[Paddlewise] Parade of Lights Party and Paddle

CIH Parade of Lights Party Dec 8, 2007



Unfortunately I'm challenged when it comes to remembering names of new people
I meet.  Consequently I must apologize for not identifying all the people who
met at George and Carol Miller's house at the Channel Islands Harbor in
Oxnard, California last night.  In spite of a threatening weather forecast, a
great group of hearty paddlers showed up.  I think we had 13 boats on the
water and 22 people at the party.  We were hoping the predicted 20 mph winds
and potential rain showers would not materialize,



The night started out to be a cold and windy while we mounted dozens of light
sticks to our boats.  Although everyone agreed that going for a night time
paddle to the parade was something we wanted to do, I'm sure we each had
apprehensions about how uncomfortable it was going to be and the price we were
going to pay for our enthusiasm.  As I mounted the light sticks on the bottom
my boat, spelling "HO", I noticed my hands were getting so cold that I was
having difficulty threading the ends of the electrical tie wraps which
attached the sticks to the netting.  (Note to self: Next year attach the light
sticks to the mesh before I come to the party.  It will make the job easier
and allow me to spend more time talking to people.)



Inside George and Carol's house was a warm fire place, lots of food,
interesting people, and engaging conversations.  Outside was me working on my
boat and wondering why am I doing this?  Why am I going to paddle out into the
harbor and roll my boat in dark, cold water, with a cold wind blowing?
Wouldn't it be more intelligent to stay inside and stay comfortable?  Why does
it always take me so long to do these things?



A quote from Theodore Roosevelt came to mind: "Far better it is to dare mighty
things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to
take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,
because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."



Yah, it said to myself, but I'm not dealing with twilight here, I'll be
dealing with bitter darkness when my boat is upside down.  That gave me the
idea to mount a light stick on the deck of my boat where I could see it and
draw hope from its glow when all seemed lost. (Sometimes I get a little
melodramatic when I'm trying to convince myself to revel in what must seem
crazy to the average guy you meet on the street.)   Looking through the window
at the party going on I didn't see any poor spirits; I saw a great group of
friends, drawn together by a shared passion for paddling, and they were having
a wonderful time with each other.



I went inside and joined the party.  Fortunately there was enough time to eat
something and enjoy the camaraderie.   I'm always amazed at the depth of my
paddling friends.  These people really are interesting and fun to be with.  I
started out focused on the paddling, but now, more than ever, I'm really
enjoying the friendships that the kayaking has led me to.



At about six thirty we launched thirteen kayaks from the Miller's dock. It was
quite a scramble, but there were plenty of helping hands.  We all made it into
our boats without mishap and headed through the harbor to the parade.  There
was a subtle beauty to seeing all the little glow sticks bobbing on the water
as the group spread out in front of me.



We ended up with five guys who did the HO HO HO rolling, each of us with "HO"
spelled out in light sticks on the bottoms of our boats.  Dave O'Connor, Kevin
Westfall, Mike Bode, William Nettles, and me.  Rounding out our team was Steve
Holtzman, who did not roll, but acted as our drill coordinator.  We would
paddle up to a group of spectators and Steve, with his booming voice, would
call out the cadence:



1.      "HO's line up."

That was the cue to line up side by side facing the crowd and get ready to
roll.



2.      "Present paddles."

We held our paddles vertically to salute the audience.



3.      "Assume the position."

We lowered our paddles and leaned forward setting up to roll.  Time to take a
deep breath.



4.      "Bottoms up!"

Over we went with a splash.  The water was cold; it was dark and silent down
there. One thousand- one, one thousand -two.  I counted off three seconds so
that the people on the shore could read the word "HO" on the bottom of my
boat.  The blue light stick on the deck of my boat presented an eerie glow,
but there was something comforting about it and I was glad that it was there.
Another thing I was glad about was that my dry top spared me from the rush of
cold water flooding into my wet suit; one of the best investments I had ever
made.



Ok, time to roll up.  And this is when all that rolling practice paid off.
With cold water everywhere, I didn't want to think, my body knew how to roll
the boat up and get me out of there.  I saw the glow stick at the end of my
paddle shaft go to the surface, a sweep of the paddle, a twist of my body, and
suddenly I'm sitting upright amid a crowd of cheering people!  Life is good,
really good!  I do love breathing air.  What do you mean you want me to do it
again, and again!  The crowd was chanting "Ho Ho Ho, do it again."



It was quite a rolling team that we had this year.  No one failed a roll or
needed assistance.  I think some of us must have done between 30 and 40 rolls
by the end of the night.  And the crowds ate it up and called for more.  Their
cheers kept us going.  Whenever we met a particularly enthusiastic group, we
would throw light stick bracelets to them.  Dave O'Connor had supplied us with
a hundred or so of the bracelets to toss to the kids.  Seeing them scramble to
catch them and then show their prizes to their parents was a thrill.  Some of
the guys got pretty good at sailing a bracelet just like a miniature Frisbee.



And then there was the parade.  Some of the big yachts were so extravagantly
decorated that they looked like something you would expect to see in a Rose
Bowl parade.  The theme was "Under the Sea", which seemed apropos to what our
rolling team was doing.  I think there is something about the shock of the
cold water that caused the holiday spirit to well up within me.  I grew up in
Iowa and I need a cold shock to get into the mood for the holidays.  Hearing
the music from the yachts made me almost want to dance.  Every where I looked
were smiling faces.  And for some strange reason, I didn't even feel cold!



Then Steve Wilson came paddling by with a big grin on his face.  He told me
that some boaters who saw us roll had offered him a hot buttered rum.  Man,
was he happy!  I'm pretty sure Steve wasn't feeling cold either.  The boaters
in the harbor have a reputation for being generous to us kayakers.



As the parade winded down, we headed back to George and Carol's dock.  The
party continued until about 11 o'clock.  Several of us had developed appetites
and it was nice so see such a spread of food and drink.



What a wonderful party it turned out to be.  My thanks to George and Carol for
so graciously hosting the party, providing us with a dock from which to
launch, and inviting us into their beautiful home.  Thanks to all the brave
people who showed up in spite of the weather forecast.  And special thanks to
my fellow HO's - you guys are the greatest!



Happy Holidays, everyone,



Patrick Martin
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