Ken Nelson

Tonight I learned to roll a kayak. Rolling seems deceptively simple but actually is fiendishly devious. The class was two hours, in a pool, and eventually I caught on. I’d learned two types of rolls – both of the “Eskimo” variety. One I’d place at 95% for me (I can do it consistently) at a disadvantage of taking a couple seconds longer. The other faster (more compact) roll, I can hit maybe 40% in pool conditions.   I’ll definitely keep practicing this in my pool at home until I’m 100% from both sides with both of them.

Why would you want to “roll” a kayak?   It turns out there are lots of reasons and while you can kayak without learning to roll, not “having a roll” will limit what type of kayaking you can safely do.

The most important reason is safety. Put simply when you are upside down, you either have to do a “wet exit” or roll back up. If you do a wet exit your time in the water, wet, losing heat, dramatically lengthens. Depending on water temperature, staying in too long may kill you.

Another reason might be just to cool off on a hot day.

My instructor tonight, Jennifer Kleck had a very patient and encouraging manner.  She is among the best instructors in the world.  We had a very pleasant couple hours, rolling, chatting, rolling, chatting. And I only wacked her on the head with the paddle once!

Tomorrow, I’ll do the regular Thursday night paddle that Aqua-Adventures hosts. She promised to tip me over so I could demonstrate my new skill for real!

I’m going to miss hot yoga when I return to St. George.  There is supposed to be a hot studio opening, but they haven’t responded to my queries.

The folks at CorePower Yoga, a chain in California, Colorado and other states, should open a branch in St. George!  I’d certainly sign up.  Here is a video showing highlights of their Hot Power Fusion class. This class, which is the one I’m attending here in San Diego,  mixes the 26 asanas of traditional hot yoga with vinyasa flow movements and breath.

I doubt the room was that hot in this video, they are wearing way to much clothes. At the end of my practices here in San Diego, my yoga shorts are as wet as at the beach, my yoga slip pad is as soaked as if it were in a pool, and there is a puddle of sweat surrounding my Yoga mat.

Here is a video showing more of the hot Yoga poses:

They look hard, and the maximum postures are close to impossible, but each posture has “outs” or “alternatives” that you can do.

If a hot studio isn’t open in St. George, I’ll convert a space in my house to do it.  I’m eager to keep this going, and to keep the back, hip and other body pains away as they are now.

My Townie bike parked on a kickstand as we watch planes fly low overhead on approach to San Diego airport.  Location: 1st and Ivy.

Other pics from that bike ride can be found here.

Wet but more competent now

Today we had a private 2 hour kayaking class. As with most professional instruction, I found out that what seems simple, really is, but has more nuances than you suspect.

Mike, our instructor from Aqua Adventures, started us off on the dock explaining basics like the parts of the kayak and how to put in place various needed items (like skirts, pumps, self-rescue floats), as well as how to inspect the kayak to make sure it is ready and safe to use.

Then we got in the boats and started paddling. We learned the an efficient forward stroke,  various turning strokes, and moving the boat sideways and backwards. We also learned the brace stroke, which aids in keeping you from flipping over. We also adjusted the kayak for comfort – mainly so I would be doing ab crunches all afternoon.

After we could propel the boat accurately and efficiently we got into water rescue – also known as “how the hell do I get back in this thing that always wants to tip over”.   He demonstrated three rescues – the Eskimo roll (for more advanced students), the T rescue, and the float on a paddle rescue. We then did the last two our selves.  This involved purposely flipping the boat upside down. Yep – sit upside down, locked into a kayak.

First… tuck the paddle into one side or the other. Don’t lose it!

Second… take both hands and rap the sides of the kayak to let others know you flipped. This seems counterintuitive, cause I’ll be hollering for them if they don’t notice, but I think it mainly serves to calm you down.

Third… pull on your skirt release. The skirt is a neoprene tube you wear over you like a woman’s skirt. The bottom of the skirt locks into the cockpit to form a water tight seal. You have to pull forward, and then up. Easy but under stress you can forget. Both Kevin and I handled it fine.

Fourth… hook your foot into the cockpit and hold onto your paddle. Get your wits together.

Now, if you are alone, you better have a float you can attach to your paddle. Use this as an outrigger to keep you from flipping over when you get into the kayak. But this is quite hard to do and I don’t think it very doable in rougher water.

If you have others, do a T rescue. Basically, make the boats a T. The guy still in the boat hauls it up, flips it to drain it, and then puts it next to his boat (bow to stern). He grabs on and the swimmer hauls himself in. This was a lot easier that the float rescue.

Our instructor, Mike, was patient and competent. We learned a lot.

Now we are qualified to take cockpit kayaks instead of sit-on-top kayaks. These paddle much easier.

The train wakes me up at 6AM. Not how I wanted to start off…  Next time I’ll remember to keep the door to the balcony shut.

Breakfast is a challenge in downtown. There are some spots, but they are few and distant. We end up just grabbing the Jeep and eating at a Mexican place at India and Washington. Pretty good.  It had been reviewed on Diners and Dives.

Then off to La Jolla Shores for kayaking in the caves. The 0900 tour had 20+ people in it. Fortunately, we were the 10AM tour, which had… 5. Nice!  It went well. My brother tipped his kayak once. And a credible source (a diving guide for another tour) reported a 7 gill shark about 6’ in length about 50 yards away. Needless to say he got back on the kayak quickly…

Then, still full of energy, we rented some boogie boards and hit the waves for a couple of hours. That is pretty tiring, but fun.  Famished, we ate a good, and relatively cheap (for La Jolla) lunch here. I show the picture because I can’t remember the name:

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Then we hit Barnes and Noble searching for Kayaking magazines. Found one, which is odd, because the St. George Barnes and Noble usually has half a dozen. 

After that, back home, where we kicked it at the pool for a couple hours. In the shade – we’d had plenty of sunshine.   We reconfirmed our belief that everybody in San Diego under the age of 35 has a tattoo.

Dinner time came. We went up to an English pub on India in Little Italy for refreshments and a snack to fortify us for the longer walk to the Gas Lamp district. We ended up at the Tin Fish, a mostly outdoor place with various sea food offerings. We got excellent 7 fish soup and a clam appetizer.

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Then we strolled home. We were tired, and many of the homeless people we passed were already racked out.  All in all the walk came out to 3.5 miles.

Tomorrow… not a minute too soon – kayak lessons. These will prepare us to handle touring kayaks. The trick, I understand, is they are easier to operate but way harder to get back into if you flip them.  

Today my brother and I rented kayaks on Mission Bay here in San Diego. Perfect weather and comfortable water temperatures made it a very fine time.

We spent a couple hours and kayaked 7 miles around Mission Bay:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3886806

He really enjoyed it. Tomorrow we will kayak the caves of La Jolla. And Sunday we have lessons in touring kayaks, including how to tip a kayak over and get back in it. That seems kind of important….

Pics here.

China Camp
2137 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92101

Short: Excellent Chinese food.  Avoid at peak because tourists pack in with kids that seem to want to cry all the time.

Longer: 

I felt like Chinese and the closest to my pad is a place called the “China Camp”.  Oddly, it shares a building with Denny’s, and Fat City steakhouse. But it works. The theme is “gold rush”, but the net effect is that the booths are private, which I liked.

China Camp is right on the PCH and gets a lot of hotel / tourist driven traffic. San Diego is a family attraction – and that means KIDS.  I have kids, and I love kids, but  I don’t like parents that let their kids scream and cry in restaurants.  In thousands of dining out experiences, mine NEVER have.  Apparently some small, but vocal, set of parents can’t handle their kids and the place was loud with their screams. Eat OFF hours for a pleasant aural experience.

The food was EXCELLENT.  I got hot & sour soup – just spicy enough to be good but not painful.  I then got the sizzling plate “Dragon and Phoenix” – awesome. I’d intended to eat half and then take the rest home for later. But I ate it all.

I then felt obliged to work it off, so I road the harbor loop down to the Hilton and back. All in all, an enjoyable evening.

I’ll be riding my bike to Yoga from now on. I’d been driving because I wanted to be fresh for the challenging yoga classes. But after a few practices under my belt, I’m ready to up it a notch. So this Sunday, my brother who was visiting from Ontario, and I tested the ride I would do each morning.

We road up PCH, to Rosecrans, and then cut over and ate at the Naked Cafe, next to my yoga studio.  We then wound around through Liberty Village ( the old Naval Training Center is now an revitalized housing/shopping area).

And then down to the harbor and home. About 3 miles to Yoga, and 7 or so home following the curve of the bay.

All the images,  mainly of him, can be seen here.   They are mostly black and white because he wears EXTREMELY bright clothing when biking. Probably a good safety idea, but not particularly photogenic.

BTW: I did the ride again today, with Hot fusion yoga in the middle.  Not too bad, but I was definitely tuckered out when I got home.

Today marks my 1st week on holiday in San Diego. Three more weeks of doing as little as possible.

As usual, the day started with Hot Yoga.  I made it through fine and even got into some positions I’d not been able to do. I’m seeing big improvement in my left side balancing poses. On day 1 all I did was fall over.

Then, hungry, I ate at the Naked Cafe, which is next to the yoga studio.  I ordered oatmeal, and ate it all, but it was a bit too “natural” for my tastes. Mid-way I gave up and doused it with Splenda. Better after that…

After that… I decided to go on a long ride. But my front tire was flat. I gave it some air and road to the bike shop on C and 5th avenue.  They are a very helpful shop and have helped me out, immediately, three times already this week in San Diego.  There we investigated and found both tires laden with thorns that kept causing leaks no matter how I fixed them. Normally thorns don’t cause problems, but my tires were old and thinner.  So I replaced them with “kevlar” road tires. My bike coasted great and it was a lot easier to pedal than with my big offroad knobbies. While they put them on I had Nabeyaki Udon and a Tuna Roll (yum!) at Ra Sushi.   The Nabeyaki Udon was terrific as well.

Then… I did a route down to Petco Field and up to Balboa Park. That’s a bit of a hill, especially with legs burned out from Yoga, but I did it. 

Once there, I wandered around, remembered I had the camera, and started to take pictures. 

Today’s gallery can be seen here.  Shots range from daisies, to me, and jet planes:

A map view of the images can be seen here.

After Balboa Park, I meandered over above the airport before eventually cross I-5 on a pedestrian bridge, and then returned home down Kettner.

When I arrived… no elevators – they had been shut down due to a 5.9 quake. So I hauled the bike upstairs and rested.

Then off to dinner at a Little Italy italian joint around the block. It was so-so. Can’t remember the name of the place, but I doubt I’ll be back.  These Little Italy places aren’t overwhelming me, I think they rely to much on the tourist trade to really have to compete for quality food.

Later, restless, I wondered over to the Gas Lamp District to grab a magazine or two at Borders. Then walked back. I can stay up late tonight…. I’m not doing Yoga til 11 tomorrow.

 
Approximate sweat flow

I just did my first “hot” yoga class this morning. I quite enjoyed it.

I did it at CorePower Yoga on Rosecrans in San Diego. Melissa, the instructor, was very patient and helpful with those of us not that familiar with yoga.

The session lasted an hour. I lasted about 50 minutes. I stayed in the room the last 10, but pretty much just did rest poses. I’d made the mistake of doing a full work out at 6AM this morning – I had nothing left.

I can’t remember ever sweating that much. Basically a shower was coming off me.

But I feel great after and I’ll definitely be back on Sunday morning at 0800.