Got some decent photos on my last RG day a week or so ago. The paper for today was predicting brilliant sunshine, so I had high hopes starting out our El Morro paddle. It was just Gennifer, Jack and me on a pretty deserted beach at the start. Jack launched and started his usual shore break calisthenics, but when I looked over at Gen, she was upside down on the sand! But she pushed herself upright and made a quick launch. I headed out right into a breaking wave to play and got sent upside down in the sand as well, so when we all met up, Gen and I were both trying to get rid of the sand in our eyes! A mild carnage launch. It was not supposed to be a big day, but there was a bit of white water splashing on the rocks at Abalone. Steve's Reef was almost completely awash, but there was a nice sized wave popping up right on top of it. We made this our play spot for a good chunk of an hour. With the rocks only exposed on an ebb, it made for a safe, but swirly play spot. As this photo shows, we all got to work playing. After a while, even Howard showed up to get into the act. Plenty of action to go around. Finally we decided to move on and past a reef full of seals, we pulled in close to shore to check out some waves. Jack and I were in close to the sand when Gen got caught in a big wave that once again had her upside down in the sand. It was a rough ride and she ejected to relaunch from the beach. A little farther down we rode some small waves in close, but then some darn big waves came in locking us to shore. The biggest seemed about 5' to me with a nasty break and I took advantage of the next lull to get out of Dodge. Jack and Howard stayed inside, with Jack doing some nasty purls in the big waves to try out some maneuvers. Farther down, those two got another talking to from the lifeguard to stay out of the break, although there was no one even on the beach to hit. Around the corner, we came to a reef that was getting a side wash from the waves. I knew what was going to happen here, both Jack and Gen got left high and dry on the barnacles. They were both stuck up there a long time waiting, but finally a big enough wave came to wash them down. This area had a really active toilet bowl section that kept us busy for quite a while. Gen got upended inside again and bumped a rock, but managed another combat roll to get out. For once it was Jack who said he was ready to head home, though he wanted to play on the way, but once we got started we moved right along. Jack was up front when we made the turn in at Abalone as we skirted right along the cliff. It was a pretty safe area, but all of a sudden I was on top of a 2-3 foot wave that was about to break before the rocks. I turned to warn Gen and saw she'd already gotten caught and was upside down against the cliff. I hurried in, sure that a rescue was in order, when she rolled up. It was another great combat roll in a dicey situation. Finally we hit the sand at a now busy beach. It had been a very active day and although conditions weren't too big, they still provided challenges. Gen ended up with a bruise on her arm from her last encounter, which she called her worst encounter on the water. Sooner or later we all get caught, but she can take pride in how she seems to handle tough situations. Another great day on the water. http://www.sandmarks.net/TrueGrit/TrueGrit1.html 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/ ***************************************************************************
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