Re: [Paddlewise] [CKF Info] Santa Cruzin'

Woohoo! ! ! Congratulations on a fantastic placing and a great write up.

You go Mark!
On Mar 31, 2014 9:10 PM, "Mark Sanders" <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net> wrote:

>
> I don't know how many years ago I saw my first video of a surf kayaker
> surfing at Steamer Lane for the Santa Cruz PaddleFest--I just remember the
> wave was perfect! Not a giant wave, more like a watery escalator
> continually adding more shoulder to ride on. I've wanted to surf there ever
> since. But the SC contest always seemed out of my league, until I found
> they had a novice division. With my disappointing showing at Davenport last
> Nov., I decided that was the best bet for me and I could at least get my
> first real look at the real Steamers.
>
> So I entered the open division of the 2 day Cowells Classic, while Jack
> entered the new Production Plastic division of the full blown Steamers Lane
> contest. Having only just gotten over some bad back trouble, I was a bit
> leery and not in great shape. And though I consider it my worst surfing
> boat, for lots of reasons, I decided to surf my Dagger RPM Max. I really
> just wanted to get on the water and catch a few waves; I didn't really
> think I'd have much chance to compete. I was really wanting to go, because
> I'd heard this was the best place to find used boats and maybe I could find
> that elusive, big man's surf boat! But while there were good buys for
> people of normal size, there was nothing there for me.
>
> Saturday morn I arrived to check in for my heat and found really lousy
> conditions. Wind and drizzle that would fluctuate with heavy rain all
> through the day. Steamer's had some decent wave action, but it was quite
> windblown and the area for the Cowells competition had nothing! I really
> considered whether I wanted to brave the wet, cold, windy conditions just
> to bob around on the ocean for 20 minutes! But they postponed the event
> till 2pm hoping for a change in the swell and the next day things were
> suppose to get a lot better, so I was a go.
>
> While waiting by the tents, I ran into Sean Morley and mentioned to him
> that Jack was competing too. He kiddingly said, "don't mention his name!
> %#%_at_ beat me in our heat yesterday!" I caught up with Jack, who'd started
> the day before me and he said they'd had great waves on Friday and he'd had
> a great heat. Of course, this category was made for Jack as he loves
> surfing his plastic Necky Gliss. He was a bit upset that the rocky
> launching area required scratching up its pristine hull.
>
> By 2pm a good sized swell had arrived. Before making the long climb down
> the cliff steps to the water, I sat in my car to avoid the pouring rain.
> Nervous, I launched early to be able to watch the heat in front of me, but
> ended up at the meet up zone almost an hour before my heat. While it gave
> me plenty of time to get some feel for the conditions, it also gave time to
> get chilled considering I was only wearing a wetsuit top. I met my
> competitors, a nice group, but two of them were in flashy HP boats. But we
> were all easy going about getting on a wave and no one ever had to fight
> for a ride!
>
> The waves we were riding were essentially the same wave from Steamer's,
> except with the steepest end chopped off by the point! You could watch the
> monsters form at Steamer's and follow it to our zone, albeit with a bit
> less energy. As is generally my wont, I start off with the biggest wave I
> can get and figure things can only get better from there! There was quite a
> bit of trepidation, though, as I dropped down that first face. I made it a
> rather short ride along the face before pulling out before the rest of the
> wave broke to head back outside.
>
> My main goal was to get at least three rides so I could get a full score.
> Second and tertiary goals: don't capsize and avoid the cliff! I seem to
> remember making some nice moves on some waves and getting stuck in the
> white water till that third goal seems in trouble. Rides were long
> alongside the face of the waves, but tough to come over the crest to get
> out clean. I had no idea what my competitors were doing, but I felt a sense
> of relief and redemption for my Davenport debacle. Now and then, I tried to
> remember I was having fun! But while I'd lamented the lack of waves earlier
> in the day, I now wondered what these big rides meant for the next day,
> where the forecast called for 7 footers at Cowells.
>
> I awoke in the morning not to rain, but pea soup fog, but when I got to
> the beach, there was sun and blue sky. The moment I got out of the car, I
> saw the amazing waves flying through Steamers. The SUP category was up and
> they were tearing up the waves like no other SUPers I've ever seen. The
> waves were BIG, but the trajectory was less right at the cliffs and more
> parallel the coast and there was that endless shoulder I'd envied. I'd
> never been near waves this big, but that shoulder still looked like a safe
> way out of trouble, as long as you remained wet-side down. These guys
> weren't playing it easy, as evidenced by the broken SUP lapping against the
> rocks. I never got the hear the whole story on that ride.
>
> Jack was up at noon and I was there to video his heat. Things had changed
> a bit, the waves were still big, but they often headed a little more
> towards the cliffs. The heat before had been tearing it up, but when Jack
> and two others of his heat assembled in the big wave corridor, they were
> hit with a 3-4 minute lull! Sean Morley avoided that trouble by coming in
> right close to the cliff to score early on some inside waves. Finally some
> waves showed up and I could swear Jack was at eye level with me on the
> cliff on top of some of those brutes! Soon they were all speeding down the
> faces of waves looking for a clean get-away. Sean can flying in on one and
> was out of sight by the cliff, when the lifeguards all of sudden came to
> life. Either he came out of his boat, or his skirt imploded, but he was
> soon powering his way clear, half submerged with water. It was close to the
> end of the heat and the rest of the crew continued getting great rides.
>
> The early morning conditions had been amazing, but my heat wasn't until
> 3:20pm and the afternoon condition began to deteriorate. Waves at Steamer's
> were still big, but the strong onshore wind meant we'd have to be finding
> the critical peak of the wave at Cowells. I was feeling looser, but the
> waves were definitely bigger than the day before. I think it was my second
> wave of the day that was my biggest ride. I remember dropping in, standing
> on my pegs to keep my bow from burying. I really think my RPM helped me
> here with its extra volume. I came down the trough and made a right and was
> flying alone the face of the wave. Usually this is the time you're looking
> for the end of that shoulder to make your exit, but there was no exit in
> sight! I was flying along with enough time to remember to hyperventilate,
> because I knew I wasn't going to get out from under this wall of water.
> Foam blowing off the crest and into my face didn't help the breathing
> process. I turned myself down wave as it broke and got spit forward by the
> mass of white water. Perhaps I looked like I knew what I was doing, as I
> fought my boat flinging from side to side. Finally, I planted a high brace
> and fought to get out of the white stuff before I reached the rocks. When I
> was finally free, I thought that might be a good way to end my heat, but I
> couldn't remember how many waves I'd had and figured I had to head out for
> more.
>
> I tried to add some smaller waves to my dance card before I realized the
> wind and my last ride had me well out of they real surf area. I hurried
> back and was able to get a couple more short rides. Near the end of the
> heat, a good sized wave peaked up mostly in between Robert and me. It was
> hard to tell who had the right of way, but I figured I did, as I was
> further out than he. It was a great way to end the heat, but at the end of
> the wave, I saw Robert had ridden the wave too, on what seemed the other
> side of a broken section. We never came close to one another, so I figured
> interference wasn't an issue and we'd gotten away with a party wave! The
> waves had been big and fast, but I don't know how they scored, as I was
> more interested in living through them than trying any fancy moves. But
> wherever I ended up in the mix, I was happy with what I'd been able to do
> while riding my glorified barrel.
>
> I met up with Jack back at the main tent where we waited for the award
> ceremony. It was quite touching, as the man who started the SC Paddlefest
> was giving up the reins after 28 years in charge! I saw more than a few of
> the winners from Davenport go up to receive their award for this contest.
> Young and old. Two of the biggest winners, quite a surprise to me,  were
> two young paddlers from the Basque Country, Ibon and Edu,  who took first
> and second in the High Performance category. Along with nice medals, there
> was some nice money handed out for some categories. One sponsor donated
> money for the first and second place winners for the Production Plastic
> kayak division. They spoke of how these boats were how kayak surfing began,
> they being the only boat available in the early days.  And they mention the
> courage it took to ride waves like we'd had on the day in boats so less
> suited to them then the new, fast, dedicated surf boats of the day. Sean
> Morley got to pick up a check for first place. Jack missed out by one,
> taking the 3rd place medal!
>
> And as for the Cowells Classic, they called out the 3rd and 4th place
> winners, which seemed to leave me out of the mix, but then, turns out I
> pulled out a second place finish! It is truly more than I thought I could
> manage when I started. And to think, I'd almost let a little wind and rain
> keep me off the water. It was another amazing paddle adventure to add to my
> list. When I had coffee with my friends Ken and Barb today, I told them my
> neck was real sore. They wondered if it was because of my back trouble, but
> I said no. Pulling my medal out from underneath my sweater, I said it was
> from having this heavy metal around my neck for 20 hours straight! No, I
> didn't really sleep with it, but at my age I don't think I have many more
> medals in me, so I'll enjoy it for a while. And I have a year to wonder if
> 2nd place at Cowells means I'm ready to brave Steamer Lane next time.
>
> Full results from the event:
> http://asudoit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014-
> Paddlefest-Full-Results.pdf
>
> Mark Sanders
> www.SandMarks.net
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> Info_at_list.ckf.org
> http://list.ckf.org/mailman/listinfo/info
>

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