At 8:00 PM, last night, I called Patrick Martin to see if he was up to go paddling and we decided to paddle from Mother's Beach at Ventura Harbor to Emma Woods State Park and back. That way we wouldn't have much driving on a holiday.

We met at about 8:15 and and by 8:45 we were under way. It would have been a little earlier, but I got caught up in a conversation with Patrick until he reminded me that we could be paddling.

We headed out and found that the winds were calmer than predicted and the sea was relatively flat, with only about a 1 foot wind wave and almost no swell. We decided to paddle towards the Ventura pier first and check that out first. The wind had picked up a little and so had the swell. In my opinion, Patrick's boat was earning its nickname of the "Pinwheel". What I didn't realize was that Patrick was actually aiming for the County Fairgrounds which was to the left of the Pier, while I was aiming for the Pier.

Once we got that straightened out, we kept on paddling at a leisurely pace of about 3 - 3.5 knots while we talked. We paddled non-stop to the pier and kept going. Finally we arrived at Emma Woods State Park and we looked at the shore and saw only rocks at any of the possible landing sites.

Since neither one of us was in that much of a need to scratch up our boats any more, we decided not to land. We hung out for a few minutes and then started paddling back. At one point we saw someone coming towards us but we couldn't tell if it was a paddle boarder or a kayaker. Eventually we noticed it was a guy on a paddle board.

To show how much of an old fart we both are, it wasn't until we we right on top of him, that we noticed that "he" was actually a young woman in her twenties, in a string bikini, with a body that rivals any that you see in Hollywood on the screen. Of course both Patrick and I were wearing Hydroskin and Neoprene. My Mukluks on my feet had more material than she was wearing on her entire body.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the three of us paddled off in two directions. Patrick and I made it back behind the breakwater in time to see what appeared to be a jet ski in trouble while two others just waited nearby. Then there was a Harbor Patrol boat with the red light going almost on top of them. I paddled over to see if they needed help with the swimmer or jet ski in the water. As I got closer, I heard the HP officer giving them the "LECTURE". Evidently, they were behaving like kids and were not operating their craft in a safe manner. I turned and kept going.

We were back on the beach by 11:30 and on the road by a little after noon.

It was fun to paddle a little further and faster than we have for the last several weeks.

See ya on the water,

Steve Holtzman