12/13/10 To the best of my recollection... I watched the latest video of Sean Morley having a bit of trouble up in Frisco and told Ken and Duane I was going to have to go out today and get hung up on a rock! But hey, this is Newport not Frisco, so how much trouble can you find? Debra was at the Secret Beach sporting plastic and Ken was there with his surf ski, so we had a quorum. With the low tide and small swell, Debra and I were soon winding our way through the rocks by Corona, while Ken paddled a little way out. There wasn't much in the way of swell, but I was still impressed with Debra's confidence as she followed me along. Once again, it was a lazy rock garden lite party with hardly a wave to be seen all the way down. I hurried over to Chute Rock hoping maybe some rogue wave would give me enough oomph to make it over, but there was barely enough to get my bow stuck, so I gave up hope. I figured at least I could try to find a bit of trouble over in Brace Alley and moseyed my way over. Debra was already on the other side as I was out right in front of the point. I wasn't giving any thought to any waves, being as conditions had been so mild, but had you asked me some time even prior to today, I would have told you that this little point can have a wave breaking on it when you least expect it. I was only mildly surprised to find myself next to a sucking reef on the ebb. Still, I though it would be good practice to deal with it on this mild day. I was quite a bit more surprised when a wave hit me and sent me broaching to an unavoidable meeting with the rocks! I have a bit of a philosophy about playing on days like this. You may not agree with it. With condition generally so mild, I don't really try to read every wave coming near me. I think of it as a chance to deal with situations that come up at last minute; as preparation for a time when things aren't so forgiving. So now I found myself in an "oh me, oh my" moment. I didn't really see the wave that hit me, so I don't know how big it was, but it felt big enough at the time! I broached into the wave and knew I was due for an impact. Heeled over, I took it on the bottom of the boat with only mild spinal contraction! I was pinned against the rock and figured I'd better get ready to roll up when it ebbed, as I didn't want to spend much time upside down in these rocks with the next wave coming. But when the wave ebbed, I found myself stuck in a rocky cradle! The next wave came and shook me around a bit, but didn't release me. I tried to push myself off to get loose for the next wave, but only ended up landing on top of my paddle! A bit more jostling and I was able to free it, but looking at the sets coming in, I didn't think I wanted to try to launch there again! I bailed out on a lull and grabbed my bow line to pull my boat up to a better launch site. I was glad I was able to spend some time up on this rock on TG day, so I knew I could find a safe spot to rest. The waves were still battering my boat a bit as I pulled it over to the chute where I was hoping for more protection for launching. First, I took some time just to get my wits back a bit and to see what I had to launch into. I couldn't figure out where these waves were coming from that were now breaking right at the exit to the chute! They weren't really big, but they were breaking at a very inopportune point for me to get out! There wasn't much else to do though, so I got in the boat high on the rock and launched into the chute at the next lull and made an easy slide to clean water. Well, at least we had something to chat about on the way home. We stopped outside the jetty to get a couple rolls in and then it was the usual paddle through the harbor. I hadn't planned or expected to get into such a situation, but I don't think it was too death defying! Ken may disagree, but he was in a surf ski!! Mark www.sandmarks.net _______________________________________________ Info mailing list Info_at_list.ckf.org http://list.ckf.org/mailman/listinfo/info *************************************************************************** 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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