Seawall Fun
This morning's high tide at the seawall proved
eventful. John took off on at least an eight-foot wave
that steepened up too fast. He tried to broach to take
the seawall impact on the bottom of his hull, but the
wave must have been too powerful. He perled and
augured into the concrete, slamming his head into the
wall and falling back stunned. I knew he was in
trouble when he didn't try to roll. I flipped out of
my boat and swam through the thundering surf, grabbed
him around the chest to keep his face out of the
water, and struggled mightily to swim him out of the
impact zone. I collapsed exhausted on the beach and a
lifeguard appeared to attend to John. The crowd went
wild...
Well, actually, the surf was squat. But, figured I had
to give a good story since my invitation scared
everyone off . The seawall wasn't working. There
were some sweet small waves in the slide area, though.
Also, the sea caves were fun to play in. Nobody from
either of the clubs showed up. With great pleasure,
however, I met a friend I used to surf with a dozen
years ago. John Janney had moved to Bellingham in '91,
only a couple years before I hung up the kayaks to
breed. He was just visiting in town for the holidays.
We spent more time flapjawing than surfing.
Despite the lack of companions, it was a wonderful
morning on the water: smooth water, silent, light
rain, one good friend, and a few sweet waves.
Kevin (Dr Paddle)
Submitted on December 24, 2003