August 5: Column Point to Basalt Knob

Basalt Knob Campsite

Another short day, with only a short distance to go before we were due to meet Christian on the 6th in Pelican.  We packed up slowly in the morning, after noting bear sign on the beach from the night before, and headed down Lisianski Inlet, weaving around seiners on the way.  Although I had experienced an uncomfortable moment with a  rude fisherman earlier on in the summer, and was a little nervous--for some reason, he felt the need to stand on deck and stare me down as I paddled around--we were universally treated kindly, with several seine skiffs moving away from shore so we could get by.

Jason, coming back up

We got a nice push from a Northerly breeze that may have been blowing 25 knots by early afternoon, and were able to surf wind waves down the channel.  Jason's Tempest seemed especially to catch a push from these relatively small waves, even at times when my longer boat would get bogged down.

We found a nice campsite about five miles from Pelican, on a beach just South of Basalt Knob, a dark rocky bluff.  We took advantage of the warm sunny day to practice some self-rescue; this was the first time I had tested my two piece dry-top/bib combo in any kind of rescue other than a roll.  While the two piece arrangement keeps me completely dry while rolling, I did get wet when I had to swim, practicing paddle float rescues, or reentry and roll.  No problem in the warm weather we had been having, and it would take a long time before I would be soaked, but an important consideration in colder weather and more exposed conditions.  Important to think about.

As an aside, I did find the two-piece arrangement exceptionally convenient for this kind of trip, with long stretches of camping in often wet weather.  On a rainy day, it was easy to put my bibs on first thing, essentially treating them as rain bibs, and wearing them with a rain jacket.  I could then put the dry top on just before my PFD and sprayskirt, leaving my rain jacket to pack last.  Likewise, working around camp in paddling bibs in the evening was not uncomfortable.  I'm tempted to spring for a regular drysuit for future paddling trips which involve more exposed conditions (for example, a possible trip around the Southern tip of Baranof island or more paddling in the Cross Sound area), but it will be tempting to bring a two pice setup much of the time, because of the added comfort and convenience.

Wearing my NRS paddling top, earlier on
in the trip.  Cowboy hat FTW.

I had hoped that the NRS paddling top with neoprene neck gasket would double as a rain jacket, but I found that the difficulty of getting the jacket on and off--especially getting in and out of the tent--made such a use impractical.  However, I did find the paddling top to be very helpful in giving my skin a break from the dry top's latex neck gasket.  Applying KY jelly in the morning and periodically through the day certainly reduced the pain I have often experienced from wearing drysuit gaskets at the neck, but there were still times when, given the length of my paddling trips this summer, the paddling jacket was a figurative lifesaver.  Of course, this meant that I was carrying three similar jackets!  Everything fit just fine, but one can be forgiven for thinking this approach might be overkill.

As an aside from my aside, I wonder if the most efficient strategy might be something along the lines of a storm cagoule/Tuiliq--a long paddling overgarment, potentially with a double-tunnel skirt for integrating with paddling bibs--that would serve as a rain jacket, paddling jacket, and overgarment for foul weather paddling.  In my head, such a garment would be waterproof, probably not breathable, and would be stitched from cuben/dyneema fabric.  Future gear project?