Launching from Newport this morning were "Dublin" Dave, Steve "Hull Cracker," Joe "Carnivore," Reed "Mr. Mariner Kayaks Marketing Man," Chuck "2x4", and myself. It was sunny from the get go, and hot, but not too hot. Like usual, as soon as we left the harbor, Reed pealed off to hug the coast, and we never saw him again. The paddle down to Laguna was calm and fast, and there was very little boat traffic.
We were able to find a beautiful place to land in Laguna. This place is a small cove, with small rocky points on each side and a small sandy beach, with a beautiful view of surf breaking over rocks nearby. More importantly, no swimmers where there, and we shared the cove with only a couple of other people. When I checked a chart later, I saw that the place is called Divers' Cove. We all definitely plan to land there more often in the future. The surf was small, and disappointingly, there was no carnage on the landing.
When we launched, we thought (or hoped) we were going to see Dave get carnaged, but he punched a 3-4 foot wave that broke right in front of him with no problem. On the way back to Newport, we hugged the coast, doing some mild rock gardening, and once again, there was very little boat traffic. Joe and Chuck went on into the harbor, which was busy with boat traffic, while Dave, Steve and I stayed just outside the jetty and practiced strokes, bracing, sculling and rolling.
Chuck, who is from Huntington Beach, was new to our group, and he is more than welcome to join us again. His speed was good, and more importantly, he seemed to tolerate our verbal jousting about each others' gear and skills. By the way, Chuck is the one who saddened so many of us by snatching up Gareth's VCP Romany Explorer.
Once again, it was one of those days that remind me why I love sea kayaking so much!
"Darwin" Duane
www.rollordrown.com