3/15/08 Ignoring the Ides of March, I glided over to the Coast Guard beach at 8 this morning. Assembling their assorted gear were Duane Strosaker, Bob McMurray, Henry and Kathy Pilcher and Chuck Freedman. Joining the party late was Ken Fry, but no one seemed to mind chatting at the water's edge as we waited for him to stow his accoutrements. Weather was expected on the day, but at the CG station, I decided to take off my wet suit top as the sun was warm and the flags lay limp on their poles. Seemed I was out of luck in my hope for a monster surf paddle. Our unusual route for the day was to head north to Newport pier in case the wind picked up so we could avail ourselves of it on the way back. Nearing the end of the jetty, you could see there was a bit of texture outside, despite the calmness of the harbor. Nosing out past the rocks, Chuck and I took the lead. As is often the case, there was some large peakid swells at the harbor mouth, but despite his nickname, Chuck didn't come through with the tsunami. He and I waited for the rest of the group to catch up, but when they did, we already had a casualty--Ken decided not to risk his mending skeleton in the surf and stayed inside for a harbor paddle. We started at a brisk pace, but the calm wind of the harbor belied the conditions outside. We had a steady head wind and sea to fight on our trip. Every one seemed to enjoy the chance to bury their bow through a wave with the sounds of hulls slapping the ensuing troughs. Bob, as is his wont, rolled willy nilly in the swells, but never slowed down the group. I was feeling a bit of a chill in just my t-shirt, but we were working hard enough to generate some heat. The long sandy coast dotted with palm trees looked beautiful under the cloudy sky--not our usual scenery. Soon we were taking a break in front of a sparsely populated Balboa pier. Duane said the best word to describe today's conditions was choppy, but I decided chunky was a much more apt moniker. We had a constant smaller swell that would often be peppered with some larger waves just to make sure we all got a bit salty. By any name, we were grateful to have something a little more exciting than the usual pacivity we usually paddle through. Chuck stayed mostly on the point, while Kathy did her Greta Garbo impersonation towards the rear. Quicker than I imagined we were milling about the Newport pier as the waves rumbled through the pilings. We set home with the wind now on our team and a rear quartering sea to keep us on our toes. There were some occasional quick rides, but it was hard to judge just which swell was surfable and I spent much time chasing losers. This was the first time for Bob to get an extended test of his homemade kayak in these kind of condition and it seemed to handle them well. Bob said it was taking a bit of work to make it look so easy, but as Henry said, we were all working a bit today. As we neared the Wedge, condition picked up a bit again and unexpected braces were the order of the day. Henry and I almost did a synchronized pinwheel pirouette on one large one, but managed to miss each other and stay upright. The biggest swells once again met us at the north end of the jetty, but we were quickly back inside the harbor. So for the folks who ply the northern waters, a day like today is probably a humdrum event, but for us who paddle this part of the pond we call the Pacific, it was a chance to have some fun and hone our skills. I'll have to wait for some other storm to make my epic paddle, the kind that makes you wet your kayak, but it was fun to be out there sharing the water with a great group of people. 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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