Well, Craig, if you're bored you can read my latest trip report from yesterday. 88 aught nine It wasn't enough that I was out on the water till 8pm last night searching for whales, I decided to join Dennis on his Dana Point hunt this morn. It wasn't an easy call; I'd been blown past Abalone point last night and had to fight a nasty head wind all the way back, so my body was complaining a bit upon rising at 6:30. Still, I been skunked the night before and didn't want to hear about everyone having to beat the whales off with a stick today! Turns out, I had nothing to fear! On the sand today joining Dennis, besides me, were Kirk from the SD area, BB Bob and Ken and Barb. When we hit the ocean, we notice a flotilla of boats mingling in our hunting grounds and wondered if the chase was already afoot; turned out to be a massive outrigger race with accompanying support craft, so they were out of our way in a flash. It was a warm, muggy morning and nothing seemed to be stirring above or below. We put in a few miles, but I can't tell you of the lovely scenery we passed as all we saw was sea. On a first break, a few people saw spouts way off on the horizon and we headed in said direction. While we were waiting around for company, a lone kayaker joined us, turning out to be Howard who missed our start because he'd forgotten his spray skirt. He was very rude though, as he didn't bring any whales with him! He did add insult to injury by telling me he'd been parked around Reef Point the night before while I was out hunting and had seen whales spouting right in the area I'd been! I figured while I was paddling home focused on the nasty wind and waves there were whales cavorting all around me and laughing! Soon the thought of lunch overcame the urge to hunt and we headed home. Finally we were treated to the consolation prize of a few dolphins speeding along. As we neared the Jetty, the water got pretty lumpy with some big swells and all the boat traffic. We also were coming in at the same time as the returning outriggers and had to stay out of their way. They had boats carrying replacement paddlers who they'd drop off now and then to switch off with tired paddlers in the outriggers, which was a fun sight. Finally, the smell of countless tons of guano let us know we were back in Dana Point harbor. The stiff wind fought us on the way home, but only stoked our desire for lunch. We headed for a local BBQ sandwich place, where a few of us took advantage of our disappointment to cry into a large schooner of tasty beer! No blue whales, but still worth getting wet for. Mark # *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Sun, Aug 9, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net>wrote: > Well, Craig, if you're bored you can read my latest trip report from > yesterday. > I was bored but Pam showed up and we went all went over to Kristy's house (my daughter) for grilled salmon steaks on a cedar plank (yum) and paddling. Unfortunately Pam ran out of time and had to drive back to Seattle (3 hrs) and get to bed in time to go to work today. I see Pam so seldom since she moved that we spent too much time sitting around yakking. :( Pam left her F-1 with us so that Sue and Kristy and Hailey could give it a try. I took Kristy's German exchange student, Connie, out in it and she was a natural. It probably helps that she is a member of a rowing club in her home town. I'm not a (ahem!) ACA Certified Level 2 Touring Instructor like Pam is, but I managed to teach both Connie and Kristy how easy it is to put the F-1 on edge and hold it there. Kristy was actually surprised to find it was so stable. Michael (Kristy's hubby) paddled my F-1 (which is a bigger version of the standard in much the same way Pam's is a smaller version of the standard) and seemed pleased. His normal ride is a Nimbus Telkwa so the contrast must have been stark. > I > figured while I was paddling home focused on the nasty wind and waves there > were whales cavorting all around me and laughing! Whales are like that. They'll hold their breath extra long just to frustrate you. You need to make yourself stand out from the paddling crowd. I'd suggest wearing an inflatable bucket on your head. No whale could hold its breath very long around you that way. :D Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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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