[Paddlewise] Winter Paradise - a trip report from Malibu, CA

Today dawned bright and sunny and I was feeling great. We had a paddle
scheduled to launch from a beach close to home called Dan Blocker Beach. As I
was driving through the pass on Las Virgenes Road to cross the Santa Monica
Mountains and drop down to the beach, I could see beautiful blue water. There
was reddish/orange haze way out that kept the bottom of the Channel Islands
covered but the tops were completely clear. This is a rarity out here as there
is usually a marine layer over the coast and extending out to beyond the
islands. The three closest, Catalina, Anacapa, and Santa Cruz were all clearly
visible. This was the result of a Santanna wind which blows from the East and
would create an off shore wind that we would have to watch today.





As I approached Pacific Coast Highway, my co-host on this trip called to tell
me that there was almost no beach to launch from at our scheduled put in so we
were moving down the coast a few miles to Surf Rider Beach which is right next
to the old Malibu Pier.





I arrived and saw very small surf of 1 - 2 feet and a whole gaggle of kayaks.
Although we ask people to email us to let us know who is coming, it is a lost
cause. There are usually about 5 - 6 of us who comprise the "core group" and
then whoever shows up. We had 16 paddlers today. There were 2 SOT's and the
rest were closed deck boats.The NOAA forecast was for 6 - 8 foot seas, 1 - 2
foot wind waves, winds gusting to 35 and balmy temperatures in the 80's. The
water was a cooling 57. The only negative was that there was a high surf
advisory.





Several people opted not to wear wet suits and the thought was tempting to me,
but I opted for a shortie farmer john in the interests of safety. Everybody
launched without incident and we started paddling down the coast past many
million dollar and multi-million dollar homes in Malibu. Sure wish I could
afford to live there ;-)





The water was exceptionally clear and we could look down and see Halibut on
the bottom in 30 feet of water. We kept paddling and the only not perfect
thing on the trip was that one of the newer paddlers with us turned out to be
a beginner who could not paddle fast enough to keep up with the group. This
was billed as an intermediate level paddle and that paddlers should be able to
paddle for several hours at a speed of 3 knots.Several of us took turns
escorting the beginner so that she was not alone.





We arrived at our turnaround point after paddling a little over 6 miles. The
surf had kicked up a little as had the wind and the beach was steep. As I was
coming in for a landing, three paddlers who landed before me came running down
to the water's edge to grab my bow and keep it from being sucked back out. As
they came towards me, all of a sudden, all three of them turned and started
racing back up the beach. Although I am not a rocket scientist, I figured that
there must be one really large wave coming at me. I leaned the boat way over,
did a reverse sweep to quickly turn the boat 90 degrees to the waves and
transitioned it into a high brace.





As I was bouncing along in front of this massive wall of white water, I heard
a sickening crunch as my hull (fiberglass) hit a submerged rock. As soon as
the wave realeased me, I popped my skirt, stood up between the water and the
boat, and turned the boat on it's side to inspect what I thought was a hole in
the hull. At that point, the water from the wave started to return to the sea
and filled my cockpit, pushed the boat into me and knocked me down into the
surf. Nothing like a successful surf landing and then standing on the shore
and falling into the water. This doesn't qualify as a kelp award for the best
crash and burn in surf, but sure qualifies for a Darwin award.





After a 30 minute break for snacks and such, we decided to launch and return
before the afternoon winds kicked up and we had problems. Of course the winds
had also shifted and we would be paddling against the wind on the return as
well as our outbound trip. Another paddler gave me a shove after a large wave
in a set of three and I got real lucky and caught a rip as well. One of my
friends mentioned that I must have achieved an all time personal best for
speed on that launch. I must have been hitting close to 12 knots with that rip
pulling me along. I was paddling as fast as I could and my arms were feeling
like a cyclists leg do when they are going down a steep hill and just
freewheeling. I was soon past the surf zone and didn't even get enough water
on the boat to wash the sand off of the deck. The only worry I had was that I
felt water in the cockpit on my bare legs. I was hoping that this was just
left over from the landing and not a hole. I popped the skirt and sponged the
little bit of water out and just prayed that I wouldn't soon feel any water on
my legs. Fortunately there was no damage at all to my boat besides a small
pinhole hole in the gelcoat that will be easily repaired.





I started paddling back with the group and my co-host asked me to stay back
with the beginner and him. Neither of them had a VHF today, so I stayed. I was
very concerned about the head wind but bit my tongue and didn't say anything.
I did offer an "assist" a few times but my offers were refused. I decided that
if the wind got any worse, I wouldn't ask but my tow line would be clipped to
the bow of the slower boat.





We finally arrived at our put in at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a very long
day for only a 12 mile trip. We landed, cleaned boats, and packed our gear.





While we were out, the only mammals we saw were a lone bull sea lion in a kelp
bed. We did hear on the radio that about 10 miles further East from us, whales
were being spotted. This is the start of the migration and I didn't think any
would be visible this early, but hey, I'm frequently wrong.





In spite of one paddler who slowed the entire group to a crawl, we had a great
day on the water on a beautiful WINTER day in California.





Steve Holtzman


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