I got there a bit early and got one of the few good parking spots available. Unloaded my gear and sat back for a bit watching the dug-out canoe (Oc-?) folks paddling around, and better yet was the yacht club next door had a good 40 little boats out in the water racing about. They had good conditions and were darting around. A bit before the scheduled time Dave, Dave and Duane showed up and dropped their gear off and went to find parking. It was easy to remember everyones names this night. We chatted a bit and I warned them that I was pretty new with my surfski and am not yet up to open ocean in it, they were nice enough to do a harbor paddle so I could try to keep up with them.

We cut through the small sail boat traffic and started working our way around the harbor. I was doing fine until we got out near the PCH bridge. This area is more wind swept and had a bit more chop that we quartered into. This is something I'm not very good at on the ski, so I found it very exhausting. Once we got to the end of this section I was thinking of turning back, but a quick talk with a couple of the guys and I decided to press on. Going down wind again was fine, but I was getting concerned about heading back into the wind on the way back.

Eventually we hit the other end of the harbor, Lido bridge, and I was looking forward to a quick break. We chatted a bit and then started on our way back to the Coast Guard beach. We paddled together for a while which was nice and continued our varied conversation. It came time for the talk to stop and they left me in their wakes. I was pretty tired at this point and just could not get enough power out of my stroke to stay up with them anymore. I was already pleased that I had managed to stay up with this this long, and I know they had been slowing down for me, so I was happy to see them take off and get their exercise. That is what this trip was all about. I managed to keep them in sight and also managed to keep on top of the ski for the whole trip, but that final channel crossing near the harbor entrance had developed a swell and between my poor balance on the ski, and my rather exhausted state I had to cheat and stick my feet over the sides to make that crossing.

I'd like to thank the guys for a great trip. I very much appreciate them taking it easy on the new guy. Heck, I figured I'd only get to paddle out to the harbor entrance with them. I'll get some more practice in before next Wednesday!

Wayne