Since a big, ugly, smoke-belching dredge was eating the bottom of "Pond", where we normally practice, we started our practice session next to the breakwater. But, with the 4 to 6 foot swell and the high tide, the waves splashing over the breakwater were creating an unusual froth which made us wonder if it was related to the pelican dung which had been washed off the breakwater. While the engineers in the group speculated as to whether the viscosity of pelican dung froth would help or hinder our rolling attempts, the health-conscious wondered if contact with it would kill us instantly or slowly over a period of a few minutes. The health-conscious prevailed and the group elected to check out the open ocean on the other side of the breakwater where the water was cleaner and the swell was more amusing.

Fortunately the wind was calm and the large swells were well behaved and not difficult to handle. It wasn't long before we discovered that when a paddler is upside down, it is really hard to tell when a big swell is going by. A number of times we would flip over to test our rolling skills only to discover that we missed the swell by waiting too long. As it turned out, the day was perfect for our rolling practice. The water temperature was refreshing, the wind was calm, and there was enough sunshine to warm us up when we needed it.

I think each of us pulled off rolls and drills that challenged our limits. There were several second-attempt successes, a few failed attempts, some bow assists, and a handful of reentry assists. Mike Bode, who only started rolling yesterday, amazed us all by continuing to pull off rolls with a high rate of success. Peter commented that he thought Mike is a "ringer" and actually was the New York state rolling champ before he joined our group. Mike's success proves that there is merit in teaching paddlers how to roll soon after they enter the sport if they want to learn. Paddlers should not be discouraged from learning how to roll just because they have not been paddling for years.

I think it was Jake who first got the notion to check out the swell crashing over the breakwater. So we all headed over to the breakwater to marvel at the way the large swells would erupt sending plumes of water over 20 feet in the air. Every now an then a really powerful impact would blast a barnacle loose and send it screaming through the air.

Naturally it didn't take long before we realized that there was a white-water playground at the west end of the breakwater. It was interesting to discover that the waves of white water were mostly air and that it was risky to brace too aggressively in spite of the fact that some of the white-water waves were head high. But the ocean has a sense of humor and sometimes it would sneak in a solid wave to test our reflexes. A few of us practiced rolling in the turbulence while others practice their bracing and boat maneuvering skills. Amazingly there were no out-of-boat experiences and no carnage; although I had a close call when Jake yelled "Incoming!" and I had to roll my boat in order to avoid being hit by a flying kamikaze barnacle.

Eventually our appetites kicked in and convinced us that maybe it would not be fair to use up the world's entire supply of fun in just one day. So off we raced to Big Daddy-O's for tri-tips and tall tales about the big one that wouldn't let us get away. I brought along a camera and took pictures of some of us standing under the "No Morons Allowed" sign at the entrance of Big Daddy-O's. Hopefully these pictures will turn out good so that we will have photographic evidence to convince people that we are not morons since we were served a such a discriminating establishment.

George, hope you have a speedy recovery. We missed you today.

All the best,
Patrick Martin