3/8/08 We salty yakkers can be a macho lot. I joined speedster Duane Strosaker for his harbor "fitness paddle at your own pace." That's code for keep up or be prepared to be left behind. Bob McMurray was there as well, another notorious greyhound hound and I usually seem to be able to keep a pace these days. Stretching their wings to brave this paddle also were Chuck Fowler and Jeff Libby. Chuck, a marathoner has shown himself to be an able paddler, but doesn't get out with us much. Jeff just absorbed a battering of email advice that flattened out his left leaning tendencies encouraging him to try paddling straight for a change. We set off giving no quarter. Bob and I took the lead; I wondering at the ease that he seems to keep a fast pace. Duane seemed off in the back, I assumed laying down the law for the upstarts who thought themselves worthy of this crew. Soon Duane joined us and three abreast we powered on through the back bay. Trouble was we couldn't lose the newbies!!! Credit where it is due, these two showed some grit and stayed right behind us as we passed under PCH. We hallowed Harold on the shore waiting for a class and continued on for our turn point at NAC. Perhaps the pace got to Jeff a bit and to stave off dehydration, he reached behind for his water bottle. Yes, clearly a newbie mistake!!! Up a head we were alerted by an outrigger who suggest we might want to check on our entourage. Jeff was in the soup. I made a quick Uey and got his boat up and emptied. I like to rescue like I roll, unlike anything anyone has seen before. I just held on to his boat and he crawled in, but he admitted it was completely backwards from the rescues he'd learned before, but I don't like to stand on ceremony. Our slight detour allowed us to collect for the ride to NAC. I mused that in all my years of kayaking, it's not too often you have a kayaker go belly up for no apparent reason and I thanked Jeff for the chance to do a combat rescue! Good experience for both of us! Now that we were warmed up, we were ready for the real paddling to begin--back to the main channel and around Lido Isle. For some reason, this seems the place where the pace always starts in earnest. As we made the turn around Kevin Costners house, the three of us out front seemed to be paddling alone. Half way down the island, we decide Chuck and Jeff must have headed back to the beach. Making the turn around Lido, we faced the paddle home through a brisk breeze. We chatted, solving the question of feather vs. none and countless other kayaking uncertainties. We perhaps unleashed a low evil chuckle at the thought of our lost compatriots realizing this pace would never slow down. We allowed grudging respect of their mettle, but not too secretly basked in our prowess! The wind only goaded us on, feather be demmed. We owned the bay and all seemed to part before us. We soon landed on the CG beach and perhaps fatigue clouded Bob's thinking a bit. He suggested I try his boat, the absolute antithesis of my QCC. I had to remove my booties just to get my feet in and all the while fearing the sound of fiberglass coated plywood splintering, tried to wiggle myself in. Now Bob is a tall fellow, but my feet soon hit the bulkhead while my legs were squeezed together like a kielbasa stuffed in a breakfast sausage casing. A man on shore was taking pictures to warn his family of attempting such madness and I had to resort to my usual groveling in the mud and water to extricate myself from his shoe box. A very ugly experiment! Up in the parking lot, we realized that our newbies were still on the water and I think we said a silent prayer! Turns out they didn't let our speed daunt them and continued the complete loop only a little bit behind us. Though I tease them a bit, these two are welcome additions to our paddling scene, able paddlers and I look forward to plying the ocean with them in the future. I certainly remember starting out where I could only recognize my paddling partners from behind! And if we gave no quarter, neither did they ask for any. A fun morning of testosterone and salty spray. 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 1:30 PM, Mark Sanders <sandmarks_at_ca.rr.com> wrote: > 3/8/08 > > We salty yakkers can be a macho lot. I joined speedster Duane Strosaker > for > his harbor "fitness paddle at your own pace." That's code for keep up or > be > prepared to be left behind. You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually envy you guys for living in So. Cal. There... I feel better now. So... is Kevin Costner one of the CKF pals? Didn't he do something about water once? Craig Jungers Air Temp just hit 60F in Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** 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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