Robin and I quickly unloaded our boats and renewed some old friendships and made some new ones. When we hit the water at 9:30, there were 18 of us, 16 closed deck boats and two Scupper Pro SOT's.

The group was raring to go and it was impossible to keep everyone together as we waited for the later arrivals to get ready. Patrick Martin volunteered to take the ones chomping at the bit to the pond where we would all meet, have a quick coordination meeting, and be off.

Finally I left the beach with the last paddler and we met everyone in the pond. We coordinated radio frequencies, and because the group was so large,we split into 2 groups. I asked George Miller and John Ernst (heretofore known as "The Dynamic Duo" because of the speed these 2 guys can maintain) to shepherd the faster paddlers and I would stay back with the not so fast paddlers.

The water was very calm with about a 3-4 foot swell and almost no wind waves. The wind was light but off shore, and I had to continually steer the group back closer to the shore, but we were having a great time. After paddling about 3 miles, we took a break and Ralph Pierson immediately broke out the two softball sized rubber balls he carries. We hung around for about 20 minutes just playing ball. What a way to practice boat handling skills as you try to maneuver to a ball floating in the water. We then got a radio call from the fast group wondering where we were, so we started paddling again. After a half mile, the balls came out again and there went our progress. The faster group then caught up to us, joined in the ball playing, and then we all turned and paddled back. A few minutes was spent playing in the pond and then we all paddled back to load boats and walk over to Daddy-O's for lunch.

We did not spot any sea lions, dolphins, whales, or anything other than birds---but hey, there's always next week at Refugio.

All in all a great day of camaraderie, conversation, paddling, and meeting new friends whom I hope will join us again.

    Steve Holtzman