Sea Hiking (hydrotouring)

[Jon]

There's been a bit of talk about this lately on the Lunocent site ( Lunocet - Advancing Underwater Speed and Mobility ) and on here. ( http://forums.deeperblue.com/monofins/80650-lunocet-photos-dema.html )

I've read an old post that Eric Fattah wrote about one of his hydro tours ( http://forums.deeperblue.com/freediving-stories/31376-leaving-world-behind-ii-return-tahsis.html ) and one of the coolest books I've ever read ( [ame=http://www.amazon.com/We-Swam-Grand-Canyon-Vacation/dp/0963405594]Amazon.com: We Swam the Grand Canyon: The True Story of a Cheap Vacation that Got a Little Out of Hand: Bill Beer: Books[/ame] ) talked about doing it- 50 years ago!

I'm not sure if the Lunocet is the right tool for the job, or if Laminar's new DOLfin would work better, but it's giving me some ideas for the future.

I think that all I'd need is a dry bag ( Grand Adventure - Dry Bag Backpacks - Seattle Sports Company ) to stuff my camping gear in and then strap it onto the top of my float to pull it along with me while I swim.

The first spot that came to mind was the Sylvania Boundry waters ( http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa/images/maps/sylvania_tearoff.pdf )on the border of Wisconsin and Michigan. I've paddled it before, even dragging in a set of scuba gear and four tanks one time, and it has asy depths and good vis for freediving. Once you get off of the main lake there's no motor boat traffic to worry about. There's no spearing allowed, but the swimming, and photography, would be pretty sweet.

Another spot I thought of was the BWCA ( BWCA, Boundary Waters, Canoe, Quetico ) on the border of the US and Canada. The water is a little bit darker, due to the Granite bed rock, but the water is clear and the trip possibilites are pretty much endless.

There are other areas with better vis and bigger water (The Apostle Islands, Tobermorey, or Door county come to mind), but the boat traffic tends to get pretty thick and there's not as much of a chance that they would see us being so low in the water on crossings out to distant islands.

Has anyone else tried it yet- or have a future trip planned around it??

Jon

 

[wes]

Jon,

I would love to spend 1 week at Grand Cayman, to just fly there get off the plane and in the water and come out for occasional restaurant meal (credit card) and keep wetsuit on the whole time. Seems it would save alot of money on boat rental, lodging, car rental etc. I may "practice" with some all day sessions at our local pool and may need to make some mods to my suit etc like internal camel back. It's very tempting for me as I can fly to Grand Cayman usually for $500 round trip so would be cheap vacation. My wife thinks I am crazy of course (though she doesn't say its impossible, just not sounding fun). To me it seems just like bicycle touring which I have done for weeks at a time though more comfortable as I would be in the water and not on a bike.

Cheers Wes

 

[Gidds]

I saw this post awhile ago and it made me think of my childhood. I used to do a fair amount of "river running" in my misspent youth in the White River (a tributary of the Connecticut River), Mill River, and Cold River in Vermont. We'd put on masks, snorkels, and sometimes fins and aim downstream. A lot of the time we'd float in a submerged "sitting up" position so that our butts hit the rocks instead of our heads.:blackeye

Now I have the good fortune to live in Florida and there are all kinds of cool places that could be good for hydrotouring. I read on the Lunocet webpage that they did a hydrotour in the keys in November. Despite ideas perpetrated by the media there are places to dive in FL besides the keys. Around here there are several National Seashores for marine enthusiasts and some really nice spring-fed creeks like the Black River, Holmes Creek, and Econfina Creek.

I have been out on these rivers for various other recreational purposes and found myself wondering about snorkeling them. Snags would be the primary safety issue. I have a gator-phobia but they don't seem to be a problem for groups of people and I see fewer of them in the clear spring runs than I do elsewhere.

Other places that come to mind, that aren't necessarily local, would be the Wakulla River (below the preserve) and maybe the Cedar Key area in the Big Bend plus of course the ever famous Santa Fe and Crystal Rivers. I also kayaked parts of the Maine Island Trail and the Stonington Archipelago in college and it seems like a cool place for some hydrotouring, in the summer at least.

 

[Haydn]

I spent 4 weeks swimming the coast of Baja either towing (frontcrawl with fins) or simply resting on my raft and kicking with fins. Monofins dont work. But with soft bi fins I could do 10 hours a day and come ashore to camp, ready to set off again next day. The trip was wild, for 14 days I just swam down the coast and saw nobody for ten days straight. My raft containing two weeks supplies , camping gear, spear gun and food. I carried 28 litres of water and rationed two litres water per day. I managed to buy water when down to 3 litres, .

I designed the raft but had it professionally built in carbon fibre by guys who build ocean going rowing boats. I never managed to stay out to sea overnight and sleep (still trying to sort that out ready for big open crossings) but I could cat nap half on it, and half in the water. I also tried to get it to sail and designed a windsurfer type rig in the hope that I could get ashore quickly if needed (complete failure) and a spinaker rig which only works when going exactly down wind (worked great). The spinaker would take the weight of the boat (fully loaded weighing over 100 pounds) at about one knot with me being towed behind it, or sat on it. Empty the raft weighs 30 pounds and the spinaker works better then, but it still only goes swimming speed. Its fastest when towing it and swimming front crawl with fins and does 3 knots. Then when you get tired after about 3 hours you get on and rest, but keep kicking and you get 2 knots. If the tide is against you, you get no where.

My plans are to swim it around the UK coast....it will take about 6 months.

See pics at Global Ocean Rowing Boats - About Us click the projects tab and my raft is halfway down the page.

 

[Jon]

That is cool!

That's exactly what I was talking about in my first post. Do you have any photos from the trip?

I never thought about sailing in to shore in an emergancy. Have you looked into those small kites that kayakers use to pull them along when the wind is right? I've sailed kayaks in the past and the one thing they are not good at is going up wind- mostly a down wind craft and it's the smae with the kites.

Why don't you think a Monofin would work?

Jon

 

[Haydn]

The mono doesnt work because the leverage of you holding the raft and the undulations make the raft unstable. You cant see where you are going (the raft is in the way). And worst of all, the mono will tire you out inside an hour. Its better when you tow the raft with a mono, but you still dont get duration and monos only work when you go fast. Bi fins let you swim all day.

I started from El Santuario Eco Retreat just Souith of Loreto and had thought to get to La Paz and say Hi to Aharron Solomon but half way there I turned around and swam back. Camping on deserted beaches was fantastic.

The ability to sail is vital. I was swimming across a wide bay (about 4 miles wide) and a mile off shore, when out of nowhere, an off shore wind blew my raft out to sea. I reckoned by the time I had covered the two miles to the next headland I would have been 5 miles out to sea. I had to point directly into wind and swim hard, just to stay still. After an hour, the wind died and I got half way back. Then the wind blew again. It took me three hours to feel safe. If I could have sailed across wind it would have been thrilling.

Another time I was being pushed with the tide against the wind onto rocks and I just couldnt work hard enough against the wind to get around the rocks to a sandy lee shore. All the time the rocks were getting closer. I had to choose to risk a rocky landing in fierce surf or turning back. After 20 minutes I was so tired, I knew I would never get safely ashore, which was then only 20 metres away. Under cliffs. I put up my spinaker and the wind blew me away instantly, I literally screamed with joy (something think yahooooo).

I lost my pictures (deleted them off my computer by mistake) they were priceless. I cant wait for more adventure.

As for the lunacet. I thought it might be the answer to prayers. The ability to do ten miles an hour. But they appear useless as ten mph would be literally for ten seconds only. No good at all to get you away from trouble.

 

[Jon]

There was an old article I read, and I'm hoping someone else can dig it up, where I guy swam across the Atlantic with a monofin and used some kind of a board to push. He had a floating pod that drifted along with him and he slept in it at night. His mono was quite soft and he didn't need much in the way of a wetsuit due to the time of year he went. I'm not sure if it was on the IFnis site or somewhere else that I saw it.

I've done some dive/swims in a couple of my old monos that lasted for a few hours. I know that they have marathon swim races with monos, and am wondering if you just need to match the right fin to do the job. Bi-fins would be easier to maneuver, but I wonder if monos would allow faster speeds over a longer distance.

Jon

 

[blumon]

It's great to find others who undertake an activity that for me, ranks as my all time favourite past-time...I have long sought a name for it and ended up referring to it as 'coastal trekking'. Roger Horrocks calls it 'pelagic drifting'...(see Home | Welcome - Roger Horrocks is a freelance photographer specialising in environmental and underwater photography for news, editorial, ) and others that I have heard about or met refer to it as 'hike and dive', 'drift diving' or even 'live boating' - a more commercial term most often used by commercial divers inspecting pipelines or conducting search ops, etc.
There seem to be many different ways of venturing out along a stretch of coast line or catching a tidal current in the quest to explore the 'lens' that makes up the coastal zone...and for me it's about exploring just beyond the surf zone in areas where no one ventures and seeing and discovering the 'unusual and unseen'. This has resulted in some incredible sightings and discoveries natural and man-made...things like caves (full of lobster) and other natural formations - gullies, arches, holes, spectacular coral formations...and the stuff thats man-made like a Spanish anchor (I often wonder what story was behind that finding and how it got to be there - I found it along a gnarly, coral cliff off an Island in the Bahamas in 90ft of water...its another story)... and another time swimming across a shipwreck from the time of the Spanish-American War (11 inch guns on that one) - the wreck was known amongst the locals and nothing new, but to accidently run across it was stunning.
So...yeah, the Sea Hiking thing is an exhilirating sport and for me the activity is all about keeping it simple and conserving energy and hydrating. Burning up energy reserves means extra supplies and equipment and a support mechanism...all adding up to extra 'drag'! My basic water-tight pack ( which I tow) contains water, a pair of light, self-draining hiking boots (Rocky Hydro-Sports) for the walking part, sunscreen, lighters for building a fire, a light 8x8 tarp, a towel, extra shirt and shorts and I carry a heavy knife and pole-spear. The bag carries the mask, snorkel and fins when I'm hiking. In the future I want to put together a foam boogie-board for ease of towing, with the bag firmly attached by passing the carrying straps thru the board, adding a hard point for the float line attachment and throwing in a small point-and-shoot u/w camera. The longest period of time that I have been out has been two and a half days...any longer would mean more gear, more drag and more energy!
I hope I have been able to contribute something to this thread...there are many ways to approach this activity and for me it has been about the journey and the discovery along the way - not so much about the destination or the physical accomplishment. Kudos to the "luno-fin" guys and to Haydn, your custom craft and the Baja trip!
"Just Do It!"
Bruce

 

[Jon]

This was the article I was thinking of:
Texas Monthly: Flipped Out

Looking at another site it seems as if he used some really funky bi-fins instead.
1994 - L'Atlantique à la dérive et à la nage - Guy Delage


Here's another one: legendinc.com Webmaster Comments: October 1, 1998

 

[laminar]

Thanks for telling me about this thread, Eric!

Hadyn, Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

I also contacted Roger earlier this year after reading his account of his trip in SA. His story was very cool.

I've been planning a couple of sea hiking trials as my travels take me to Michigan, Ontario (Georgian Bay and 30,000 islands), Nova Scotia, and, of course, the various places in BC. I'll also be in the Bahamas again, but not much time for exploring, probably.

I'm especially interested in supply lists. I'm less interested in marathon trips for months and months, not practical for me. 5-14 days is the range I'm looking at right now.

I've looked at what minimalist campers use - cycle travelers - and find it interesting that small gear is so expensive. Blumon, I appreciate your list! What I think would be great is to find easy ways to filter sea water/fresh water without too much bulk. If you could do it while you sleep, that would be even better. Or while you swim. For certain that is the biggest hurdle. As Roger said, packing enough food energy was not a problem.

I've been planning to do a small trip each month this summer - solo or at most, 2-3 people, locally, when I travel. In places where I can be relatively safe and hug the shoreline.

While BC inlets are safe from big surf, they can have nasty tides and currents. And also the coastguard is a little suspicious of solo travellers. Anyone have any problems with getting challenged by coast guard or police?

The Great Lakes are probably easier, but can whip up into a gale in an hour or two. If you stick among small islets, you can get run over by drunk teenagers. :duh

Speaking of Georgian Bay, there's a woman who is known by a friend of mine who spends her summers swimming up and down the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. I'll dig up her name. But I believe she's been featured in a Cottage Life magazine or something. If any of you have Lexis Nexis access, I'm sure you could find the article on her. She's been doing it for TEN YEARS!

When I was in the Bahamas last time, I was struck by how unused I am to swimming in significant swell and good visibility. It is very disconcerting to sway back and forth (although watching the sharks and fish do the same thing made me feel a little better) and not appear to make much progress. It is something to get used to. I do remember when Eric and Tyler and I were swimming on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, we encountered the same thing (but not great viz because of the swell) and had a hairy exit on some rocks!

I have to agree with Hadyn about the monofin being less than optimal. However, I am continuing to swim with the Dolfin and will report back to everyone. The biggest advantage it has is in pushing a lot of water with a small kick. So when power is needed. Also you can wear it with boots and socks as thick as you need them. Very comfortable. It is easy to store as well (in a pack or on a board for towing). I wouldn't use it in surf, though. Although, I've never tried. My guess is that if you were broadsided, your lower legs and knees would be screwed! It is very high aspect ratio.

For longer trips I was thinking of a SUP. It would be handy for navigating through big surf, self-rescue in bad current, wind or tides, and a nice sleeping shelter from the wind! :friday

And you could stuff a lot of things on top and it would glide over the water.

I also windsurf, so that's always an option for crossings between islands over 3-4 km.

A cool approach to doing a longer trip 1-3 months would be to plan 7-14 day legs of the trip and stop into refuel, have some beer, eat some real calories. Maybe not a purist way to do it, but a wonderful way to see a country or a coastline.

I've often dreamed of swimming across Canada, either directly through lakes and rivers from coast to coast, or up one coast, across the Arctic and down through Hudson, Great Lakes, St. Lawrence to Nova Scotia. That would be cool and probably take 5 years!

That also jogs my memory. There is a guy who swam around Vancouver Island to promote water safety, of all things. But he was boat supported. Another guy swam down the Columbia River, I think, which is really polluted. And then there's Martin Strel, Martin Strel - Amazon Swim 2007, who has swum the Amazon and other places. But that's more of a marathon approach as a physical feat of endurance. Not really what I'm into.

I say this because I swam 16km freestyle (approx - 9km plus a bad current for 4 hours+) non-stop and it was pretty tiring. I would rather swim for an hour or two per day to make distance and then rest. Then freedive or bodysurf wherever I end up. Or explore on land. Swimming with fins and a float would be better.

When I came up with the term of Sea Hiking to encompass simple swimming, snorkeling and freediving all the way to long, camping trips or exploratory outings, I imagined it as a hiker: you can hike with your dog in the park next to your work or you can hike up to the top of K2. Each to his or her own interest and ability. And of course with the full knowledge that this has been done before - but I think without the benefit of more recent approaches to freediving...

I was also inspired by the writings of John Muir - his experiences of being in forests, solo, witnessing nature in storms, cool mornings, and quiet moments, was what led to the protection of a few key forests in the states and likely helped other countries gather support for preserving what forests remained after the initial harvest. Or sort of.

I think Sea Hiking is a great way to raise awareness of the aquatic wilderness. I think a lot of freedivers do this and treasure it. It would be cool if more of us share our experiences with video, articles, books, whatever.

I think it would be cool to brainstorm a list of essentials and where to find them. I'll post my packing list in progress for this summer shortly.

Pete

 

[Haydn]

Guy Delage was before Ben, and he finned everyday whilst pushing a board and after around 10 hours finning he got on board a large raft that had some kind of devise that kept it alongside him. Once on board he drifted 14 hours while he slept etc. Commentators suggest he only swam a third of the atlantic. However, he was ultimately alone and in a small raft. Had he simply rowed or sailed his raft, that in itself would have been fantastic. He chose to to power the raft by swimming.

Ben took a more traditional approach and simply swam with a mono everyday and then slept on board a ship that shadowed him across. So he would have felt very safe and could exit the water at any time to be looked after by his support team. He could also abandon the swim at any time. Everyday he would start the swim from where he left off.

Both swims were firsts, but I value Guys approach, he did his unsupported.

Back in the 50s another french man Bombard simply drifted across in an open rib and lived off the sea. It nearly killed him.

Let me tell you this though. There is a certain thrill swimming for a few hours unsupported across a wide bay which would otherwise take a couple of days to walk the coastal path. Or swimming just off shore from an unbroken line of cliffs. In England, swimming between Eastbourne and Cuckmere was really lovely and in the afternoon from there to Brighton getting ashore as the sun went down, it was travel by swimming. On the other hand, Dungeness to Rye was horrid. Then Christchurch to Swanage was ok for an open crossing, but Poole to Swanage along Old Harry Rocks cannot be beaten.

In swimming around the Uk, the challenges would be how to cut off the biggest bays. For instance how to cross from England to Wales. The short way from say Minehead straight across, or the long way round by hugging the coast all the way up to Weston and then across to Cardiff. Going that far up would add a week and over 100 miles to the journey. Swimming across from Ilfracombe would be a brave and extended battle against one of the worlds biggest tidal ranges and would make 4 miles across Torbay for instance a piece of cake, to be done before breakfast, but it would save two weeks swimming all for two days in one go. I suppose it all depends on the conditions of the day and some stretches would demand support boats. One thing I know, having swam from Dover to Portland Bill, hugging the shore makes swimming around the UK impossible, the distances are vast. Open water crossings are the answer, but theres not so much to look at.

In the end Staying Wet is the name of the game.

 

[jome]

Haydn, that's the coolest thing I've read in a while. Too bad about the photos - do you still have the harddrive? Sometimes surprising things can be salvaged. For example I once saw a friend pull out several years old photos from his memory card after having filled and formatted it several times (it's quite scary when you think about selling your old camera - better check what's in there )

Anyhow, about the mono - I agree it would not be my first choice - but if you wanted to I guess you could build some kind of periscope contraption on the raft for navigation while swimming face down. I've thought about it for spearfishing, but never got around to it. But the the problem was a little different as I wanted to get faster than others to a spot some kilometers away after the start of a competition. Mono would be suberb for that.

Really long distance swims with mono would be possible IMO, but you'd need a really soft and comfortable one and the technique needs to be adapted for the purpose.

But the whole idea really appeals to me, I got to try this on a less ambitious scale. Too bad my sense of direction is nil, I get lost really easy at sea. But that's part of the fun I guess (learning not to get lost I mean)

 

[Haydn]

The big issue with the mono is that it prohibits time at sea because it takes up too much energy. Its great for an hour or so, but no good for ten hours day in day out. Whearas bi fins can be used all day, and when the day is done you are still strong. A mono tires out your whole body.

My first experiments were to find out whether finning 10 hours a day, every day for a few weeks, would either wear down the body or strengthen it. With bi fins you could wake up next day totally refreshed and ready for another long day. With a mono you wake up half dead from the day before. Swimming without fins, fits somewhere between as far as effort is concerned.

Therefore ultra long distances are best served by gentle work that strengthens and not weakens the body. Adding a wetsuit provides safety from Hypothermia and therefore longer days at sea, that means more miles. Towing a raft allows you to be seen and can get you off the water in an emergency. It can carry radio, flares food etc. I am yet to spend the night on my raft. That will happen this summer. First I intend to try simply to sleep on the raft while in my swimming pool. Then to try it moored up in a peaceful bay. Then, if I do get to sleep, I will try it halfway through a 10 hour night swim and see if I can get a couple hours sleep. I believe it will be virtually impossible to get real sleep, unless I am really tired before hand, therefore the swim will start after a long days work.
The goal will be to see if it is possible to swim for three days without getting off the water, and being totally refreshed each day. Being lost at sea will then be adventure rather than life threatening.

 

[laminar]

I also really enjoyed open water crossings. Eric and I did one in 2003, I think, and it was about 5-6 km each way to a small island - seal habitat. We did it in one day, which was pretty brutal - with monofins and drybags full of water, food, weightbelts. Very low tech and lots of drag. Recently, we did a 1km crossing to a small island. Easy way over. However, on the way back we hit the tide full force and I think it took us three times as long since we were forced into a wide elliptical path from our intended course. And the fun thing was we were being forced out to sea! :duh

I think the biggest danger with open water crossing beyond 10km solo is staying warm, staying nourished, exposure to tide changes, and fighting wind swell, especially in locations where you could get swept out to sea.

Personally, I'd rather not be rescued by coastguard unless absolutely necessary. Traveling in a group would be better for safety but perhaps not as interesting as a personal experience.

Have any of you read Waterlog? [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterlog-Swimmers-Journey-Through-Britain/dp/0099282550"]Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain: Amazon.co.uk: Roger Deakin: Books[/ame] More of a swimming account, but interesting. Lots of local history that doesn't resonate much in my Canadian cultural psyche, but cool nonetheless.

 

[Jon]

I worry too much about getting run down by boats and jet skis. That's why I was thinking of some place like the Michigan or Canadian Boundary waters.

There are long stretches of lakes with no boat motor traffic allowed on most of it. There are also places to get out and portage and campsites all around. Most people canoe or kayak through the wilderness areas so there's not too much to worry about when getting run down.

I would think that you could just throw a normal amount of back packing gear into a dry bag and strap it to your boogie board. No reason to worry about flares or currents- but there might be a few rapids to run.

Since it's all freshwater that you'd be swimming through all you need would be water filter and not have to worry about carry gallons of fresh drinking water with you. I've also been able to pick fresh berries along the way to supplement my food. If spearfishing were allowed it would be about perfect- hook and line fishing is legal.

Jon

 

[blumon]

Laminar...what do you mean by an SUP??? (ie the self rescue thingy...!)
B

 

[laminar]

Stand Up Paddleboard. Which, incidentally, I invented in 1982 at Thunder Bay Beach on antique windsurfer - paddling back and forth, sun on my shoulders, perfectly balanced, invoking the spirit of the Venetian punt.

I think it is important to lay claim to all the good inventions in the world. After all, I also invented the WWF - the World Wildlife Federation. I especially like it when Bruiser the Bunny fights Igor the Cockatoo from the Great White North. Ready to ruuuuuummmmble!!!!!!!

 

[blumon]

May as well do it with a kayak (a la Roger Horrocks)...and then Bruiser can crawl inside... AND not be seen by Igor. You cold weather guys sure are different! Keep well

 

[laminar]

I'm only a class five cold water person. There are people who won't go out unless they can see icebergs.

Try a shower in ice cubes! Let me tell you, the showerheads here are made with steel, not cheap plastic.

Hyperbole is not a river in China. What you are thinking of is He-po-bei-le, which, translated, means Northern Old Happy Lady River.

For real.

 

[blumon]

Shhh...I'm thinkin'...
I knew it ...you all shower in ice cubes, while we put 'em in our drinks. Never fear, global warming is near ... you might yet discover the 'normal' use for ice cubes...

Sorry Jon , we're way off topic here...seriously tho' I can't believe that most of the interest shown on this thread is by folks up in the frozen North. I have a hard time in the tropics and constantly have to keep in mind the amount of time I spend in the water and plan for decent egress points. Body core temp, energy reserves and hydration all come into play and planning your legs is important, as are tidal issues, local weather knowledge and that all-important back-up plan. Murphy is never far away...