Paddlewisers, Some paddling friends have suggested that I post the following trip report on Paddlewise because there are some lessons that can be learned by a lot of us. The trip in question, is usually suitable for "advanced beginners", i.e., people who can paddle 13 miles, have some experience with surf launches and landings in gentle 2 - 3 foot surf, and have paddled coastal waters several times. My wife had coincidentally had lunch the day before at the beach we were using as our turn around point. She commented that the ocean was unusually calm and flat, and "that even she could have managed a landing at that beach". My wife considers herself to be surf challenged. Anyway, here goes. Steve Holtzman The fickle finger of Neptune taught all of us some valuable lessons today on our paddle from Butterfly Beach in Montecito to Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara and return. The total paddling distance was 13 miles round trip and there were 10 closed deck boats and one SOT making the journey. The first omen of the day was when I arrived at Butterfly Beach and found there was no beach. The full moon was causing a "highest of the high" tides and the water level was right up to the steps going down to the sand. The second omen was when one paddler showed up and announced he had gotten a speeding ticket getting there. As others showed up we debated going to SB harbor to launch or just waiting for the tide to go down a little. We finally figured we could carry 2 boats at a time down and quickly launch. The surf was very tricky since there was no beach. I watched John launch and he quickly got hit by a wave. He pushed off from the bottom and came up and got pushed over by another - again he pushed off from the bottom and finally he was in deeper water and a third wave knocked him over. John muscled himself up with a brace that depended more on muscle power than his usual finesse. We didn't know it yet, but it appears he may have pulled a muscle or at least strained it. Peter, one of the most skillful paddlers I've ever seen, was next. As he went out, he got clobbered by a breaking wave and capsized. He then rolled up and kept going and I watched another wave break right on top of him. Technique won out though and he went past the surf zone. I got lucky and timed things so I stayed relatively dry getting out. We then paddled on through relatively flat water and sunny skies. Six and a half miles later, we arrived at Hendry's Beach to find what my wife saw as totally flat the day before was now 4-5 foot dumping waves.Most everybody made it in without incident, but our SOT paddler got clobbered and capsized just before he finished his run into the beach. Another paddler headed in a little too soon before the boat in front of him cleared the beach. He got clobbered by a couple of waves and decided to head in to shore backwards. Although this is a very good technique in rough surf, his boat has a rudder which punched a hole into the hull of the wooden boat in front of him that was still healed over on a lean. The rest of the group made it in without incident and we decided to dry off the holed boat and let it bake in the sun while most got the famous Pelican clam chowder. We would then patch it with some duct tape from my emergency kit. The next omen was that there was no chowder for at least another hour. Most of us then opted for lemonade and some Fritos. We did notice that Kathy Ireland was sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant with a large group of friends and/or family. It was nice to see that everyone left her alone to enjoy a day at the beach without being annoyed by celebrity seekers. We finally finished and made our way to the beach where we noticed 2 things. While we were on the beach for 30 minutes, the weather changed from bright sun to pea soup fog with almost no visibility and the surf was now terrible (board surfers were there though and having a blast). It was 4 - 5 footers but the beach was so shallow that you had to have someone push you out, wait for 2 waves to break in front of you and then you would still have at least 2 waves to punch through. Our cotton clad kayaker looked cold, so Chris gave him a dry capilene shirt to wear and I gave him a paddling jacket as well. We had almost everybody on the water when Patrick came through the fog and right in front of him a paddler capsized while punching through the last wave. A couple of surfers got to him first and were trying to tow him and his boat back to the beach. Patrick and I got there and said NO--let's take him to deep water outside the surf zone. Patrick started an assisted rescue and I started trying to get my tow line out of the day hatch. By the time I got it out, ready to use, and was trying to clip onto Patrick's bow to tow him and the capsized paddler out, the swimmer got into the boat. He then paddled out and I rafted up with him to help him pump the boat. At that time, we realized that we were missing our last paddler. He was an experienced kayaker and very experienced sailor. His son was on the water with us but we couldn't see dad. We waited for a while, still didn't see him and then started to blow our whistles. We could not hear an answer. We had drifted from the beach because we couldn't see the surfers anymore, so Chris, Patrick, the son, and I paddled due west by compass until we ran into the surfers. They assured us a wooden boat had launched and made it out. We still couldn't find him. Prior to launching, we had discussed that if anyone couldn't get out through the surf, to remain at the beach and we would get them by car later. But we didn't think this paddler would have a problem. Finally I heard the Coast Guard calling for California Kayak Friends on Channel 16. I answered and they told us that our missing paddler was on the beach on a pay phone. We told them to let him know that we had a 2 hour trip to the landing site and that he should remain at the restaurant and we would then pick him up. His son, paddling a boat with a hole in the bottom, breathed a sigh of relief and we all started paddling the 6 1/2 miles back. It was very eerie paddling so far in fog that prevented us from seeing anything. We couldn't see the shore, we couldn't see anything beyond 50 feet (2 1/2 kayak lengths). Then the CG announced over the radio that the light and horn at Point Santa Barbara were both inoperative. So much for the nav aids we were depending on. The fog finally started to burn through a little and we were able to see some boats heading towards us and the SB sea wall. The sail boats all had a person hanging on the lines for the jib in the bow as a lookout, but one idiot in a powerboat, came barreling through the fog with his boat going fast enough to plane and no watch at the bow. I guess he thought if it is not big enough to show up on radar, it's not important. Of course glass or plastic kayaks don't show up on radar. Finally we arrived at Butterfly Beach and found the surf to be a little bigger than when we launched. Several people let Neptune decide they should swim in. I started in and felt my boat being turned by a wave. I tried to rudder it straight and leaned onto a brace and the wave spun me around 180 degrees. All of a sudden, I went from leaning into the wave to leaning away from it. As this registered on my brain, I quickly leaned the other way and threw a paddle out on a brace. As Chris mentioned though, I just wasn't quite fast enough to beat Neptune on this one and I swam. One paddler learned that the remote control units for car alarms and door locks are not waterproof and need to be either in a dry bag or not carried on the water. Our paddler in the holed wooden boat, went over and donated his prescription glasses to Neptune. We then loaded boats and Peter and I drove to pick up our missing paddler. When we got him, he told us the full story. As he was getting ready to launch, a wave grabbed him and sucked him out before his skirt was on. He got hit by a breaking wave which washed his compass from his deck. He realized that it was unsafe to paddle without a compass in the fog, so he headed back into the beach and promptly snapped his paddle on a brace. He eventually recovered the compass, but still had only a half paddle. He and his son carried one spare and it was on the son's boat. That's when he showed remarkably good judgment and called the Coast Guard. The only problem was that he didn't know the call sign for anybody in the group with a radio. The call to CKF however worked out very well and this eliminated all of the worry we had as to what had happened to him. Lessons Learned: 1. Cotton is not acceptable to wear on the water. Once it gets wet, it stays wet. If you lose the sun, you will be very cold. 2. When landing in surf, it is imperative that we land one person at a time unless there are multiple people on shore guiding others in. This is especially true if you like to land backwards and have a ruddered boat. 3. If you do coastal paddles, carry a compass and know how to use it. The weather can change in an instant. 4. ALL paddlers should have a LOUD whistle on their PFD's (although our whistles still could not be heard over the crashing surf). 5. If you paddle the ocean, seriously consider investing in a submersible marine VHF radio. They can be had for $150 - $200 and are really a cheap insurance policy. If our last paddler had had a radio, he could have called us to let us know the situation. Steve Holtzman *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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