Malaga Cove
Five of us launched at Malaga cove at about 9:00 AM. We had Don, Jack,
Anneli, Vickie, and myself in the group. This was our first time paddling
with Anneli, and it was good to have another strong paddler in the group.
Adds to the fun and the safety.
Surf was 1 or 2 feet at the launch - pretty wimpy. It was very humid and
started to rain after a while. Kind of dismal.
Surf started to pick up when we neared PV pt. We where able to catch a
couple of waves. They were small, but fun anyway.
After a short break in Lunada Bay, we headed toward resort pt & pt Vicente
for the rocks. Conditions where very mellow and we had a good time playing.
Our only problem was watching out for fishing lines. There were scores of
fishermen with their lines in the water. We had to pass up some spots
because of them, but got into most places anyway.
About a mile from pt Vicente we got an unexpected chance to practice our
rock garden rescue skills as we had two swimmers in the water (one was me).
The two of us entered a channel that ran about a 45 degree angle to the
swell. The seaward side was somewhat protected by a partially submerged reef
and the entrance was somewhat protected by some rocks a few meters seaward.
I had been watching the waves here for a while and every few minutes a
"big" one would come in and wash through the slot.
Our strategy was to get into the slot between the rocks and the reef, then
wait for a "big" one to wash us through. The other paddler was in the lead
and becoming concerned that we wouldn't get washed over. I saw a big one on
the way and my last words were "this one will take you through". Our only
problem was that this big one was much bigger than the other "big" ones (2x
at least).
The lead paddler, being more exposed, was taken out first. I managed to take
the first hit and watched the other paddler trying to exit the boat. It took
a really long time and when it was my turn I realized why. I thought I was
going to make it when a moment later another big one washed me up onto some
rocks, then unceremoniously rolled me across them and generally bashed me
about every which way. I think a good whitewater paddler could have stayed
in and rolled up, but the situation passed my threshold of courage (and
pain) for staying in the boat. It took me a long time to get out of the boat
because of the washing machine effect combined with rock collisions. I
managed to keep my face out of the rocks, but at the expense of my forearms.
After a sound thrashing the other boat and paddler were washed out of the
slot (unfortunately not together). The paddler was washed out first, but it
took a couple of minutes for the boat to come out. I tried to re-enter my
boat several times but it was just too rough. There were shallow areas to
stand on, but you could only stand for a moment before being washed off.
Eventually my boat was torn from my hands and washed back out the way I came
in. I jumped in after and swam it to slightly calmer water where I
re-entered and rolled up, then paddled out to a safe area to get some help
emptying the boat. The other paddler was towed behind the rocks to a
relatively calm pool to be reunited with their boat.
As usual our comrades performed admirably in assisting an efficient recovery.
Our plastic boats didn't seem phased at all. The ferrule of my spare paddle
was cracked at some point during the thrashing. Injuries to both of us were
limited to superficial cuts and bruises.
My cuts and scrapes were limited to my hands, but the other paddler had cuts
and scrapes on the feet and lower legs. I was wearing a farmer john and
booties, they were wearing a shorty and sandals. Both of us were wearing helmets.
While there is no nice way of smashing into the rocks, thankfully there were
no serious injuries to boats or people.
Lessons:
- Be sure you've seen the biggest wave before entering a challenging spot. It
may be that the swell suddenly picked up, and we were just unlucky. Swell
can build quickly, but dies out slowly. More likely we just didn't wait long
enough before entering. If we had, we would have waited for the really big
ones to die, and go through on a medium one.
- Be aware of your surroundings. It turned out that it was a trivial climb
over the rocks to the quiet pool. We didn't know that. We both would have
been better off to scramble over the rocks to the pool than to get washed
back out. I think both of us were fixated on getting back into the water
(with boats).
- Do wear a helmet, PFD, and wet suit for playing rough. Today I have bruises
on many parts of my body (especially forearms), but not on my head or where
my PFD was. Besides the obvious advantage of not worrying about floating, a
PFD can absorb a lot of impact. The neoprene I was wearing on legs and feet
made a big difference in the injuries I received compared to the other
paddler. I have bruises on my legs, but that's all. Even the mid weight
capaline I was wearing on top provided some protection for my arms. They are
bruised worse than my legs, but no cuts or scrapes.
- Be aware that real rescues are not like the ones you practice in a harbor.
By the time the water gets rough enough to spew experienced paddlers into
the water, it isn't going to be easy to get them back in. Practice
re-entries in the roughest safe conditions you can possibly find.
Finally, To quote many others (and myself), "pushing the limits is the only way to
learn". --------- Now I just wish learning didn't hurt so bad.
Steve Brown
Submitted on July 4, 2001