[Paddlewise] English Muffin

Wow, if today is any indication, rock gardening just might be taking over
the sea kayaking crowd! 19 people were clamoring on the beach at Crescent
Bay for Jack's play date. We had 3 or 4 long boats, but the rest were WW
boats. Conditions were pretty mild, but there was a small wave hitting the
beach to give us hope of fun around the rocks. After Jack's brief oration,
Duane reminded everyone to stay away from any wildlife that may be
inhabiting the rocks.

It took a while to get all 19 of us out on the water and we slowly started
to make our way south. I thought with 19 people we'd be fighting for every
nook and cranny, but there was plenty to go around and we spread out a bit.
Of course with so many people around, you always had someone nearby in case
you got into trouble. We found a nice shelf to wash over and even though the
waves were a bit slow to arrive, they brought enough water for everyone to
have fun. There were plenty of area to explore as well.

We paddled, what, maybe a mile down the coast checking out different rock
formation and then decided to head back to an earlier one that had the most
action. By then, the tide had risen a bit and this one washover was even
more fun than before. A couple of the long boats acquitted themselves well
going over. I rode a somewhat large wave over for a fun ride and Duane told
me next time to go over sideways, as it would be a sure rolling experience.
Well I did and it would have been, but I got my paddle stuck in the rocks
and ended up swimming. A couple folk helped me get me and my gear over to
some rocks where the waves weren't reaching and after a brief rest it was
back out.

Conditions had calmed a bit and Jack thought it be a good time to practice
getting someone back into their WW on the water, no easy feat. Ian got
volunteered to wet exit, although we realized later he wasn't wearing a wet
suit. I think it was just Jack me and Hugh rafted up and we pulled Ian's
boat up and tried to get out all the water. Hugh told me to open the drain
plug to let the water out. Ian has a RPM Max like mine and although he was
closer to the plug, I reached over and unscrewed it. Now on my Max there's a
little bungy cord on the inside that keeps you from losing your plug and I
just ASSUMED it was the same on Ian's. Ooops! And plugs don't float. So now
poor Ian's in the water getting cold and we're trying to scrounge up any
duct tape people have stuck to their boats or paddles to make some kind of
plug to cram into his hole. Mission accomplished and we got Ian back in his
boat and his makeshift plug lasted the rest of the day.

Occasionally we were passed by other folk in the kayaks who must have
wondered at this large group tempting a rocky collision, but then came a man
out on a stand up paddleboard. He let it be know he didn't like the way we
were treating the rocks and the poor barnacles there attached. He said we
should stop immediately or he'd call the authorities. We let him paddle on,
then decided he was just a jerk and continued on our merry way. He returned
saying we gave him no choice other than to go call the police and I told him
we appreciated his opinion, but disagreed, so off he went to fink. Now as
Jack said, we were ready to call it a day, but we didn't want this punk to
think he'd scared us off, so we continued massaging the mussels for another
20 minutes before heading home.

Before we hit the sand, we played at one more spot where the waves were
washing over a shelf into a small pool. Jack made it look easy, so I took a
nice sized wave and found myself heading at speed for a collision. I was
expecting pain, but got my hull turned up to take the blow, which just left
me upside down in the churning pool. I found enough rocks and water to pull
off some kind of roll to at least atone a bit for my earlier failure.

The carry up the hill from the beach didn't seem to slow down many besides
me, but we did get a visit from a representative of the local lifeguard
establishment. They told Jack that some jerk had complained to them, so they
had to at least pretend to care and told him to just watch out out there.

Clear water, sunny skies, enough water to have some fun without too much
skin left on the rocks, it was a great day and I expect more rock garden
parties in the near future.

Mark Sanders
www.sandmarks.net

#
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