There were lot's of endos. Once my bow hit the sand, faulting me up. I got a photo of Dublin Dave doing an endo. Also, I saw Dave Houser perform the most beautiful endo I ever saw in sea kayak surfing. He came down late on a steep 5 footer, buried the bow, making the stern come up straight, and the pressure from the breaking wave shot him into the air, like a banana being squeezed out of its peel. I never saw someone get so much air. Then he came down head first.

Most fun was surfing straight down the waves, outrunning them surfski racing style as they crashed behind you.

There was lots of carnage and dozens of swims. Only Java Jack and I managed to stay in our kayaks the whole time. I got in 4 combat rolls before the day was over, and I even rolled over 360 degrees on my head once in a few inches of water. Dave Houser said he thumped his head on the sand too.

After 3 hours of playing, we were all exhausted.

Dublin Dave and I took the photos at the link below. In most of them it is hard to tell who is who. Four of the photos with closer views are by Victor, who waded out in the water farther. See the photos at www.rollordrown.com. See more photos by Victor.

Duane Strosaker

I showed up at Cabrillo Beach for the Smugglers Cove paddle 45 minutes early and Dublin Dave and Duane were already in the water surfing and Victor was at his car ready to join them. I hurried to get ready so I could join the fun. Jack arrived and later Brian arrived right at the 9 AM advertised launch time. They both just joined in the frivolity. We were all having so much fun in the surf we decided to stay and play in the waves while they lasted.

The waves were just perfect for play. The large waves could be avoided while paddling out and once out could be allowed to just pass by the less experienced. It looked like we all had our share of great rides and carnage.

There were several endos. I the first one I saw was Jack while paddling out. He was going up the face of a large wave as it broke and he just went over backwards. The wave rolled over him and he then just rolled back upright. Before the day was over I saw him do it several more times among other crazy stunts. I did one endo quite by accident. I took off on a big wave trying to paddle like mad to stay low on the wave and then lean back to keep the bow up. I was late on the take off, slow on speed and did not have any hope of keeping the bow from digging in on that steep wave by leaning back. All I remember is seeing the bow digging in deep then turning my head to see the wave curling above my head, then looking back down to see my whole bow shoot out of the water and thinking "I'm dead". The kayak landed upside down on the water in the break zone and with the impact one knee slipped into the keyhole cockpit opening and my buns were pulled off the seat. There was no hope for setting up for a roll in the thrashing foam, so I bailed. When I surfaced there was quite a chorus of hooting and laughing coming from the beach.

Through out the morning, I made quite a few trips to the beach outside my kayak. All associated with the bow diving. During a broach, pearling is an instant widow shading. However, I did mange to hang on to my kayak and paddle on all but one exit.

Duane is an artist in balance and control and seems to always stay upright, never window shades and always returns up from the deepest of braces. Jack is the crazy man who seemed to temp fate going over the falls frontward, sideways, or backwards, surfing in backwards and endoing just for fun. He seemed to have the magic stroke to make it work and rolling when it didn't quite.

It was a great day of training, bracing, ruddering, rolling, swimming, ... I also discovered that swimming out through surf with a paddle in one hand and a kayak toggle attached to a boat full of water in the other is possible but a lot more work than just washing up on shore. I can't wait until the next surf day. There is a lot to be learned paddling in the surf with these guys.