After doing a little surfing in 3 foot waves at Cabrillo we headed right around Point Fermin to Point Fermin park. That plan was to surf there until the tide came up, then play in the rocks along the way back. The waves had a trashy look because of the wind, but we had great fun surfing them anyway. The shape was still there, you just had to look for it more carefully. Wave size was 3-to-5 feet and the action was virtually constant. After about an hour I took a break on shore to watch the others for a few minutes. It was almost as fun watching how each paddler made different use of the waves as it was surfing them. Tide was rising, but the two reefs that run shore to seaward at this spot make it surfable to a very high tide in any swell. There was some flipping by several of us (maybe all), but no carnage - just fun.

On the way back things didn't go exactly as planned. As the tide came up so did the swell. I've seen that happen before, and in reverse. I think it has to do with more swell energy getting over off shore underwater features unimpeded, but that's just a guess. We did have some fun in the rocks, but had to be quite careful. All of us were bit out of practice in our rock garden skills and no one wanted to take a beating. Some spots we played in, but others, such as the play hole in the lee of point Fermin, we just got close to.

What is usually a swirling carnival ride looked more like a blender for making puree kayaker. The current flowing over the rocks was an almost irresistible draw into the heart of it, but watching the violent hydraulics that formed on even a medium sized swell kept us out. Flipping was almost a certainty and being carried upside-down onto rock in the process was a probability, making swimming amongst the sharp rocks a possibility. We wanted to go in and kept pushing closer, but none of us did. As Jack put it "if I can't ride the beast, at least I want to get close to it". We tried a few more fun spots on the way back, and did get to ride the wall at Cabrillo a few times before calling it a day.

    Steve Brown