travel to Mon Maq Access in Monticello and tour the new facilities at that location. The day will be capped off with a 7.8 mile float trip on the Maquoketa River from Mon Maq Access to Pictured Rocks. Members of the Sticks in the Water Paddle Club, representing Jones, Linn and Johnson counties, will help coordinate the river float and provide shuttles for vehicles of drivers from Pictured Rocks to Mon Maq Access.

Lunch will be available at Pictured Rocks for a donation to cover the cost of the meal.

Please RSVP by October 1st, if you're planning to attend so we can make arrangements for the meals and seating! You should RSVP to the Jones County Conservation Board at 563-487-3541, or by emailing your name and number of people in your group to Larry Gullett at conservation@co.jones.ia.us.

Canoes and kayaks may be available to rent for the float trip - please call or email our Administrative Office to get the names of local canoe and kayak outfitters.

Schedule of Events

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM - Pictured Rocks
Speakers and Tour of New Facilities

11:00 AM to 11:45 AM - Lunch at Pictured Rocks
Donation to Cover the Cost of the Meal

11:45 AM to Noon - Drive to Mon Maq Access in Monticello

Noon to 12:45 PM - Tour New Facilities at Mon Maq Access

1:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Canoe the River from Mon Maq to Pictured Rocks
Please bring your own canoe or kayak or contact our office for information about local rentals.

IRR Rivers Rock Fest a Success
by Kevin Wilbeck

More than 30 canoes and kayaks with nearly 50 passengers were launched on the float for Iowa Rivers Revival's RIVERS ROCK! River Float & Music Fest held Saturday September 11 in Greene County Iowa. The paddlers started at the Henderson Park access on the North Raccoon River and floated together to the Squirrel Hollow take-out point. Most brought their own canoes, but some rented newly purchased canoes owned by Greene County Chamber and Development.
Afterwards, 110 people enjoyed dinner and live music at Kevin and Chris Wilbeck's Big White Barn at Farmhouse Life in Rippey (www.farmhouselife.com). Featured was Jon Stravers and Big Blue Sky, the well-traveled and popular northeast Iowa band known for their river music.

The festival was a collaborative effort, led by Robin Fortney of Des Moines, Iowa Rivers Revival (IRR) board member and event chair. Roz Lehman, IRR Executive Director also from Des Moines, invited river supporters from across the state. The local volunteer event planning committee included the Wilbecks, Chris Henning of Cooper, George Naylor of Churdan, and Jerry Peckumn, IRR board chairman and Jefferson resident. Dan Towers (Greene County Conservation Director), Ken Paxton and Jessica Trecker (Greene County Chamber & canoes launching onto raccoon river

Development), Gary VonAhsen and Jacob Keller (Abundant Life Ministries canoe shuttle service) and John Wenck and Ned McPartland (Central Iowa Paddlers) helped ensure the paddle trip ran safely and smoothly.

According to Fortney, the river festival was a success and attendance exceeded expectations. "We wanted to get people outside to play on the river. It was a beautiful day for a paddle trip. People from the area and beyond shared a memorable experience canoeing and enjoying good food and music under the stars. "

Click here for more info and lots of pictures

October Event Schedule

October 9th (Sat) 10:00AM
Maquoketa River Water Trail Dedication
Jones County Conservation
More information

October 16 (Sat)
IOWATER Statewide Snapshot
Contact Lynette Seigley
lynette.seigley@dnr.iowa.gov

October 16-17 (Sat & Sun)
Lower Des Moines River Fall Color Float
Contact Greg Beisker

October 30 (Sat)
Halloween Costume Paddle Middle River
Contact Robin Fortney

October 31 (SUN)
CIP FALL PICNIC
At: SANDY's HILLTOP RETREAT
Contact Sandy Thompson

Participants in paddling events should contact the trip coordinator ahead of time for trip details and in case conditions or plans change. Bring rain gear, extra clothes in a dry bag, plenty of water and snacks, hat, sunscreen, PFD, extra paddle, and anything else you may need to be comfortable in unexpected weather conditions.