[Paddlewise] Day #47, Three Would-be Reef Point Paddlers

6/08/08

Duane, Ken and I reluctantly missed the H&K paddle to Reef Point this
morning in the fain quest of spotting some Blue Whales, this being early in
the season. We got an 8am start under overcast skies and started out for our
usual hunting grounds off Dana Point with light boat traffic around us. With
only three paddlers, we were quite free to chat about all the other paddlers
that weren't along with us on the day. I can only hope we at least presented
equal fodder the other group on the water!!!

Conditions were nice on the paddle out and we hoped we had improved our
whale karma my picking up several groups of balloons floating on the water.
After a couple short breaks, we found ourselves about 4 miles off the point,
in what in the past has been prime spouting grounds. Our eyes seldom left
the horizon as we searched in vain for tell-tale signs of the behemoths. We
saw no whale watching boats scouring the water to give us hope of a
sighting. We spent the last half hour before returning just enjoying the
quite off shore waters lolling about in our boats. We paddled home with nary
a dolphin or a seal to visit us. Still, if we didn't get to find a whale, we
got to put in a nice, peaceful, 10 mile paddle and perhaps increase our
chances on our next hunt. We can't come up empty every time!

Mark Sanders
www.sandmarks.net

#
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