Storm Gathering USA 2015 Recap

After spending a bit of time with Helen Wilson of greenlandorbust.org at Lumpy Waters and talking occasionally, I was invited down to help at the 1st annual Storm Gathering USA, held last weekend in Trinidad, California.  Helen put on an amazing event, with help from tons of great volunteers. Here is my take on a whirlwind three days.

Day 1 Tricky Launch, Tricky Landing

I helped Paul Kuthe and Cate Hawthorne with the opening day class. Everyone wanted to work in the surf zone, specifically on not getting hit by dumping waves. So that is what we did.

Paul and Cate getting students ready for "Tricky Launching, Tricky Landing" on Friday afternoon.

Speed Spraydeck Races- Can you beat a wave?

Meaghan heading out through the break.

Ian giving directions to a paddler outside the break.

Looking out to Flat Iron Rock.

Day 2: Long Boat Surfing

Ryan Rushton, formerly of Geneva Kayak Centre in Chiberia (a really, really cold Chicago) and I taught long boat surfing. We worked on identifying shoulders, rights and lefts, as well as regaining the wave from a broach. Students were throwing ends and real progress was made.

Ryan Rushton showing a group how to regain a wave after a broach.

First you have to lose control to regain it.

#intothewater

Jason working the soup.

Roz throwing ends.

Backwards too!

Day 2: Effective Forward Stroke

Ben Lawry taught this class, and I just sat in and watched. He had this dialed- really fun to watch. We started on land and did quite a bit of theory, but then got on the water and applied everything. Really a fun guy to work with.

Ben Lawry working on Efficient & Effective Forward Stroke.

Going through all the muscles used in a forward stroke.

Coast Guard Sector Eureka did a rescue demonstration for us. Anytime they do aerial exercises, they have a boat on scene to set safety. They practiced hovering, dropping dummies and rescuing them for nearly 30 minutes. Really cool to see. Afterwards we had their permission to shoot off old flares and practice with something that most boaters carry but have hardly ever used.  Hopefully we keep our rescue interactions with the Coast Guard to a minimum, but it sure does feel nice having them around and constantly training to remain vigilant.

Coast Guard Rescue Demonstration.

Lowering a swimmer to rescue the dummy.

Bringing the swimmer back to the heli.

Day 3: Sea Journey

On the last day of the Storm Gathering, I lead a Sea Journey. A few folks dropped out due to fatigue and sore muscles (and, I suspect, a long drive home). We headed north out of Trinidad State Beach and explored and played our way along the coast, up about 2.5 nm to Green Rock, which during nesting season is covered with common murres. This day, however, there were perhaps 2 dozen sea gulls only.

Ted checking out the swell along Green Rock on Sunday Morning's Sea Journey

Lots of interesting shoreline to explore in Trinidad.

Inspecting a pourover for runnability and safety.

We got to paddle in close along the shore, and put our bows right up next to some of the rocks. A few pourovers we ran, and we decided as a group that a few were either too bony or a bit too exciting for a Sunday morning!

Helen did a phenomenal job putting on a great event, and there were lots of (tired) smiles at the end of the weekend. A huge thanks to her and all the coaches, volunteers, and of course, participants who made it a great weekend!

PS- Extra bonus- I didn't even have to drive home! The other folks I went with had it covered!