I'm going to revise my estimate of the cave length to just shy of 100' and my rating of the blowhole inside from decent, to really cool. When a big (er) swell comes in that blowhole really explodes back into the cave. As you go farther back into this cave it gets rougher because of waves reflecting off the back. It also gets narrower, so the swells get squeezed toward the ceiling. The ceiling is high, but another foot or two of swell would have made it a little scary.

We did a little surfing and playing in rocks along the way back. The swell was just large enough to make things interesting on some washovers and surge channels we tried. Some we didn't have the nerve to try looked even more fun. Maybe next time.

We also tried out that surf spot at Portuguese bend I mentioned in a previous e-mail (even though tide was up). In the spot we tried the waves were peaking up, then plunging over a sandbar or possibly some submerged rocks, leaving a very wide & deep soup zone to get control of the boat and get turned back around. Rides were short but very fast (for me). The larger swells were building waves of up to about 5' before breaking suddenly.

My first time through I reached my paddle up too high into the wave for a brace and got flipped more violently than I have in a long while. It tore my nose plugs off in an instant. There was no rolling involved here, no hip snap, sweeping, or anything. I just tucked as the wave easily carried me around, then stuck the paddle out at the right time for a side surf. I had to be careful not to stick my paddle out too far or I would have been violently flipped a second time.

My second try went a lot smoother, faster, and longer because I caught the wave earlier. Still the break was fairly violent so I decided to quit while I was ahead. I still think this would be a great spot on a low tide day.

We did a little rolling practice before landing. Don really has his on-side roll nailed, particularly making a second or third try if at first unsuccessful. I'm really impressed (and a little annoyed) with the skills Don has developed in just 1 year of paddling experience.

They were filming a Chevy truck commercial back a white point when we returned. You know, the new truck that "switches" from a truck to an SUV. They must have had 15 vehicles of various size and 30 people out there, but only 2 or 3 seemed to be doing anything useful. We watched the filming for a while and my assessment is that filming a commercial is slightly less interesting than watching grass grow. The few people (crew members) we talked to seemed much more interested in our kayaks then they were in the shoot. I don't blame them.

All in all a very fun paddling day. Too bad you were working!

    Steve Brown