We met Dave, Duanne, and Joe at Smugglers cove for an early lunch stop before moving on. Both groups left about the same time. By their speed, I would say they made it back to Cabrillo beach before we got done playing at Inspiration Point.

The waves weren’t big, but we got some decent surfing on the west side of Portuguese Point (Abalone Cove), the northeast corner of Smugglers Cove, and just east of the main reefs of Portuguese Bend. We did a lot of surfing in other spots, but the waves weren’t worth noting. We had a mixed swell (S & W), and it was very obvious in Abalone Cove. As the sets came in, the position of the break would change dramatically as one swell or the other became dominant. There was one break almost right on the rocks that was difficult to catch, and even more difficult to surf without hitting one of the many (sometimes) submerged rocks. A better shaped break with fewer obstacles would form deeper into the NE corner of the cove, completely bypassing the point.

On some days and/or locations the focus is on staying upright, or at least in your boat when doing washovers, surge channels, or other maneuvers – survival. If you live, don’t swim, and don’t break your boat, you win. High on adrenaline content and good for building rough water survival skills, but not too helpful for finer boat control.

With the fear of getting seriously trashed gone, we could focus on some of the finer points of rock garden paddling: doing double washovers that require a zigzag or opposing a strong lateral current to make the second washover, negotiating relatively long surge channels that required maneuvering and avoiding obstacles and good route selection, entering and exiting “second story” pools under control, and “Perch” (described below). The rocks near Inspiration Point and Portuguese Point were key play spots, but there were many others too numerous to count or name along our route. I think we all had an opportunity to learn and increase our skills.

Showing off is always great fun, and we had a number of enthusiastic spectators at both Portuguese Point and Inspiration Point while trying various maneuvers with varying degrees of success. They seemed very amused by the “second story” work, by rolling, and especially anything that resulted in us being hung up in the rocks. The most enthusiastic were some boys watching us play “Perch”.

Perch is a game Jack invented and a variation of the seal landing that requires a rock intermittently awash by the swell. The objective is to pick the right wave, ride it up onto the rock, and perch on top the rock. All control must be done with your paddle because use of hands is not allowed. Obviously, difficulty varies with the size & composition of the rock. The one Jack chose was a relatively small, smooth, slippery one in the entrance of the west cave of Inspiration point. It was not as easy as it sounds. Wave selection and boat control are critical. A small wave won’t get you on top, but large a wave will wash you right over (remember Goldilocks?). Forward & reverse strokes, braking, ruddering, and drawing must be linked together to stay over the rock as the water recedes. I’m embarrassed to say how long we played that game, or how much giggling (us, not the boys) went on while we played. The boys watching could barely restrain themselves from jumping in the water to join us.

We all had a blast and had covered 6NM, not counting all the zigging, zagging, surfing, and redoing (over & over & over & …..). Quite a long paddle for those wee little boats. In the end we were exhausted but still giddy from all the fun of a great paddling day.

    Steve Brown