About 1/2 the group met 2 hours earlier so that they could get a little bit more of a workout in and they paddled out of the harbor and did a little skills practice in the wind and waves. Peter mentioned there was a fairly strong off shore wind and it kept blowing them about a mile off. I don't have many details of this part of the trip because I wasn't there, but I understand that Beth is starting to get her WS Tempest rolling. Although all of us have found that the first half of a roll is easy, it's that last half that she was getting.

After the two groups met up for the "official" paddle, we had a very short briefing while I kept getting needled by my wife for talking too much. We finally launched with a 10 knot head wind that didn't really effect us. As we paddled, I was talking with Beverly and she asked if I thought we would see any seals or sea lions. Right then, I noticed something just behind George Miller's boat and pointed. All people could see then was a small wave. Then a small sea lion surfaced and kept chasing after George.

We also saw many pelicans sitting on the water that wouldn't move until we got very close, egrets, gulls, and some great herons too. When we arrived at the beach, I was pleased to see that the tide had dropped enough for us to get under the bridge. Of course just before we got there, we passed a moored catamaran and George decided to go under it. After he was back out with us, I heard a loud commotion of somebody yelling at us - it was the boat owner yelling that some paddler had just banged his hull with a paddle and he as to paint the hull every year.

Of course, my wife then paddled up to me to let me know that she was the one who got busted paddling under the boat. At lunch, Beverly mentioned she was going to do it too until the owner started yelling at us.

After everyone got under the bridge, we continued on and managed to paddle the entire harbor in one continuous loop. We then cleaned our boats, changed clothes in the restrooms and headed over to Daddy-O's

I'm not going to list the names of all who attended because you know if you were there or not. We had a good time and several people asked if we could do something like this - an easy paddle at a later time on a monthly basis. No promises, but I'll try.

One thing that does need to be mentioned is that George "Speedo" Miller was paddling with us for the first time since he got out of the hospital. He feels that he is about 70% back to normal and his speed is still fast enough to keep him in the front of the group at all times. The only difference was that he was a larger spec in front of me than usual because he was only leaving me behind by about a quarter mile instead of the normal half to a whole mile.

Pictures by Paula Chavez
Click to see larger image

1st set of paddlers of the day	A lot of us on the water	In the middle of the channel
Oh no, is this a great day or what?	Peter & Paul	The newley weds

Pictures by Paul Jonason

Offshore Practice	Peter & Beth	Peter in a Greenland

Steve Holtzman

LAUNCH LOCATION
Exit Victoria South (left) - towards beaches Cross - Channel Islands Blvd, continue south for 1 mile. The Beach is just past the Coast Guard Station on the right side. Look for the skinny, colorful boats on the beach.
View Map.
View picture of Channel Islands Harbor.