I'm glad the day was switched after seeing the winds that Saturday had to offer but when I raised the flag in the front yard Sunday morning and watched it stretch out in the wind, I braced myself for the worst.

I got my first look at the water as I rounded the turn on PCH at Mugu rock, not good. The whitecaps were already up and the van leaned at every canyon pass as the wind gusts played with the kayak strapped to the roof. If anyone showed, I thought I would only find a few kayaks parked outside the parking lot gate when I reached Point Dume and expected the first words I heard to be something like,' So.. where's a good place for breakfast around here'.

The farther south I drove the better the water looked but as I pulled up to the gate I saw no one. It was thirty minutes to launch time and I couldn't imagine no one at all showing up so I figured the few that may have come out were probably already inside. I paid my five bucks and drove to the end of the lot. Surprise surprise! Even though there were seven paddlers that had originally planned to join but couldn't make it, we still had a group of 19. As we geared up we were entertained by sea lions, dolphins and at the point there were several whales spouting already so we were all anxious to get in the water. We touched bases with the lifeguards, had a quick introduction and briefing then hit the water.

The surf was mild with 3' shorebreakers and we all aced our first attempt. The winds were also mild throughout the day, never strong enough to make you feel like you were working against it but the threat of heavier winds to come made us keep an eye on where we trekked. As for the whales, they kept out of sight as soon as we hit the water except for a blow that Mike sighted as we rounded the point and one that I caught at the end of the day. I'll need to re-negotiate there contract next year for sure. Our nearly ten mile course took us from the beach, past the point and toward the south buoy sweeping left and landing on the west beach of Paradise cove, just for the fun of it, then we made a bee line back to the point and paused again still scanning the waters. As we were about to break up in to 'paddle in' or 'paddle on' groups, the rolling began. (that's just what bored paddlers do at times like these) All the rolls were your standard textbook variety except for the fact that Pete and Patrick executed their rolls while on there sit-on-tops. Well done!

The last leg of the trip took half of us westward for another mile or so but still we found no leaping whales. I know this area is great for spotting whales (not as good for spotted whales) I just picked an unlucky three hours to try and cross there path. My thanks to all of you that came out to help me look.

    Ralph Pierson