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 *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
, we had a great day on the water on a beautiful WINTER day in California. >Steve Holtzman Tell you what Steve I will trade you two winter paddle days for one Alaska winter paddle day. ( Heavy rains and 60mph gusts here tonight) Bob Petersburg, Alaska *************************************************************************** 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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