First one cancelled last night, but it turned out there were two other cancellations that I didn't even know were coming. Then this morning, there were five of us-no, six of us- no-seven of us-no, nine of us finally got together to paddle. People kept showing up, so we delayed the launch time by about 15 minutes because the last paddler to arrive was a regular who is normally on time.

The group consisted of co-host, Len Goodman, Mike Condit, Lee Shurie, Paul Jonason, George Miller, Chris Wood, Skip Muns, Kevin Harris, and me.

As we headed out, several of the group, paddled right down the center of the channel. This made it a little difficult for the large power boats behind them--especially the Coast Guard 41 footer that finally turned on it's siren to get them to move. After leaving the harbor, we had a little chat about where kayaks fit in the boating world and how we are really nothing more than speed bumps and we should stay close to the sides of the channel.

As we paddled out towards Gina, we broke into 2 groups, the speed demons who wanted to challenge George - they lost and the rest of us who wanted as much of a social occasion as a workout. We stopped for a short break to get the group back together and were treated to a sea lion fishing for breakfast. There were a lot of bait fish swimming around and one sea lion just jumping through the school of fish. Finally a pelican came in for a nice calm landing directly between Skip and me. Skip was in heaven as he has not been this close to sea lions in a kayak before.

About a mile from Gina, the Island Packers concession boat, the Vagabond, stopped to check us out. As the only one with a radio, I chatted with them. They thought we were a group from Southwind heading to Anacapa as they've been seeing a lot of them lately. After discussing how beautiful the day was, they left and we continued to Gina.

After a short break, George "Speedo" Miller, followed by Lee Shurie, Len Goodman, Mike Condit, and Kevin Harris took off. When Skip, Chris, and I looked up, they were almost 1/2 mile away. We knew it was not going to be easy to catch them so we didn't even try.

About 1/2 way back to CIH, Skip noticed a lone kayaker off to our right and heading in the general direction of Point Dume and Malibu. We picked up the pace and Chris peeled off to try and catch him. Skip and I paddled the correct course and then waited for Chris and Kevin to catch up to us. Kevin had been unable to keep up the speed of the speed demons and thought he saw the harbor. Unfortunately, it was Port Hueneme and not CIH that he saw.

He said he felt better as we got closer to him and he could hear our voices. Finally, we linked up and the four of us paddled into the correct harbor.

Skip and Kevin have very little ocean time in a kayak, although Skip has a lot of ocean sailing experience. This was a milestone for both of them. Skip had never paddled this far and Kevin had never been this far from shore. I still look back to the first time I ever paddled to Gina--it's is firmly etched in my mind as one of my favorite kayaking trips. Hopefully, we made Kevin and Skip's first trip as memorable.

See ya on the water,

    Steve Holtzman

LAUNCH LOCATION: Hobie Beach in Channel Islands Harbor.

View Map
View picture of the pond and Channel Islands Harbor
Platform Gina Nav map.

I know Steve did a great report on our Beginning of Summer trip to Gina, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in. As he mentioned, this was the farthest I've ever paddled from shore, and I'll admit, when he first suggested that we go to Gina, I was a bit intimidated. I knew, however, that if I was going to push my limits, this was the occasion to do so, with all the experienced paddlers with me.

Fortunately, the conditions were perfect... great weather, well shaped swells of 2-4 I'd say, and little wind. What a great group of people to push your limits with. This trip was fantastic. And yes, I was the one who veered off toward Port Hueneme on the way back. It was interesting... one minute I was paddling with the "fast" group, and the next minute I was completely alone in the middle of the Santa Barbara Channel! It didn't really bother me too much, as the harbor (the wrong one) was sort of in visual distance, and I knew the other CKFers were somewhere behind me. Eventually, I heard Steve's voice, and Chris caught up to me and put my bow in the right direction toward CIH.

One note is that something Chris said to me finally hit home. For a long time people have been suggesting that I use my torso more in paddling, and while intellectually I knew they were right, I couldn't make the connection from that knowledge to application. While heading toward Gina, Chris said "use your arms mainly to lift and lower the paddle, twist your torso for the rest." For whatever reason, I was able to really adopt those instructions, and the rest of the trip, I concentrated on doing just that. What an amazing difference! And to think that two weeks earlier I paddled from Alamitos to the Queen and back with just my arms!

As I think back, I believe my strong focus on my paddle technique may be what allowed me to veer off the way I did.

Anyhow, I great trip, and thanks to all attending.