Nine paddlers met this morning at Cabrillo Beach. The weather was clear, the sky blue and the surf, relatively calm at the beach and no wind. We launched without problem and headed towards White's Point. Outside of the protection of the harbor there was a nice swell but nothing was rough unless you were playing in the rocks. We had basicaly two groups: One group paddled outside the surf zone and the other that, well you know, played in the rock gardens.

Things were a little rough in the rocks with sets of extremely large waves and lot s of surge. Yes, there were a few OBE's at this point (OBE = out of boat experience) but everyone survived without injury. Some of our favorite holes were just not safe so we bypassed them and just stayed on the surf zone border.

There is a place that has bumped me out of my boat on the two occaisions that I entered the reef, thinking I was doing just great. On the way out I made it in and was able to turn fast enough to keep from being side surfed over the rocks into the pool as before. Experience is a good teacher along with PRACTICE (hint for 12/9).

At Whites Point we split into three groups: Three went back to surf Cabrillo, three paddled on for scenery and three of us played in the rocks some more. At the point we saw a group of kayakers on the beach. They were at the point for about 15 minutes and this group just stood on the beach looking at us. Thinking that they may have been part of our group that didn't get the message of the location change we headed in. We somewhat beached and asked them if they were part of our group and they said no. But I guess our ability to come in and launch again through the swell (it looked big but broke easy and low) convinced them to finally launch.

We headed back playing along the way. I got sucked into my favorite place and side surfed over the rocks when trying to leave. My boat go caught on the rockes and the surf began to pull me out of the boat. I grabbed onto the combing, waited for things to settle and was able to pull myself back in and roll up, reattach my skirt and get hammered some more before the set died down enough to get out.

We headed back to Cabrillo and landed without problem. A couple surfed some more and then beached when the touring group came in a few minutes later. All beaches without problem.

We then enjoyed a great potluck of a chicken enchilatda type casserole (hot in the pot), hot cider, cold smoked turkey, cranberry-cherry bread and, freshly made pancakes and lots of good conversation!

In summary: If you just wanted to paddle--this was a good day for there was just enough activity to keep in from being boring. The rock gardners did a few (a few?) combat roles, a few OBE's and a lot of YAHOO's. We all returned safe, unharmed and better for the experiences of the day. The food was great, the company great and the weather just right. Another great day on the water--thank you Mother Nature, King Neptune and by your grace we shall return again to play in your kingdoms.

    Mike Brown