February 6, 2005

Ice Pirates

But the Inuit do it, right?

So I asked for advice around the net and looked locally for a shore crew. Nelson agreed to come along and I received a lot of great advice from around the Internet. The most detailed accounts of ice kayaking came from Gail Ferris, who has written quite extensively about launching and landing on ice. I found her descriptions and advice to be very well thought out and I planned a trip for Sunday feeling fairly well prepared.

Nelson and I met at Mason Neck. Because it had been warm all week I expected the ice to be out of the bay, but as I drove down the little path to the launch I saw Nelson - and ice as far as I could see. The ice extended out to the channel, a good mile away.

Plan 2 was to drive to Leesylvania, and as we drove by the creeks on either side of the park there appeared to be no ice at all. At the beach there was no ice and Nelson and I walked out to the pier to see if we could see any ice up or down river. We were resigned to have to make the long paddle up toward Mason Neck and play in the ice on the outer edge, but Nelson mentioned he had seen ice near the boat ramps. So we carried our boats down to the water and after getting our gear in order we paddled down to the boat ramps.

A new piece of gear rides on my deck: an ordinary garden hoe as described in the info Gail Ferris sent me. There is also a pair of hammer handles which I've drilled and inserted screws into one end. I didn't get around to grinding a point on the screws, so the blunt ends will have to do. Nelson has also made his own ice picks in much the same manner, but he ground the tips into a point to get a better bite on the ice.

When we passed through the breakwall by the boat ramps, I was shocked I had missed so much ice when we drove past earlier. I'm not sure which one of us went first, but once we started we were hopping up on the ice like beached seals as if this was the funnest game on earth. A big grin began to sneak out of my face and I think Nelson may have cracked a smile or two himself.

We paddled to the south end of the boat ramps and found the ice much thinner. We'd land on the ice and then have the ice crack and our kayaks would settle on through to the water. Me being the bigger of us two, found it difficult to find any ice on this end that would support my weight. I set some big floes free by carving them off the main sheet of ice. As my kayak rose on top of the ice, the cracks would spread out in front of me, sometimes for 10 or 15 feet, and cause the ice to spread apart not leaving me anything to grab with my ice picks. Although I didn't try it, it was probably this type of ice the how would have worked best with. On the harder pan ice on the other end of the boat ramps I found it difficult for the hoe to grab the ice. But this softer ice probably would have been perfect and I wish I had given it a try.

After so much fun I went back to my car and got both of my cameras to take pictures, but I shot more small videos then I did still pictures.

The ice was much more friendly to us then I had imagined, and we tired easily pulling ourselves across the ice with our ice picks. We tried using the hoe, but on the hard ice found our picks moved us around easier. When I got home I re-read Gail's account of using the hoe and found she was talking about frazzle and shugga ice, which in that case the longer reach of the handle would probably indeed work better, being able to reach out beyond the cracking ice to pull yourself across. This reinforced what I had speculated about the thinner/softer ice.

We got so comfortable with the ice we tried various other things as we went back to the thicker ice on the north end of the ramps. We found it pretty easy to launch off the ice shelf in reverse, so the both of us wondered what it would be like to land in reverse.

Take a look at this video, and go along with me as we ride together up on to the ice shelf. Don't forget to wave at Nelson as we go by!

All this fun was also a lot of work, so we decided to call it a day. We thought about paddling back but got into a discussion about walking across the ice by straddling our kayaks, with the idea being to plop back in the seat if the ice started to crack. I started off carefully and as our confidence rose, so did our horse play.

Having learned how to walk across the ice, we walked in the same manner up to the boat docks and landed there rather then paddle back around to the beach. We walked up to our cars and drove down to the ramps, making our carry MUCH shorter. Next time I'll launch from here :) I was surprised to see how wet my clothes were under my drysuit - I guess I did work up a little sweat!

So ended my first experience with a kayak on ice. I found out later it was Nelson's Birthday, so I think it was a great way to spend the morning.

Below are a few more movies and some pictures taken throughout the day.

High brace on the ice shelf

Ice water roll

Ice launch

Ice landing

Ice landing 2

Seal Landing Woody

Seal Landing Nelson

Ice wiggle

Pictures