Participants were Don, Drew, George, Vickie, and me. It was overcast and cool with no noticeable wind. The water was refreshing, but not cold.

It was also relatively flat. I don't think I saw a wave over about 3 feet, even at Point Vicente. Still there was a surprising amount of moving water and all the rocks and channels revealed by the very low tide were active and fun to play in. It was a great day for skills building.

We spontaneously engaged in "follow the leader", weaving in and out of the rocks amongst the current and small swell. The objective was smooth lines and to outdo the one you were following. The leader changed from time-to-time when the he would make a mistake and get pushed off line, allowing time for others to pass while he got dislodged form the rocks.

In spite of the benign conditions, however, I still found a way to generate carnage. Along the way out I poked into a little area behind some rocks. The rocks form sort of a channel with an easy entrance where I went in, and a relatively tricky exit (at this tide level) at the other end. In the process of trying to get out the tricky end, the water dropped unexpectedly leaving me suspended between two rocks. When I starting rapidly capsizing to the right I reflexively head-dinked and braced with my paddle to that side - that's a good thing. Unfortunately, at that particular instant there was no water for my paddle to brace against, only air, and no air for my head to dink in, only rock - that's a bad thing.

I whacked my head pretty hard. Luckily my heavy-duty Kevlar helmet was in between my head and that rock. It hurt for a while, but no serious damage was done, just a little to the helmet. Unfortunately, my deck compass received a fatal dose of carnage and will not be returning to the sea.

After a break at rest point we basically did the same program on the way back except the tide was higher. We had one uneventful swim on the way back and one really neat treat.

The entrance to the Big Pool has a shelf (so we thought) at the entrance. When the tide is too low to get inside the pool, we often settle for the "shelf" as a place to play. The picture on this web page (taken by Jack a few years ago) shows water pouring off the edge of the "shelf": www.brown-web.net/kayak/x-files/x-files.htm

It is a fun place to play, but on that particular day my technique for leaving the "shelf" was little lacking.

Anyway, once on top this feature the water is relatively deep and there is room for several sea kayaks to maneuver. I was in the process of telling George that I thought it was about 3-to-4 feet deep when Drew said he thought it was twelve. I was doubtful, but he easily buried his paddle without touching bottom. Still I thought he must have found a single deep spot, but I pushed my paddle in at several different places as far under as I could push without flipping and never touched.

It turns out that the "shelf" is really a very deep pool. Since we float on top of it anyway, I'm not sure if there is any practical significant to this new information, but it's pretty cool.

I guess there could be some perforations in the pool wall that could effectively form a strainer so if you take a swim in there, it's probably a good idea to try and keep your legs on the surface. Look on the bright side: Even if you get stuck, when the current reverses you'll probably float to the surface.

Be sure and take a deep breath before going under:-)

Steve Brown