The Legendary Warren Williamson

After my modifications to the hatches and padeyes on my Laughing Loon Shooting Star cedar strip baidarka, Moonlight Dancer, my compartments stay bone dry.  The hatches are supertight. I actually have to slide my Gerber knife under the hatch cover and carefully twist it to get them to open. When I break the seal you can hear a satisfying puff of air as the pressure equalizes. Too much of a good thing -- I love my baidarka! 

There was a predicted 5.7 knot ebb at Deception Pass today – a great opportunity to try out Moonlight Dancer in rough water. I leave home early and arrive expecting a few more kayakers to be at the put-in at Bowman Bay, but I’m alone. It was warm and sunny in Tacoma but cold and foggy here. Another rule I should have followed: always bring extra fleece, even in the middle of summer. I spend fifteen minutes practicing a few rolls in the bay to loosen up and get comfortable being in Moonlight Dancer again, then set off for the Pass.

Deception Island is hidden in fog. A gentle swell breaks against the cliffs. I see the bridge and Canoe Pass. Still no other kayakers. Oh well, I have the whole place to myself. I paddle along the shore inside the kelp, then sprint out into the current, brace downstream and do a low brace turn, ride the current through standing waves, then catch the eddy back close to shore to start another round.  Moonlight Dancer feels good in the waves.

After playing I ride the current back to Bowman Bay, but along the way I run into another paddler with a Greenland stick and a tuilik. It’s Warren Wailliamson. He’s in a 19.5 ft Superior Kayaks stitch-and-glue Arctic Hawk SS.  Even though I’ve been out for two hours already I join him to go back to the Pass. It’s harder paddling upstream now that the current is at its max. He takes off far ahead of me.

Warren is legendary at the Pass, so to paddle with him is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. He probably goes there every day that he’s not working. (Actually I think he’s been on an extended vacation the last couple years.) As we approach the bridge he surfs the standing waves – sooo smooth! The waves push him upstream to the narrowest part of Canoe Pass. He fires off a a number of rolls one after another…with a norsaq…in the middle of the 5.7 knot current. I sit in the kelp bed and watch. While other people go to a pool to practice rolls, Warren comes here. 

Again I paddle into the current. The waves are bigger now. I turn to face upstream and get on the face on a big green wave. I sprint to keep from going backward. I hear the roar of chaotic whitewater behind me.  Even though you are surfing you can’t feel any forward motion at all. The only way to know is by visual cues. Moonlight Dancer holds a straight course on the wave. This is good! I turn downstream, punch through the waves and fall into innaqatsineq, before recovering to catch the eddy back.

During a strong flood current big whirlpools form. Warren says he’s been sucked into them up to his armpits. He developed a special roll to recover, which involves lying on the back deck, sculling to the surface, then flipping over to an innaqatsineq position, sculling up and recovering, similar to the “back deck” roll. The flood currents can really push you into the rocks so Warren will only take his Anas Acuta.

Back at Bowman Bay I take out and have lunch. Despite the lingering fog, the beach is filled with more people than I’ve ever seen here before. Warren stays in the water and practices rolls. He told me earlier that in flatwater he only practices hand rolls now, both forward and layback recovery. He says once you know those then everything else is "icing on the cake". He has literally a different twist on the forward recovery, which has eluded me despite a lot of practice. After capsizing he tucks forward but facing up until his face is just beneath the water, then unwinds his body in a powerful twist that scoops the kayak under him. I’ll have to try that with my norsaq tomorrow.

After lunch I get back in the water and try a few rolls myself. Then as I’m climbing back up the bank I see filmmaker Tom Sharp and Dubside! They’ve come to stop at the place where it all started: Bowman Bay, the location of the rolling and ropes videos. In fact, I first met Tom here when they were filming. Tom’s station wagon is packed and he’s just picked up Dubside for their trip to the Greenland National Kayaking Championships.  Their flight leaves tomorrow. We all say goodbye and good luck. One last thing: they leave me with a copy of the Greenland Rolling with Dubside DVD.  Awesome!