The howling banshee winds of Sunday's CKF Fest had me wondering about the feasibility of my scheduled night time rock garden party for Monday. The idea of riding waves over rocks in the dark didn't really need any more complications, but I knew I was going to brave what ever came and Jack and Lenora felt the same way too! The wind was only 10mph when I met Lenora, Jack and Howard at China Cove at 6:30. I had been worried about too much wind, but really all we had too much of was light! This was supposed to be a moon paddle, but we did want to get used to the sea conditions before the sun went down, so I didn't complain. The clouds in the sky made for a beautiful evening. The Dana Point buoy was reading 3.6 feet, but there wasn't much happening along the Corona del Mar rocky shore. We played with impunity for most of the way, with just a couple bigger waves in sections that tend to funnel them in. When we came up on BAR, it looked like a big, fluffy rock just floating on top of the water! When we got to Chute Rock, I found one of my worries had come true. We were close to a 6 foot tide and there was too much water for optimal play. Usually, you take a nice sized wave to get you over the lip and ride the chute to the other side, but with the tide so high, the chute backs up with water and you're left inside to deal with the waves coming over the rocks. Still, we were here and it had to be done and the waves breaking over the rocks tended to lose a lot of their ferocity before they hit you! So three of us rode the chute in various levels of water. Howard, in his plastic egg shell boat stayed out, dodging waves as they came by. In the chute, you'd often get taken sideways by the large amounts of water and have to fight to get turned to ride your way out. The sun had gone down, but the moon was high and bright, so it didn't seem too dark to play. Toward the end, it got a bit harder to determine how big the waves coming in were and as there were an occasional bigger set, that could be a problem. Once, as Lenora and I waited to head over the chute, with Jack on the other side, all of a sudden in the dark, Howard went racing by in front of a wave big enough to send him all the way to the beach! It was quite a spectacle to see through the dim light, but he was able to avoid the rocks and add a bit more excitement to the night. I was getting a bit more comfortable playing in the churning white water in the chute, but on one ride I was pushed high and sideways up the rock! The next wave pulled me over upside down into the trough. Groveling upside down, I was sure I was in for a full moon swim. Going through the motion to pretend to roll up, I was surprised to find my paddle blade actually skimming through water! It seemed not till I was mostly upright that my blade skittered against the rock and I got ready to exit the chute into the next incoming wave. We continued to play with the dark night sky peppered with the flashes of our cameras taking blurry, grainy shots to remember the night. Finally we looked at each other and decided to call it a quits! I was in my wetsuit without a jacket and I knew the cold would soon be seeping into my bones. The tide had Chute Rock mostly wash and there didn't seem to be anything left to prove. It had all started with my crazy idea to go have fun at Chute Rock at the next available high enough tide and that just happened to be at night! I gauged success at making even one pass over the chute with the moon full in the sky and exceeded my goals beyond all expectations! Photos: http://www.sandmarks.net/LunaTics/NightMoves1.html Mark Sanders www.sandmarks.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/ ***************************************************************************
Awesome pictures Mark. But be careful, or you guys will be inducted into the Navy Seals. -- Bradford R. Crain Quoting Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net>: > The howling banshee winds of Sunday's CKF Fest had me wondering > about the feasibility of my scheduled night time rock garden party > for Monday. The idea of riding waves over rocks in the dark didn't > really need any more complications, but I knew I was going to brave > what ever came and Jack and Lenora felt the same way too! > > The wind was only 10mph when I met Lenora, Jack and Howard at China > Cove at 6:30. I had been worried about too much wind, but really all > we had too much of was light! This was supposed to be a moon paddle, > but we did want to get used to the sea conditions before the sun > went down, so I didn't complain. The clouds in the sky made for a > beautiful evening. > > The Dana Point buoy was reading 3.6 feet, but there wasn't much > happening along the Corona del Mar rocky shore. We played with > impunity for most of the way, with just a couple bigger waves in > sections that tend to funnel them in. When we came up on BAR, it > looked like a big, fluffy rock just floating on top of the water! > > When we got to Chute Rock, I found one of my worries had come true. > We were close to a 6 foot tide and there was too much water for > optimal play. Usually, you take a nice sized wave to get you over > the lip and ride the chute to the other side, but with the tide so > high, the chute backs up with water and you're left inside to deal > with the waves coming over the rocks. Still, we were here and it had > to be done and the waves breaking over the rocks tended to lose a > lot of their ferocity before they hit you! So three of us rode the > chute in various levels of water. Howard, in his plastic egg shell > boat stayed out, dodging waves as they came by. In the chute, you'd > often get taken sideways by the large amounts of water and have to > fight to get turned to ride your way out. > > The sun had gone down, but the moon was high and bright, so it > didn't seem too dark to play. Toward the end, it got a bit harder to > determine how big the waves coming in were and as there were an > occasional bigger set, that could be a problem. Once, as Lenora and > I waited to head over the chute, with Jack on the other side, all of > a sudden in the dark, Howard went racing by in front of a wave big > enough to send him all the way to the beach! It was quite a > spectacle to see through the dim light, but he was able to avoid the > rocks and add a bit more excitement to the night. > > I was getting a bit more comfortable playing in the churning white > water in the chute, but on one ride I was pushed high and sideways > up the rock! The next wave pulled me over upside down into the > trough. Groveling upside down, I was sure I was in for a full moon > swim. Going through the motion to pretend to roll up, I was > surprised to find my paddle blade actually skimming through water! > It seemed not till I was mostly upright that my blade skittered > against the rock and I got ready to exit the chute into the next > incoming wave. > > We continued to play with the dark night sky peppered with the > flashes of our cameras taking blurry, grainy shots to remember the > night. Finally we looked at each other and decided to call it a > quits! I was in my wetsuit without a jacket and I knew the cold > would soon be seeping into my bones. The tide had Chute Rock mostly > wash and there didn't seem to be anything left to prove. It had all > started with my crazy idea to go have fun at Chute Rock at the next > available high enough tide and that just happened to be at night! I > gauged success at making even one pass over the chute with the moon > full in the sky and exceeded my goals beyond all expectations! > > Photos: > http://www.sandmarks.net/LunaTics/NightMoves1.html > > Mark Sanders > www.sandmarks.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/ ***************************************************************************
Or at least the harbor seals. On 5/17/2011 4:09 PM, Bradford R. Crain wrote: > Awesome pictures Mark. But be careful, or you guys will be inducted > into the Navy Seals. -- Steve Cramer Athens, GA http://www.savvypaddler.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
ah the joys of being out upon the sea at night. A place only fools venture but only fools like us know it wonder and joy Bob On 5/17/2011 9:28 AM, Mark Sanders wrote: > The howling banshee winds of Sunday's CKF Fest had me wondering about <snip> > Photos: > http://www.sandmarks.net/LunaTics/NightMoves1.html *************************************************************************** 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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