5/4/08 When you get to a certain age, regular school often isn't enough for you, so some of our group today enrolled in the University of Hard Knocks! It was an early start for what was to be a longish paddle to the Laguna environs. Ken and I left the Secret Beach early and met the rest of the group chomping at the bit at the coast guard beach. It was a nice crowd with Henry and Kathy, Dave O'Connor, Duane, BBBob McMurray and Steve Wilson joining in. The wind was quite a bit stiffer than what we were led to believe on the day and there was quite a bit of chop, so we had our work cut out for us. Of course, we were also led to believe we'd be paddling at a crossing pace, but Duane and Bob despite those skinny little paddles had everyone working hard to keep up. Dave and I were able to catch up to them just before we stopped to break at Crystal Cove to let everyone catch up and hydrate. You could tell that Steve was itching to paddle, because he didn't rest for long. While the rest of us drank, he headed in to shore to spend some time in the waves. As we continued south, we could see him floating over the waves, his rock star hair blowing in the wind. He was waiting a bit for us inside of Reef Point and as Duane and I grew closer, we were surprised to see him paddle between the two rocks, especially as a rather large set had come in. We paddled around half expecting some carnage, but he was happy and intact on the other side. I had almost mentioned to Duane that I find the outside area around RP more dangerous than the inside, but then things had settled down a bit so we seemed fine. Until...With Duane on my left, a wave decided to appear out of nowhere right on my beam. I don't know how high it was, but I know it was 16' 10" long, as it was the perfect size to try to take out my boat. I had no time to avoid it and planted a high brace as it broke into me. Perhaps a bit too high. I found myself upside down, a condition I like to call a "Libby" in honor of one of our newer CKF members. Now I figured we were probably safe from most of the rocks in the area, but it's hard to tell at Reef Point, but I took my time and rolled up-my first combat roll in my long boat. I basked in the cheers as we paddled on for Abalone Point. Once again Steve seemed to be ahead of us, lingering right at the edge of the reef at AP. Now this is an area I am always leery of as even in mild conditions it can be down right contrary. Duane had just mentioned that Steve was in a bad spot when a wave formed right on Steve's beam and despite a good brace sent him careening into the reef! He seemed to have been protected from his trip over the rocks by the amount of water in the wave, but now he was upside down in the churn and his roll failed him. He was now in the water with waves still rolling along each side of the reef. I headed in to the south side of reef to see if I could help, but with my hard to maneuver boat, I couldn't get close enough to help without becoming victim #2. Duane headed around from the north end and got to Steve toot sweet and held on to his boat while he did a quick reentry. But Steve's boat was still full of water and you could tell he wouldn't get far as unstable as he was. Dave headed in with his tow belt and hooked up to Duane to pull them to safety, while Steve started pumping frantically, their two boats rafted together. They were quickly out of harms way, but decided to land at a nearby cove to empty out the remaining water. Although close to our intended destination, we all seemed to agree that the adrenalin used up in the incident called for us to start home early. Steve seemed well recovered from his play time, but kept asea of any reefs on the paddle back. I took the inside passage home, soon to be joined by Bob and Duane, with an eye peeled for any more sneaker waves to catch us so close to shore. Time flew on the trip back and Steve voiced mock relief to be back in the harbor. When everyone comes back alive, you've got to admit that's a good paddle, especially if you decide to take to heart the lessons only hard knock can sometimes provide. It was not a paddle I'll soon forget! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Post Mortem- I figure I better point out some of our mistakes made on this paddle before those who weren't there point out the glaring facts. I hope a few others on the paddle will add some choice words. Paddling in a group today, I was lulled into not wearing my helmet in areas I would normally have it on. Although conditions weren't really tough today, that tends to be the time you start to push the envelope a bit and then find yourself in trouble. Does the term "risk homeostasis" mean anything to you? Steve would be the first to admit now he should have had a helmet on, but today wasn't supposed to be a rock garden day. Perhaps he was trying to make up for missing Jack's paddle a while back. Although there didn't seem any obvious rocks in the area of the wave that got me, I figure there must have been something under the water to make it form right on my beam. Alone, I've conditioned myself to don my helmet at the mere hint of a rock or wave and I shouldn't have let the safety of a group deter me from my usual prudence. Steve took some chances paddling and hanging out where he did, but what better time to take such chances then with a group around to come to your rescue. But you have to realize the chance you are taking and a helmet should have been the order for the day for Steve. Once out of his boat, Steve maintained his composure which facilitated an easy rescue. And he never lost his rock star good looks, even with the hair a bit plastered down after his swim. Familiarity with rescues certainly helped and who better to come to your aid than Duane. With no injuries other than pride, everyone felt today was a great paddle with excitement to share for years to come. Sometimes the dividing line becomes a bit thin. Mark Sanders www.sandmarks # *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Mark and All, Nice report! It was an exciting day, and these little adventures is why I love sea kayaking so much. You never know what's going to happen. I was about 15 feet to the left of Mark when the wave broke over the reef at Reef Point and a 3-4 foot wall of whitewash hit him. At first I thought he was going to side surf and slam into me, but he stalled out and went upside down despite bracing into the wave. I was hoping he'd keep his cool and roll up, and sure enough, he did. It was pretty cool watching the whole thing from so close. Steve Wilson sure looked beautiful for a split second while he was in that wave over the reef at Abalone Point. It looked like about a 4 footer. He made an attempt at a roll but came out. Knowing the reef pretty well, I knew there was a small but choppy safe zone between the reef and point where he'd wash out, so I paddled around the reef to be ready to help. By the time I got to Steve, he already had a plan and was swimming his way out, which was going to take some time. I came in to offer Steve a side-by-side assist back into his kayak. The first thing I asked him was if he had his paddle and he did, which made things so much easier and showed his experience with practicing rescues. With the side-by-side assist, Steve was back in the kayak so quickly that I can't even remember him doing it. It turned out the front float bag of his Mariner was only half inflated, so there was a ton of water in the kayak. We agreed to see if Steve could paddle himself into calmer water to make dumping or pumping easier, but with so much water in the kayak and 3 foot chop from surf breaking over the reef, he was unstable, bracing like crazy, and about to go back into the water, so I rafted back up with him. I remember noticing Dublin Dave wearing a tow belt around his waist earlier that morning, so I called him into our small safe zone to tow us out. Dublin quickly came in, hooked us up, and as he towed us out, Steve and I took turns pumping. Once enough water was pumped for Steve to be stable, he landed through 4 foot surf to dump the rest of the water out on the beach and launched to rejoin the group. I guess Steve had a close encounter with the rocks on the reef. He later mentioned that he felt the paddle hit the rocks as he went over, but didn't see any damage to the paddle. Then someone else in the group, maybe Kathy, noticed cuts in the back of his PFD, which were apparently from the rocks. But Steve didn't remember feeling any impact on his back. Duane Southern California *************************************************************************** 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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