This was our first time paddling with John and Ken. John paddles a SeaYak and Ken paddles a very pretty Greenlander pro. John is relatively new to paddling, Ken has been paddling for a few years, including a trip to Scotland with Riptides and Rapids. (www.riptidesandrapids.com)
It was a beautiful paddling day. Warm and sunny. Almost no wind and very small swell. On the way over to Bluff cove we paralleled the shoreline. I sampled a few of the waves along shore in Torrance. They were very small, but very clean, and fun to surf. From the inside I could see a pod of dolphin hunting just outside the break line.
Don and Richard were waiting for us at the cove with a surprise. The waves in the cove were much bigger than expected. Lola showed ~ 2 foot waves over most of the coastline, and that's what it was. In the cove the waves were averaging about 3 feet, but the bigger sets were 4-to-5 feet, and where breaking right across the entrance to the cove.
Some were happy about the waves, others were not.
A few of us did some surfing. I got my thrill of the day right at the beginning. Flat Rock Point is the northern boundary of Bluff Cove, but also forms a much smaller "sub-cove" on the north end of Bluff Cove. Today was one of those days when waves would wrap around Bit Rock and Flat Rock (just off shore) and then converge to form very large and fast moving waves. Every set 1-or-2 waves would peak up to 6+ feet in there with a deep water break into a long run out. I managed to hop on one and I was flying, but still relatively high on the wave. I remember thinking that was about as fast as I wanted to go, but then I dropped down the face and went into warp drive. I have read about surfing so fast that the water seemed as hard as cement, but this was the first time I had experienced it. My boat made a buzzing sound as it planed across the water, and my paddle felt like it was resting on concrete. It was scary, but fun.
I wanted to do it again (?), but others were migrating toward the north break of the cove for some surfing so I joined them.
After a while we decided to take a break for snacks and lunch on shore.
We had a couple of swimmers on the way in. Waves at Bluff Cove break in "deep" water, so if you crash in the break, your not done. Waves (1'-2') were re-forming inside the main break so we got some good practice while doing the assisted re-entries (rescue sounds so panicky) in slightly rough, but safe conditions. The shore where we took out had only small (less than 1') waves lapping the cobble beach. Everyone soon made it in undamaged and unperturbed and the sun soon dried everyone that needed it.
After a while a few of us went out for some more surfing. It was really fun. A couple of memorable moments:
Off course, landings always happen one way or another, but launching is a different story. Luckily the submerged reef that forms the north break of the cove also makes very nice protection. The shore group was able to sneak out along the northern edge of the cove between the rock bluff and the break in almost calm water. No swims or even close calls. Rocks are a bad thing when you hit them, but a very good thing when you are behind them. This is a fundamental of safely negotiating a rocky coastline.
We paddled the most direct route back to the harbor and then all went for lunch at Captain Kidd's.
I had a blast (as usual) and made a couple of new paddling friends in the process. I'll be looking forward to paddling with them again.
Steve Brown
Directions:
Exit the 405 at Hawthorn and go south.
Turn right on 190th.
Turn left on Beryl
Turn left on Harbor
Turn right into the parking lot.