We put-in at Refugio right on time Sunday morning with slightly overcast conditions. Everyone expertly negotiated the pounding 1-2 ft waves and we headed NW into beautiful sunny weather. The water clarity was exceptional giving us a great view of underwater gardens and almost constant schools of bait fish. Peter and Patrick spent some time up-side-down with goggles enjoying the view from that perspective.
When we got to Poison Oak Canyon, it wasn't quite as secluded as advertised. We had the company of a few surf fisherman who seemed to be having pretty good luck. Mother nature provided us with nice rock bench at the surf line to eat our lunch and rest up for the the paddle back. Henk brought out some plans to show us on the s&g kayak he is building. Amazingly, he not only is designing the boat but wrote the software to do the design.
Again we set out with no carnage and enjoyed a relaxing and non-eventful trip back. When we got close to Refugio, Mike B. and Peter O. practiced rolling. Mike B. did two or more excellent paddle float rolls. During this, Patrick, Henk and myself floated around just enjoying the day and company. Again we put-in through the surf with no mishaps. The beach was surprisingly empty for such a nice day so we had no problems running down swimmers, etc. I spent some time in the broached position at the surf's edge getting use to leaning and bracing when the waves came in. Getting ready for the bigger surf this winter.
All in all, a great time was had by all
Mike Plummer
Thanks, Mike, for coordinating a pleasant Sunday morning paddle out of Refugio Beach, and to the whole group for the pleasant company. Looking forward to the next one.
By the way, it took me about 1 hour 45 minutes to drive from Santa Clarita to Refugio. Not bad at all, although it did get a little sticky coming back through Santa Barbara. All in all a very pleasant drive. (Listening, fellow Santa Claritans?)
Point of order: Peter O'Sullivan was giving me rolling pointers. And side surfing pointers. And kayakswimming pointers (Hey! It was a "pounding 1 - 2 foot surf", remember?!). Thanks, Pete! A propos of which, thanks to Patrick (upside-down tour guide) for the underwater sightseeing (sans surf, in clear, calm water. And kelp. And bait fish.) and use of his goggles and bow.
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