Roz Savage - Ocean Rower

For the past year and a half or so, I have been following the rowing adventures of Roz Savage, a remarkable woman from the UK as she has been rowing single-handed first across the Atlantic, then from California to Hawaii, on to Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, and continuing her Pacific journey to New Guinea. Recently, she set out from Australia to cross the Indian Ocean to India. She has a blog, which I check into daily at http://www.rozsavage.com/ One of her colleagues in Norway does a weekly podcast interview with her that can be found at Roz Roams on i-Tunes, and I listen to their conversation on my morning walks. There are a number of links on her blog that illustrate aspects of her travels, including her departure last week from Fremantle, Australia.

Roz Savage has a terrific personal narrative, a compelling story of what led her to take up oars and tackle the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans alone in a customized rowboat. One of my sons alerted me to her as she began her crossing from California to Hawaii, and I have vicariously followed along on her voyages since then. Her daily accounts of the voyage have become a part of my routine, and I recommend checking out Roz and her amazing travels. This latest element to her crossings is expected to last about four months.

Lake Lakota - April 2011

Here in Sioux Falls, the weather has been wonderful today. Upon learning of the probable weather for this week, it was clear that a kayaking cruise had to be on my agenda today. This seems likely to be the last such day for the week; there is even snow forecast for this week in southeastern South Dakota. North of here, in the Watertown area and further north, there is still ice on lakes.

This morning, I left town about 8:00 a.m., and the temperature on a bank I passed read 46 degrees. The forecast called for a high today of nearly 70 degrees.

Lake Lakota is part of the Newton Hills State Park and located just south of Canton. It is about a 25-minute drive from our eastside Sioux Falls home. The lake is set within the boundaries of the park and is a protected nature area. This is a very tranquil spot, surrounded by trees – mostly coniferous trees that provide nice color regardless of the season.

The public areas of the lake are set in a hollow among low hills. The launching area is on the north central part of the lake and includes picnic areas, a swimming beach, a boat ramp, toilets, and new this year is a fishing pier just to the west of the swimming beach.

The wind was light when I launched my kayak. There was a flat calm on some sheltered parts of the lake and light waves elsewhere: a wonderful surface for my kind of nature-watching contemplative paddles.

I set out on my usual circle around the shoreline, heading southeast from the launching area to the first of the bays or inlets. I like to move into these inlets and look for wildlife as well as observe the vegetation along the shoreline and into the trees. These are the areas where I am most likely to see interesting animal life.

Inevitably, I seem compelled to proceed into these inlets as far as I can go in my kayak, then usually having to back out because of the narrowing course of the waterway.

As I moved south on the lake toward the dam on the southeastern end, I saw the largest flock of pelicans that I can recall. There were several dozen of them clustered like a floating white island across the southwestern part of the lake.

As I began my return trip north on this main body of the lake, the flock began slowly moving away from me. I would paddle toward them, and the flock just didn’t seem to close much.

When the flock began to sense that my kayak was close enough, it first split into two parts and then the pelicans began to fly off to circle nearby.

I wondered what would bring so many pelicans to this small (90 acres) lake. Then, I thought about the large number of fish that I saw. In the bay along the northwestern end, I came across large schools of fish that were four or five inches in length. These fish flashed by my kayak. I also saw very large numbers of small fish – fingerlings. It occurred to me that perhaps the SD Game Fish and Parks staff had “stocked” the lake this spring and that the pelicans were having a feast of these small fish.

My favorite part of the lake is the northwestern arm that extends up to the entrance of Pattee Creek. This is the area where I tend see the greatest variety of wildlife. In the summer, there are large lily pads and lots of aquatic grasses on and just below the surface. Big frogs are frequently seen sitting on the lily pads, and turtles of all sizes are seen.

Today, I came across a great blue heron, ducks, geese, and one turtle.

The water conditions and the lay of the trees, bushes, and grasses are always interesting to me along this shoreline.

I thought that I was alone on the lake, a condition that I usually enjoy in these small prairie lakes on a spring weekday. But then, I came across a guy fishing from the southwest shoreline in that western arm of the lake. We exchanged pleasantries while he was casting his line out into the lake.

The circle of the lake shoreline and my meandering up into bays took me about an hour and fifteen minutes. By the time I began making my way back to the launching area, the wind had increased in strength and the lake had developed a noticeable chop. The lesson for kayaking the lakes of South Dakota: start early in the morning!

The First Cruise of 2011: Lake Alvin

This was the day I have been waiting for since last November! Although the lakes 100 miles north of Sioux Falls are still ice covered, the paddling season has returned to lakes in this part of the state. The ice is out on Lake Alvin, and the Department of Game, Fish, and Parks has installed the docks. With the forecast of a glorious day and temperatures into the high 50s, I could not resist the opportunity to take my first cruise of the season.

I loaded up my kayak about noon and drove the fifteen minutes to Lake Alvin. The skies were partly sunny and there was a moderate wind out of the northeast. As I passed a digital bank thermometer near East 26th Street and Sycamore, the temperature was 58 degrees.

A few weeks ago, I saw an ad in Canoe/Kayak Magazine for a kayak-carrying strap; I ordered the strap and today used it for the first time. This strap makes it easier for a geezer like me to carry the kayak, and I think that it will reduce the strain of moving the kayak from the car to the waterway.

There was a moderate wind blowing down the lake, so I headed southwest and into Nine Mile Creek. For those who would like to explore this creek, you must move down the southern shore, keeping close to the left bank. There is a shallow area that extends over about two-thirds of the southern end of the lake leading up to the entrance to Nine Mile Creek, and failure to keep to the left bank will probably lead to grounding in the mud and gravel shallows.

Nine Mile Creek is the most promising area for spotting wildlife in the Lake Alvin system. The creek winds along, moving steadily south, under the bridge, and into a game production area. The waterway narrows down as it moves further south; still, the depth is generally sufficient throughout the year to continue for a little more than a mile. The width of the creek ranges from about 10 to 20 feet.

Along Nine Mile Creek, I came across a group of four egrets, and they allowed me to approach to about 30 feet or so. I also saw a great blue heron, lots of ducks, nesting geese, a muskrat, and my first turtle of the year.


A close examination of the vegetation revealed the first signs of new growth in the shoreline grasses.


Coming back into the main body of Lake Alvin, I found that the wind strength had increased, and I decided that I had been out on the water long enough for this first cruise.

As usual, I was alone on the water. I saw no one along the shoreline either. I really like this time to cruise along in silence, listening to the water along the shore, the constant chatter of birds, and the sound of the wind moving through the trees.