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See more photos in the Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery
NOTE: The e-mail addresses shown on this page must be modified before they will work properly. Just replace _a_ with @. This is done to reduce the amount of spam club members receive from automated web crawlers.
Club sea kayak outings are generally scheduled in advance during Fall, Spring and Summer quarters. A mix of day trips, weekend outings, and longer trips are scheduled. The 1999 Sea Kayak Trip Schedule, 2000 Sea Kayak Trip Schedule, or 2001 Sea Kayak Trip Schedule represent fairly typical years of club trips for sea kayakers.
You can learn about scheduled trips by visiting the announcements page, or through email using the UKC listserver. Other trips must be approved by the club president or the designated sea kayak officer in order for club members to reserve the equipment.
In order for anyone to use UKC equipment on an off-campus trip it must meet the official trip guidelines, as described in the Club Constitution, Rules and Customs, and Safety Guidelines.
Be sure to contact the listed trip coordinator(s) to reserve a space on any of the scheduled trips and to refer to the UKC Sea Kayak Trip Rating Scale for descriptions of the rating system used in the trip descriptions. You are responsible for understanding or finding out about trip ratings, and for evaluating your own ability to participate in a trip. Participation in a rescue session is required for trips rated at SK-II and above. We also strongly encourage everyone to become proficient in CPR.
Due to the limited number of club boats it is MANDATORY that you contact the trip coordinator to assure yourself of a place on the trip. The trip coordinator will be able to answer any questions you may have about the adequacy of your paddling experience but you should know things like: "How far have you paddled in a day?" and " What is a comfortable paddling speed for you?" There is a sign on the bulletin board in club room that explains how to use the navigation buoys in Montlake Ship Canal to check your paddling speed or ask us to host a paddling speed workshop this summer.
Sign ups within the first 48 hours will be given equal preference. The trip coordinators will give preference to those UKC members who did not get a slot on a beginning trip from the previous month's schedule. Ultimate selection of the members participating will be made by the trip coordinator who must balance the experience and paddling strength of the party for safety reasons. For SKI and SKII trips, every effort is made to accommodate as many new paddlers as possible, usually two thirds of the participants. For SKIII trips and above, trip coordinators will weigh participation in the sea kayak class or other equivalent experience, rescue practices, pool/lake sessions, and assistance at work parties.
Transportation on sea trips is cooperative, and all riders should give the driver some gas money Because the amount depends on destination; ask the driver what she thinks is fair. Please do not wait for your driver to ask you for your contribution.
If you are not sure about what you need to bring on a trip, you should check the list of stuff to bring on a sea trip.
Here is a list of items to bring on every club sea kayak trip, including day trips and overnight trips:
For overnight trips, the gear requirements multiply. The club does not own camping gear; all camping gear for overnight trips must be provided by trip participants. If you'd like some advice for what to bring on an overnight club sea kayak trip, club trip coordinator Mike Wagenbach has written this informative essay entitled, "Fundamentals of Kayak Camping Gear."
Self rescue and buddy rescue are required skills for trips rated at SK-II and above.
Scheculed rescue sessions are listed on the announcements page and are also sent out by email using the UKC listserver. If you are interested in a scheculed sea kayaking trips and cannot make a rescue session then you may want to contact that trip's coordinator to see about scheduling an extra rescue session.
The Self Rescue and Buddy Rescue sessions involve practice on the lake (YOU WILL GET WET!). Bring a bathing suit and some shoes that can get wet plus a warm change of clothes. The WAC also has a sauna room for those so inclined to use it...
By request, sea kayak rescue skills can be practiced at a pool session (during fall, winter and spring quarters only). You should contact a sea trip coordinator to ensure that someone who knows these techniques will attend the pool session!
The following is a trip rating scale used by the Washington Kayak Club's sea kayaking section to communicate the anticipated demands of a trip.
Most club trips will not exceed the SK-IV classification on this scale. It is certain that there will be no club trips that would rate SK-VI. Ratings may be adjusted up or down by adding a + or - to the rating to indicate an intermediate difficulty level.
Please know your abilities if you sign up for a trip rated SK-III or higher. If you have any question about your capabilities, discuss them with an official UKC trip coordinator.
To determine how fast your comfortable pace is, you can time yourself over the measured nautical mile course on the Evergreen Point floating bridge. It is indicated by round red-and-white markers near the ends of the floating part of the bridge on the south side. A green-and-white marker in the middle marks the half-mile point; it is near the draw-span. On the north side are two rectangular green-and-white marks separated by 2000 meters, a distance about 8% longer than the 1852 meters of the nautical mile. Unless you are looking for rough conditions, you should pick whichever side of the bridge is most protected. The conditions on the exposed side of the bridge can be unexpectedly rough due to wave reflection from the bridge. Caution is advised when the wind is blowing.
| Sea Kayaking Trip Rating Scale | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | SK-I | SK-II | SK-III | SK-IV | SK-V | SK-VI |
| Geography. (Fetch is the unobstructed distance over which wind can build waves.) |
In areas protected from waves in case of wind. | Fetch less than 10 nautical miles (nm). Crossings less than O.5 nm except in very protected areas. | Crossings up to 2 nm; fetch longer than 10 nm. | Crossings up to 5 nautical miles. | Crossings more than 5 nm, but less than 3 hours at the speed listed for the trip. | Trips combining long fetch with difficult or impossible landing for most of a day. |
| Hydraulics | Insignificant currents. | Maximum predicted current up to one knot (kt). | Maximum predicted current upt to two kt. | Currents may be greater than 2 kt, but less than the slowest paddler's top speed. | Currents may be faster than the group can paddle against. | Exposure to hazards at other levels taken to extremes. |
| Route | Day trips near shore. | Either the route is protected or has easy escape routes. | May involve crossing eddy lines and tide rips. | May cross strong eddy lines, tide rips, and upwellings. | May include launching and landing in surf. | Exposure to hazards at other levels taken to extremes. |
| Acceptable Conditions. | Calm | Generally try to avoid choppy water and wind above 10 knots. | Generally will not go in whitecaps but be prepared for paddling in waves large enough to wash over the deck, and be comfortable in winds of at least 10 knots. | May include steep waves and swells. Be comfortable paddling in 15 knot winds. | For groups prepared to set out in rough weather, whitecaps and fast currents. | May only be negotiable with favorable conditions. Kayak rescues may not be possible. |
| Required Skills and Experience. (Note that the required skills are cumulative across this row). |
Previous trip experience for trips longer than 5 nautical miles. | Must have practiced assisted sea kayak rescue techniques. | Conditions may require bracing skills. Previous assisted and self-rescue practice. | Conditions may require anticipatory leaning, reflexive bracing, using the paddle to stern rudder, and the ability to read moving water. Familiarity with charts and navigation is required. | Trip members must have tested their skill in rough conditions, know their limits, and be self-reliang in the even of separation from the group. Eskimo roll highly recommended or required. | Extensive experience including kayak surfing and rolling are required. |
Paddling speed: Trip announcements will include an estimate of the planned paddling speed for the trip. Slow = 1-2 knots; Medium = 2-3.5 knots; Fast = over 3.5 knots.
Paddling Distance: Trip announcements will include an estimate of the paddling distance, in nautical miles. Trips of over 5 nm in length require previous trip experience or permission of the trip coordinator. Participants are expected to be able to paddle the anticipated distance at the planned paddling speed.
Trip coordinators with e-mail addresses can be reached with a single message to ukc-skl_at_u.washington.edu. Please note the differences between this address and ukc-sea_at_u.washington.edu. Individual trip leaders can be contacted with the email addresses in the trip coordinator list.
The UKC is always looking for new trip coordinators. Trip coordinators should be competent paddling at one difficulty level above the level for which they are approved to lead trips (e.g., an SK-III trip coordinator should be at least be a competent SK-IV paddler). Sea kayak trip coordinators must also possess skills in the areas of marine navigation, marine weather, paddling safety, leadership, survival, and wilderness first aid, commensurate to the level of the trips they will lead. The UKC regularly runs training for new and current sea kayak trip coordinators. For more information, contact the current Sea Kayak Tzar/Tzarina.
The following is a list of UKC sea kayaking trip coordinators. A trip coordinator is authorized to take club members on trips up to the difficulty level at which her name is listed.
Level 1 ('Cooperative') trip coordinators may conduct trips at or below the indicated rating, providing all participants have previously paddled a trip of this nature before, under similar or more difficult conditions. Or they may help organize a trip of slightly higher potential difficulty with a level 2 coordinator in that class or a coordinator in a higher class.
Level 2 ('Instructional') trip coordinators are regarded to be competent instructors for the indicated rating, and may conduct trips with people who have not previously paddled a trip of this nature.
Active Trip Coordinators
NOTE: The e-mail addresses shown on this page must be modified before they will work properly. Just replace _a_ with @. This is done to reduce the amount of spam club members receive from automated web crawlers.
SK-I:
Evan Sugden (1), easugden_at_u.washington.edu
SK-II:
Bill Comegys (2), bcomegys_at_u.washington.edu
Robin Datta (2), rpdatta_at_earthlink.net
John Kelly (2), jek_at_u.washington.eduMonika Lange (1), monika.lange_at_gmx.net
Phil Shekleton (2), philross_at_u.washington.edu
Todd West (2), twest_at_u.washington.eduAnnie Wong (2), annie42_w_at_yahoo.co
SK-III:
Amanda Babson (1), babsona_at_ocean.washington.eduJim Cecil (2), jim_at_jpcecil.com *
Andre Golard (2), golard_at_myuw.net *
Robert Hubley (1), rhubley_at_systemsbiology.org *
Patrick A'Hearn (2)
John Ross (2), jross001_at_comcast.net *Nancy Gove (2), ne.gove_at_att.net *
SK-IV:
Luis Buen Abad (2), luis_at_u.washington.edu *
Shelly Carpenter (2), seashell_at_u.washington.edu *
Gary Lai (1), GaryLai_at_aol.com *
Mike Wagenbach (2), wagen_at_u.washington.edu
* Indicates trip coordinator has "instructor" status, as defined by Article III.2 of the UKC Constitution
Past Coordinators
Contacts are retained for reference, but these folks are no longer active trip leaders with the club:
SK-II:
Tom Green (2), Tmrvn_at_aol.com
Melissa Meyer (2)
SK-III:
SK-IV:
If you have questions about the UKC sea kayaking program, or would like to suggest a trip to some favorite destination, please contact one of us by email.