Sea Hiking (hydrotouring)

[Jon]

Where I live I have options to make it as easy or difficult as I wish.

I could hit the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior and do open water crossing of several miles to get from island to island- there are 22 in all. I've kayaked them before and the water is crystal clear. It's also near freezing year round, has boat traffic that ranges from kayaks to Ocean going freighters, and huge waves that can sink a ship- and have, many times. There's also bears, bugs, currents, and the occasional moose or wolf. The only that it lacks are sharks and jelly fish.

There's also the Lake Superior National Lake Shore- the only freshwater National seashore in the country. It goes for miles and has some pretty desolate beaches along the way. The place is a haven for kayakers and there are even a few shipwrecks in the area.

I was mainly looking at inland locals to cut my teeth and not have to add in too many other worries to start with. Since all of these waterways are a series of lakes in very close proximity there are miles and miles of opportunities to choose from with close access to shore in case of storms.

I'm sure you would have much more to look at where you live but we have to make the most with the local resources we have available to us.

Jon

 

[blumon]

I hear you.
When I started my coastal trekking I was stationed on an isolated Island in the Med. I had plenty of time between duty rotations and truthfully there was not much else happening on that 16x4 mile rock (Lampedusa). I started small and really got to know the conditions and topography on a gradual basis ... and it took some time. I was swimming about three times a week and over a period of six months felt confident enough to pull off a seven mile swim regularly. It was once I had completed this that I began to appreciate the journey more than the completion - I had the confidence to stay in the water for an extended period of time and started to notice the little things going on around me - eg resident marine life et al. I got so into it that locals started to take notice and it opened doors for me ... it was a good time in my life... kinda spiritual with memories that are not easy to quantify but remain with me to this day.
Plan your swim and swim your plan. Thats all I've got...cheers B.

 

[cdavis]

Very interesting thread!

I'm planning a trip to an island with a 20 mile uninhabited north coast that (I think) gets no fishing pressure. Little or no boat access, but could I swim it? Never considered the idea before.

Keep talking guys, I've much to learn.

Connor

 

[Gera]

I often looked while living in Hong Kong at possible 'island hops' from somewhat sheltered, well-known beaches to outlying small islands.

This sense often occurred on high-speed ferry hops between larger, more bustling residential islands (Discovery Bay to Hong Kong Island, and others)-- the distances seemed deceptively short. Less-inhabited places seemed to present many possibilities.

Shek-O is beautiful and looking out from the beach made one wish to strike out in open water. And to me it was enjoyable when just swimming short distances in the winter to hike first, as Hong Kong Island slopes deeply; there are just a few substantial trails, however (mostly to the Peak, with little access down to areas to swim).

Though I swam in the winter, when it was colder, I would have liked to do so in warmer weather-- there is nothing like getting very warm from exertion then swimming in cool, even cold, water...then hiking back out again whilst still cooled off/wet.

 

[ekinoderminator]

I did it in my 20's in northern california. There are several rivers and creeks that run north/south while there are various roads that run east/west. I would have a buddy drop me off at one point then just disappear for days on end. I found that the fish (trout) would get bigger and bigger the further I got from the road and then in turn get smaller and smaller as I came close to my pick up point. As I did it I sniped for gold. Now I don't seem to get the time.

 

[Gidds]

First Attempt at Sea Hiking

*don't shoot* Yes, I am digging up this old thread because I have literally been wanting to try sea hiking for years and I finally did this morning...sort of.

I was really excited because not only did my husband get two weekends in a row off to spend with me, he willingly agreed to go with me! I wanted to swim from our main beach down to the outfall of a dune lake about half a mile down the beach, a nice easy swim. The surf forecast said it was supposed to be flat. HA! If I had checked the beach web cams I probably wouldn't have bothered getting out of bed, because when we got there, while the water looked pretty and the flag was only yellow, the waves in shin-deep water were up to my chest!

My husband, who is fearless to the point of foolhardiness at times, merely went splashing in, while I was standing in waist deep water with the gear and my long fins getting knocked over by waves. Let me stop at "gear" for a moment. I hate towing a diver down flag, so I asked my husband to attach it to an old boogie board so I could push it or attach the leash to my wrist and tow it that way. I like to swim with my arms up in streamlined diving position anyway. Normally I get tangled in the flag line constantly. Last night, while I was sleeping he assembled the boogie board and made himself a metal rod that his UW camera would screw onto.

Anyway I ran back out of the surf after yelling "The waves are too big for me, I'm getting out glub glub sputter" as I got knocked over by a wave and got a mouth full of sea water. My husband laughed at me and swam around with his camera. I had to rethink my entry. No sedate, easy Caribbean entry today, I had to go back to my New England cold water roots. I dropped all my crap on the beach, spit in my mask, ran into the surf, dunked it, ran back out and donned mask and snorkel. Then I donned long fins, grabbed boogie board, and side/crouch walked into the surf and fell over into proper swimming position. As I swam out to my husband I was dismayed that the vis was just below "blah" and thought the large swells might make me seasick. Once I decided they wouldn't I actually had a pretty good time.

A small pod of dolphins had passed by when we were getting ready but they were nowhere in sight. There were a lot of baitfish, some seaweed, and some june grass. We decided that since there wasn't much vis we wouldn't try swimming along the shore and goofed around in the surf for a bit with the video camera. I was pretty pleased with how fast I could go on the boogie board with long fins while catching a wave. I managed to get thrown up onto the beach by a wave and crawled the last few feet out, proper shore diver SCUBA style. Then as my husband was taking off his fins in the water the dolphins came back so he tried to get video of them while I waded around with my mask and snorkel, long fins left on the beach. The dolphins were having none of it and took off.

So my first attempt at sea hiking turned into surfing. I want to make a more sophisticated boogie board with flag that I can attach my camelback to, and maybe a small dry bag with wallet and sandals.

 

[cdavis]

Fun story. thanks.

For future reference, you can strap the boogie board leash to you leg and take off. We did a lot of that in Little Cayman. With long fins, you hardly know the boogie board is back there.

Connor

 

[waterman503]

I've thought of doing something like this around Isle Royale park. Boat traffic is a big worry anywhere inland, so protected wilderness areas would be best.
What about the amount of distance covered per day with monofins (lunacet ?) vs bifins for a fit individual?trying to get a sense for the scale of operation...

 

[Gidds]

Connor- you don't end up kicking the boogie board? I'll put up some pics when I construct my new board and/ or when we do some exploring with the prototype board and the UW camera.

 

[cdavis]

The leash on my board was a cheap (very cheap) simple nylon strap, no springs, no curly cues. Strap it on my ankle and it extended beyond the fins before it got to the board. Perfect for my use. As far as I could tell, it did not slow me down at all.

 

[Haydn]

All freedivers should try this.

Wen next in Dahab at the Blue Hole, simply look left and fin along the shore to the next village (maybe 4 miles distant but only 100/400 meters off shore almost all the way there. It will take you over fantastic reefs. (You have all done the trip by camel anyway by now). So it makes a perfect fin swim. Start in the morning, say 7am. Spend the afternoon /evening free diving at the village. Sleep over, then swim back.

Or again from the Blue Hole, just swim back to Dahab. Its a fair bit further and may be a little windy in the afternoon. But you will get a buzz you will remember forever.

 

[cdavis]

Finally somebody has tried what I wondered about. Great report, thanks.

If I ever get to Dahab, that's what I'll do. The Blue Hole itself is way too crowded to interest me much.

Connor

 

[Fondueset]

This is my rig (before I added reflective tape to the sides) It's a 'banks board' with an extra large flag because boat traffic is an issue here. The Large flag can be a little problematic in high winds, but the float pulls with very little friction and has a lot of storage. Moreover - the recessed deck means you can ride up on it and lock your elbows in at the corners if you need to adjust a mask or camera or do something else with your hands.

The board comes with attachment points on the bottom and a 3-point harness so it can be rigged as a backpack. A mono fin, mask, snorkel, suit etc can all be secured with the mesh bag and strappage that comes with it. The components are all off-the-shelf and easy to replace or modify. I pull it with a mono fin and barely know it's there - with bifins it would be even better.

 

[Fondueset]

Conspicuitized

 

[Haydn]

Hey Fondueset, "Thats not a raft.....This is a raft".

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gffhGjzRamw&feature=plcp]Haydns swim raft 001.MOV - YouTube[/ame]

 

[cdavis]

Raft??? More like the Queen Mary.

Nice job, and I'd be way too embarrassed to show you mine.

Connor

 

[laminar]

Wow! I never thought I'd have raft envy. Beautiful raft.

I'm working on a different design, though. I'll try to draw a mock-up and post.

 

[Haydn]

This raft is about 5 years old now. Its been all over the place for fun and training. It gets its first real outing in the Summer as I am lending it to Dave Cornthwaite who will be using it for his 1000 mile Missouri swim later this year (Dave is attempting 25 x 1000 mile journeys all by human power) I am jealous, cos I am too busy to take my gap year yet (I would have chosen the Sea of Cortez for my 1000 mile swim). I am now in the middle of building the Mother of all rafts (actually, its more of a conversion). Hope to get the hull wet in a couple of weeks and if it works, it will get a cabin later. If that all works, my boat builder will build the Daddy of all rafts, sometime after Christmas.