[Paddlewise] Pacific Action sailing with the boy

I took my son shark fishing off Tybee Island, GA USA a few nights  
ago. We went out at 630 pm in our double baidarka launching into an  
extremely strong Southeastern headwind. An outgoing tide allowed us  
to crawl forwards in lumpy conditions towards an adjacent barrier  
island in spite of the wind. Twenty five minutes later we landed and  
started to fish from the beach. Our luck was good and we caught and  
released a few large bonnet head sharks and called it a night at  
around 945 pm. Again we launched into the same strong wind and the  
outgoing tide. At least the wind would carry us home which was the  
plan all along. The tide was ebbing hard and the wind caused the  
water to really pile up.
I gave the command to set the sail and the boy let it fly. We took  
off startlingly fast and rapidly exceeded what I imagined was the  
theoretical hull speed. It got very interesting when the baidarka did  
what it does well which is surf a following sea. So here we were  
father and son doing the bonding thing by surfing a double while  
under sail at night. I was totally in the zone and knew we were  
riding on the edge of a total wipeout. The boy was vibrating with  
excitement and so was I. Complete darkness made it a true Doug Lloyd  
moment. The only way I could see any detail was when whitecaps broke  
near the boat and gently silhouetted portions of the baidarka.
We were screaming across a shallow area that can be especially rough  
when out of the darkness I saw the flat bow of a pram being rowed  
towards us! I shouted a Winnie the Pooh, "Hal-ohhh!" The man in the  
pram swiveled around and we sized each other up as the bigger fool.  
He quickly faded out of sight. I asked the boy for a report on our  
location. He replied with either near the fishing pier or not now  
dear. I cant be sure which due to the wind. Utilizing the navigation  
update I corrected our course slightly to the right and screamed in  
towards what I hoped would be the boat ramp. Yes, there it was! I  
yelled, "Strike the sail in 5, 4, 3, strike the sail now!" The boy  
had it down just as we impacted the ramp. We really didn't land so  
much as center punched the base of the ramp. The sea and wind quickly  
slammed the baidarka sideways against the rotten concrete. We rolled/ 
spilled out and stood up looking at each other with big grins.  
Dragging the double up the ramp a man walking his dog asked us if it  
might be a tad rough to be out. We nodded in agreement and he just  
smiled. He seemed to understand that sometimes you need to push out  
even when perhaps others think you shouldn't.

Jim et al
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