[Paddlewise] Day #72, The Best Hot Dog Paddle Ever Attended by a Clinton

8/27/08

Ken's plan for a Hot Dog Paddle was a rather last minute thing this week, so
it's understandable that most of the regulars had other plans on the day.
Even the irregulars couldn't make it! So when we left the Secret Beach a bit
before 6, we figured it was just me, Barb and Ken. Even so we peeked at the
Coast Guard beach to look for any familiar faces, but only saw an unmanned
kayak. However, the helmet on the deck suggested to me someone geared for
some heavy hot dog eating and sure enough, John Clinton came running down
the beach to join us.

We head out paddling under the docks with little room to spare with the tide
already very high. Barb and Ken had never paddled with John before, so he
was in for some intense interrogation under the bright sky. We made quick
work of the harbor and with the high tide I headed by Little Arch Rock to
see if conditions were right for a rare pass through. In keeping with my
intent to be a bit kinder to my boat, I skipped any attempt as the tide was
still about a foot low to even hope to make anything like a clean pass. The
tide was plenty high to pass in through the back way at BAR though, or so I
thought. I made it, but added a new scratch when a wave sucked me high and
dry on heretofore submerged rock. I made a couple passes and hurried to
catch up the group.

The sets rolling on shore at Crystal Cove weren't very big, but a couple
were big enough to cause a bit of carnage. John and I head in together and
while he landed like a pro, I did my usual groveling in the sand exit. We
both head over to help Barb with her landing just as Ken tried to send her
in on top of one of the biggest sets coming through. The look on our faces
and our frantic signs to stay back stopped her in her tracks and she found a
more manageable wave to come in on top of.

In no time we had the Hebrew Nationals simmering on the cast iron skillet as
the sun bathed the ocean with an orange glow. I got the impression John
might be a hot dog eating contestant, as while we all had sodas, he
preferred straight water with his dog. At least he didn't soak the bun in
the water and eat it separate from the wiener! When we were done, there was
one last furter, wrinkled and dejected begging for a home, but found no
takers. I can't say what we did with him on this forum; you'll have to
attend the next hot dog paddle to find out!
The sun was heading down quick, so we all got launched safely and headed
home. I took the inside stealth passage, while Barb had the others heading
toward Catalina. With the sun quite faded away and me with only my
prescription sunglasses, the ocean looked quite dark, but I could still see
the three off on my left. After a while, I worried they might not see me, so
gave them a flash of my light to let them know I was OK. As I paddle right
off the wave line, a dolphin came up and followed me for quite a while. I
would come up to breathe right of my bow and didn't try to hurry off. I
veered over the others and he followed me along, although he shied of the
bigger group. Soon we made our way in through the dark harbor.
We said goodbye to John at the CGB and thanked him for joining us. We were
expecting a rather sedate affair, but some new blood provided a new ear to
hear all our twice told tales. In the end even John had to admit it was the
best Hot Dog Paddle he'd ever been on. A nice chat and paddle and most
importantly, we all got our minimum daily requirement of vitamin HD!
Mark Sanders
www.sandmarks.net
#
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