La Framboise Loop & Capital Creek

It was a dreary day today, but since there was no T-storms Chuck and I decided to go paddling. We met at the causeway at 1 PM. I was paddling the Storm GT and Chuck brought down his WS Northstar tandem. His girlfriend, Diana, was in town this weekend. Nothing too special, just a quick circumnavigation of La Framboise Island. The water level was high today, both boats made it over the dike structure without touching it. We also skirted up Capital Creek to the box culvert underneath a road through Griffen Park. Total distance was 5.9 miles.

Into Farm Island... Beware of Carp!

Today, I went out to what is called the boater's beach at Farm Island State Recreation Area. It is a sandy beach behind the East Campground (separate from the swim beach). Launching from the boater's beach, I headed downstream towards the channels into the interior of Farm Island. It is about 1.25 miles down to the point of entry. Once in, I took the time to explore all 4 fingers of the interior. I have done this numerous times, so nothing too surprising occurred. Numerous small birds were about. What I believe are carp always seem numerous in the channels, but today there seemed to be a greater than normal population. There were points where I could see dozens of fins sticking above the water and there were splashes all along the channels as I passed by. A few even splashed close enough to get water on my spray skirt! I covered 6.5 miles on today's outing. Quite a few pictures in the slideshow below. I had the interval shooting set to 45 seconds. One minute, thirty seconds is appearing to be a better setting for shorter outings.

SDCKA Paddling Fair

I don't have too much to share, but yesterday I moseyed down to Sioux Falls for the SDCKA paddling fair at Family Park, near the intersection of 12th St. and Tea-Ellis Rd. I used the trip to also visit a friend in Mitchell and drop off a few things at my sister's new apartment in Sioux Falls. I even stopped over at Ribfest after the event for a bite to eat.
Seems like we only had 7 or 8 non-paddlers show up to try out boats. The fact that it had been raining right up to the start of the event could be partially to blame. We did have plenty of paddlers wanting to try different boats though, so the even was a success. It seemed to me that my Current Designs Storm GT was hit. I saw a handful of people take it out for a spin. Actually, I never even took it out! I did take my dog, Indy, out in my tandem. He behaved quite well. Later on, I even took a KDLT cameraman out so he could get some better shots. We had news coverage from both KDLT and KELO. I caught video clips on both stations on the 10:00 PM news, but the online articles do not include the video clips.
After the event, I headed over to the Sioux Falls Arena to checkout Ribfest. I was not there too long, maybe 45 minutes. In hindsight, I probably should have stayed the night in Sioux Falls to more thoroughly enjoy Ribfest, maybe next year...

From 2010-06-05

From 2010-06-05

South Dakota Kayak Challenge

Yesterday I participated in the first South Dakota Kayak Challenge. On Friday, I drove down to Yankton for the pre-race meeting and to camp in Riverside Park, the starting point. After the meeting, we shuttled cars to the finish line at Bev's On The River in Sioux City and took a bus back to Yankton. Ryan Snuggerud was also racing and he camped next to me. We also planned to stick near each other for most of the race.


View SDKC in a larger map
There were racers from Ontario, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and, of course, South Dakota. Boats ranged from surf skies to sea kayaks to recreation kayaks. Even the race veterans (MR 340, Texas Water Safari) were impressed with the number of racers for the inaugural event. After the race, I am told, the first overall racer said that it was his toughest race.
That maybe because of the typical South Dakota winds we experienced. We had winds in the 20s mph and gusts up to 32 mph. The temperature was in the low to mid 90s.
Looking over the map (above), Ryan and I did a good job of trying to shave distance by cutting across the river curves. My gps data shows 67.3 miles for the course, under the 72 river miles.
We also had another paddler hanging with us through the race, Justin Herreman of Black Hills Paddlers fame. As the race went on, we grew more tired. Three quarters of the way through the first section, I put my rudder down because I realized I would wear down too quickly if I was constantly leaning/edging as I fought against the headwind. Ryan and I got out and stretched at every check point, plus on one sandbar. As we neared the finish, Justin and I sprinted out, giving the patrons at Bev's On The River and Jolly Rogers a show. I was into the marina mere seconds ahead of him (Justin) with Ryan right behind.
We were exhausted, but I believe everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event. Thanks again to the volunteers, sponsors, and racers that made this a successful race. Here's to next years race!


We came across the finish line (marina entrance) roughly around 9 PM, 14 hours after the start. Results will be online Monday afternoon, but I though I heard that we rounded out the top 20 or 25. In my sprint with Justin, I was paddling a minimum of 8 mph and hit 8.5 mph.
EDITED TO ADD: The results were posted today. Justin and I were tied for 9th in the adventurer class. We finished at 8:53 PM with Ryan just a minute behind us.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I want more wind!

After camping through a torrential downpour, T-storm, and gale force winds on Friday night, I took Indy home to catch up on his sleep. I on the other hand tried to go paddling around La Framboise Island to play in the waves (on Saturday). Though by Saturday afternoon the wind was dying back down. I did get some playing in, but it was no where near as windy as when John and I did the same last summer. I ended up paddling around the  whole island as well. The high yesterday was 89 degrees... great day to be on the river. There were lots of boats out and lots of shore fisherman taking advantage of the free fishing weekend. I once again had the Pentax Optio W80 mounted to the bow of my Current Designs Storm GT for the endeavor.

This bodes well...

From 2010-05-22

This the sort of thing I bought a waterproof camera with interval shoot and a camera mount to capture.

From 2010-05-22

Cooling the horses off, I presume.

From 2010-05-22

Bad River

I went for an evening paddle last night. I put in at the causeway and paddled over to the mouth of the Bad River. I then began to continue upstream. The Bad River had a high turbidity... it seemed even higher than normal. I decided to turn around just before the second railroad bridge, so as to make it back home before it got too late. I ended up covering just over 6 miles. Again, I was carrying my camera mounted near the bow and set to interval shooting. I haven't stated this yet, but I also have secured a mounting plate for my gps to the kayak deck.

I also want to address a recent comment on pictures I uploaded to facebook. When I took a couple friends out in my tandem, you can see they are not wearing life jackets. They DID have life jackets in the boat. I always wear my life jacket, but I am not going to force any adult to wear one. They are adults capable of their own decisions.

All of my boats have hit the water this year...

Yesterday my tandem managed to get wet. I took a couple more friends out kayaking around La Framboise Island. I was playing with my new Sticky Pod mount and the interval shooting mode on my new Pentax Optio W80 camera. I had the camera mounted to the side of the boat up near the bow. It held really well, but I need to lengthen the interval from 20 seconds to maybe a minute or 5... and probably half a hour for the SD Kayak Challenge.
We stayed outside the channel alongside the island because the water was a bit low. We covered a hair over 6 miles. Nothing else too exciting to write about.

From 2010-05-16