The sky was sunny with a good 10 knot wind blowing when 10 of us met at Kiddie Beach in Oxnard to launch. There were several new faces mixed in with the old friends who came to play with us. We did a short briefing on the beach and hit the water to paddle the 1/2 mile over to "The Pond". The wind was starting to pick up a little and it was an offshore breeze. Peter O stopped by to give us moral support on the launch, but was unable to join us today because of other commitments. We missed you Peter! He did mention that for the last few days, the wind changed direction and became an on-shore wind later in the afternoon.

I buddied up with one of the newer paddlers and we paddled off. Mike had his new Sirocco (a plastic version of my boat) in the water for the first time. He tried a roll and missed--then a 2nd --and then a third. The expression on his face showed that he was ready to throw the boat away. He tried to do a re-enter and roll and noticed his paddle was assembled in the un-feathered position and he always paddles feathered. As soon as he feathered the paddle, he was back up and rolling like a top again.

Mark and I decided to do an assisted T rescue since he had never done any assisted rescues before. While he was in the water, we discussed a few minor outfitting tips on his boat and before you knew it, he was back in the boat. He pumped the remaining water that I had been unable to drain and was back in the action again. He also got to work on some bracing skills and then went over to surf some of the 1 - 2 foot waves that were forming.

The wind kept building and eventually there was a wind surfer out there with us. At one point I noticed he was in the water and Mike was not too far from him but paddling very slowly against the wind. I then heard Mike scream something I never would have thought I'd hear from him---HELP!! He cried out 2 more times and I realized he needed some assistance. I race over (I was going with the wind) and Mike told me to hook up a tow as he was already towing the downed windsurfer and the sail really adds some drag. I quickly got over to the swimmer and threw him the end of my line. He ignored it and said everything was cool. I tried 2 more times with the same result. Finally I paddled right up to him, handed him the carabiner and told him to hook it up or I would do it for him.

An easier method of towing would have been for me to hook on to Mike's bow like to train engines in line, but we had to get through some surf to land this guy and neither of us really relished going in surf with tow lines attached. We paddled for all we were worth and it seemed like we were hardly moving against the wind. Others in the session, estimated we were making about 2 knots. Dave O didn't have a tow line, but stayed close to render assistance or take over for one of us if necessary. Just before we got to the beach, we asked Dave to land, clear an area from some of the kids playing in the water, and grab our boats since we would be coming in slowly, we didn't want to get sucked back out with the receding water. Just as my stern was lifted by a wave, the swimmer called out that he was able to stand and he unhooked both tow lines. Mike and I breathed (gasped?) a sigh of relief that we wouldn't have to do a surf landing (even small surf) while hooked up in a V tow. I was fortunate that Mike was the other tower--he has excellent boat handling skills and they are definitely needed in this type of tow to keep our two boats from crashing into each other.

We stayed on the beach for about 15 minutes catching our breath---the swimmer came by to shake our hands and say thanks, and then we launched for the paddle back to the put-in. By this time, the winds were probably 20 knots gusting to 25. A couple of us waited for the last paddler to get off the beach (fortunately, although he was a new paddler to the club and group, he was an excellent paddler. We paddled back against the head wind without stopping. Any stops blew you back too far. We landed, cleaned boats, loaded up, and went to Daddio's for lunch.

When we got back from lunch we noticed that the 20 knot winds had changed direction and were now an on-shore wind. Sure would have made that tow easier if it had done that earlier.

All in all it was a good day, we all got to practice our skills and learn some new ones, and one lucky wind surfer probably has very nice thoughts about sea kayakers.

See ya on the water,

    Steve Holtzman

LAUNCH LOCATION:
Exit Victoria South (left) - towards beaches Cross - Channel Islands Blvd, continue south for 1 mile. Kiddie Beach is immediately past the Coast Guard Station on the right side. View picture of the pond and Channel Islands Harbor.