Jim Herron and his fiancé, Barbara
    Greg Kolb
    Carol Miller
    George Miller
    Patrick Martin
    Chris Wood
    Lee Hyde
    Ray Roux
    Peter O'Sullivan
    Mike Brown
    Yours Truly - Steve Holtzman

As you can tell from the line-up. There were no beginners on this trip which was good because there was significant swell and wave action.

On the way to the put-in at Mother's Beach, in Ventura Harbor, John Ernst called to say that he was surf kayaking and would not be making the paddle with us, but he would join us for lunch (us CKF'rs sure like our food). John said he was surfing 8 foot waves but that the ocean was flat (I couldn't understand this one at all).

We made the long carry of our boats to the beach and had a short safety briefing for Jim and Barbara. They had only paddled with CKF once before and that was on the Topock Gorge Trip last month. This was a totally different type of paddle and they were not in SOT's this time.

We all launched and some of the first ones on the water practiced their rescue techniques while waiting for the stragglers. We then headed out. As we rounded the breakwater, we saw a couple of dead sea lions in the water. The red tide is really taking a toll on these critters. I know it's part of nature, but I still don't like seeing them like this. The swells and waves kicked in as we left the breakwater behind.

We decided that we would put Carol as the lead paddler, but we actually pretty much stayed in a parallel line to each other so no one was in the lead. The swells were mostly in the 3 foot range, but every 20 - 30 seconds, a 6 footer or so would come by. No problems, but they did make for a wetter than usual ride as a few of them broke over our boats. We made it to the pier and hung around there for a while.

As we were debating whether or not to go further since there weren't any beginners with us, the Coast Guard broadcast a weather alert. We knew that there were small craft warnings for the outer waters, but the inner waters (where we were) were supposed to be fine. After we heard the alert, we all decided that the prudent thing to do was to head back before the weather changed.

As we paddled back, Peter and I noticed that Chris' boat was upside down. We didn't know if he was practicing his roll or had capsized. As we headed over to him, he rolled up and we saw he was wearing a diving mask. After that we decided, that if anybody was going to intentionally roll, they should shout "rolling" to alert the rest of us that they are not in trouble.

After we got behind the breakwater, the ocean became flat again. Chris and Mike stayed in the water to practice more rescue skills and the rest of us started the long carry of our boats back to the cars.

Jim & Barbara, passed on lunch because they wanted to go to Santa Barbara and go kayak gear shopping--the rest of us opted for food at Angela's.

We all had a good time on the water and are looking forward to seeing more of you out there.

    Steve Holtzman