[Paddlewise] Day #41, The Rum Runners

5/10/08

I rolled up to Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro this morning just ahead of Ken
and Barb. It was only 7:35, but it appeared that Dave O'Connor was about to
abandon anyone who happened to show up on time and join Steve Wilson already
out on the water. They reluctantly decided to wait for
the "stragglers" and soon we were all out on the water headed for Smuggler's
Cove.

There was not much of a break hitting the shore, but as we passed Point
Fermin, there were some nice small sets breaking. We continued on past,
paddling through the abundant kelp growing in the area. After Carnage Sunday
last week three of us had donned our bean caps even though rock gardening
wasn't on the agenda. Barb was wearing a psychedelic colored helmet, while
Ken just wanted to try out his cool looking new Gath helmet. As helmets are
supposed to protect you from rocks, I mentioned that it seems ironic that
they would name a helmet "Gath", which is the town Goliath was from and we
all know of his experience with rocks!

At White Point I snuck in a bit close to the rocks and wished Jack Brisley
could have joined us to show us a thing or two. The tide was real low
though, so there wasn't much fun to be had. We continued on and found
ourselves slogging our way through more kelp and made a mental note to avoid
it on the trip home.

It took a while to get to Smuggler's Cove and the overcast sky and breeze
kept us pretty cool. The normally deserted SC was awash with people as a
local hiking club had made it down for a walk. We all landed safely and were
greeted on the beach with a man walking his Parson's Terrier. The dog was a
bit animated, as they are as a general rule, and the man admitted that he
had forgotten to bring the dog's b.a.l.l. Only Ken didn't realize not to use
the dreaded word in front of the dog, so when he did the dog got only more
agitated. He ran over and tried to fetch a large limb still attached to an
even larger log, so I snapped it off and he ran away as happy as he could be
with the next best thing. We had a nice rest on the beach and then launched
with only minor scratches.

Right south of SC, I had noticed a couple caves and convinced Steve to check
them out a bit with me. Steve had now donned his helmet and despite our
timidness from last weeks adventure, we snuck in a bit. Conditions were
pretty mild, but with the coldish temperatures, I didn't want to risk a swim
with no wet suit on, but we both managed to enjoy ourselves amongst the
rocks. We continued on outside of the kelp beds maintaining a chatting pace.
Back at Point Fermin, the swells had grown a bit and we contended with an
occasional 3 footer hitting the beach on our landing. I managed to get
soaked punching through the small waves for a while and once back on dry
land we all headed to a local taco joint for debriefing.

Mark Sanders
www.sandmarks.net

#
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