3/6/08 My fourth day on the water this month brings me to a score for the year. Wasn't expecting much for this paddle, so I left my helmet in the car; just wanted to pad my record, but the day served to add truth to my motto: "Expect the worst; you'll probably be pleasantly surprised!" Ken joined me again and we headed out for BAR--again!!! The tide was at zero ft and falling, but it was still a beautiful day with a wispy clouded sky. Outside the harbor, the water was smooth as glass--pretty, but not usually conducive to a lot of fun. We headed inside close to shore and found ourselves pushing our way through the unusually abundant kelp. Ken said he'd read that they had been planting it in our area; I just wondered if it was making the fishing any better for the kayak anglers. Quickly we made it to BAR and I slipped into the cove on the side while Ken was content to practice sculling braces out past the surf line. Despite the glassy water, there were some nice waves coming in on occasion. I snuck back as far as I could, as the waves weren't breaking till they hit the shore and we continued like this for a while. All of a sudden, I found myself facing a five foot vertical wall of water looking to land right on top of me! I poured on some speed and just made it over the crest with a hard landing on the other side. It was a fun ride, but not one I expected or usually look for in the rock studded cove on a low tide. We headed back and spent some time in front of Big Corona to see if the big swell would come in again. I saw a large fin pop up, but it was gone so quick I couldn't tell which marine creature it could belong to. We thought it may be a whale as we waited quite a while, but didn't see it come up anywhere else. At Pirate's Cove, we landed and snacked, I asked Ken if I could try his Explorer. It was a tight fit for me and I seemed loose without my giant back band, but I learned what it's like to roll a real kayak! I couldn't believe how well my rolls were popping up. For the first time, I could really feel my hip snap having an effect on the boat. After a couple extended rolls, I switched and had just as much success as non extended. Ken gave me his Superior GP to try and I seemed to pop up even more solid with that. I was pretty amazed at the change and felt ready to take next to last place at the next rolling competition! Back in my boat, I confirmed its barge like quality with a couple more pathetic rolls. Darn I need a new boat. Well, we'd had enough on the day and headed home. The tide was so low, there was hardly any beach for us to land on. So we rolled out of our kayaks onto the public dock and saved ourselves a walk through the sand. Another fun day on the water. Mark Sanders www.sandmarks.net *************************************************************************** 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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