Surfer Motto Also
When you see a really huge wave coming you are better off to charge it than to cover up. You might even get a pleasnat surprise and find yourself still in your boat after all…
USK
I have his Recovery & Rescue, Surf, and Beyond the Cockpit videos (hey, it’s hard to find instruction in southern West Virginia!) and they have been very helpful. I like his non-dogmatic approach (“This is what I have found to work, this is what I have seen fail, but try your own variations and see what works best for your application…”). Since Pyker moved away I am sort of the Lone Sea-Yacker in this area, so I often paddle solo. These vids have made me more confident while on the water. I agree with him regarding emergency/safety gear and now I don’t feel odd about being the only person packing a bail-out kit, repair kit, spare paddle etc. One of these days I will be a hero to my rec-boat minded friends!
Jim
You still there SC Mid?
Not sure if you’re even still following this avalanche of a string. I’ve paddled my SOT between Capitola and Santa Cruz, as well as from Cap. east along the Bay. I’d rate the paddle downhill and back towards the Cement Ship and points beyond as more protected in most conditions. You’re just farther into the bay. I’ve not paddled with you (I kind of like paddling alone – not dead yet!), but you sound cautious and skilled.
I may have missed it, but I do use a leash to tie my boat and paddle together. In a blow, it’s easy to get separated from your boat.
If the surf’s not up, the paddle from Capitola to the harbor is a delightful solo trip. If the surf’s big, I’m more comfortable going way outside. Once last June (?) conditions put me more than a mile offshore in some very confused chop. I’d anticipated the big surf, but not the atypical chop. The summer weather pattern was at fault: we’d had a good land breeze the night before, bumping into our typical northwesterly swell. Pretty wet and lumpy.
Were I you, I’d take it in bites you’re comfortable with. You might try the run down toward Pleasure Point, working your way down the avenues. There are several beaches that are pretty good landing spots. Or you could launch at Cap and head toward the Aptos Beaches. Tucking right against the cliffs on the left at New Brighton, you can usually land even when the waves get up a bit, just like the west side of Capitola.
Take up surf kayaking
Spent my morning getting worked in some left over storm surge. Really had lots of chance to practice my roll as well as some great rides.
If you don’t want to paddle alone,
myself and another paddler are heading out of the harbor tomorrow-in SOT’s I think.
Also,we are having a pnet birthday paddle for 'Cuda on Sunday.
Email me for info if you want to join us, and I’ll send details. And please consider paddling to the cement ship with me once in awhile:)
Pam
Hey, Happy B-Day Cuda!
keep thinking… “We are getting better, we’re getting better…” Yup. Where are the beers? 
sing
Paddling Alone
Marry someone who likes to paddle.
Thanks, Sing!
If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.
This birthday has another special meaning. I get vested in the 401 plan on my 50th birthday!
Today is actually sunny and warm in Stockton. Maybe we will have some nice weather for a Sunday trip!
PAX, Just Watch Out For Pleasure Point
– Last Updated: Feb-04-04 6:47 PM EST –
You really need to swing wide around Pleasure Point. Some others here got caught out there in rough chop.
I have been too, but I was in the Frenzy surfing Privates and just decided to rest outside, and it rides like a cork.
I made a couple of those trips you mentioned in the Frenzy by myself a few years ago. Other than the swing around the point, they are pretty easy, just real long in a 9' boat.
You guys confuse the heck out of me with the directions around there. I keep thinking that straight out to sea is west, but is it not.
Maybe you can drop by the harbor for a short trip on Sunday? Leaving at 10:00
Thanks!
One of these days! This week I’m juggling bobcats at work. My job involves managing large-scale educational undertakings – assessment and program evaluation – and we’re pushing on several fronts. Safe to say neither University of California nor Ca. Dept. of Ed. would be eager to see me kayaking. Saturday, I’m leading the “early bird” walk at Elkhorn Slough. It’s a land-based (aka walking) tour that begins before the reserve opens on the first Saturday of every month. Tends to draw a more bird-oriented crowd.
Birds, boats and bikes: the triumvirate that only my family comes before!
We’ll catch each other some time soon, though. BTW, Mondays are usually good for me, too.
Sounds Fun!
At least in 60+ water temps. Not looking forward to getting worked in below 50 water temps.
I paddle alone, a lot,
off the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, all year long, and have frequent philosophical arguments with myself about it. I agree with the careful advice others have given you, particularly about having a portable, waterproof VHF radio whenever you go alone. I would also suggest visual signals such as flares, a laser flare, and/or a mirror, and at least one spare paddle. When I go in the winter, I make it a rule to go no farther from shore than I can swim–which in my case is about a mile in my kayaking gear–so another thing you may want to do is practice your swimming. I also carry swim fins. And of course I always dress so I can swim as far as I would need to, even when it means wearing three hoods and two thick layers of fleece inside my drysuit.
Anything can happen on the ocean. Even on a calm day, a powerboat can upset you. A paddle can break. Some body part can give out. It’s hard to cover all these eventualities. The single most probable thing that can go wrong is the weather turning sour. In the east we have the benefit of weather systems’ having been tracked across the country before they get to us. I think west coast weather is perhaps less predictable, and therefore warrants even more care. (Being a sailor probably makes you far more knowledgeable than me on this subject!)
I also agree with those who say that paddling with others does not automatically make you safer–three people are three times as likely to have a problem, and having partners is only helpful if they know what to do to help you. Having a partner also places an obligation on you to help, and therefore to have some rescue skills. Sometimes groups offer an illusion of safety–paddling alone might make you more cautious about when and where you go.
Personally, I would not feel safe on the ocean alone, even for a short trip on flat water, without a very solid roll. I did not venture on the ocean until I did–but because of our glacially sculpted landscape we have many more water options in New England than you do in CA. To me, the ability to recover in 3 seconds and be on your way is simply too valuable to ignore. But I know others feel differently and that especially on the west coast, paddle-float reentry is taught as a primary rescue technique.
If you lived around here I’d have you rolling this weekend! And as soon as you had your first roll I’d want you to get a second one. When the water gets rough, it’s bombproof rolling ability that keeps me feeling safe–no piece of equipment gives me peace of mind that rolling does.
Sanjay
Well, I certainly appreciate
your confidence that you could have me rolling so quickly!
BTW, my husband is the sailor:)
Our little “Walden Qajaq Society”
– Last Updated: Feb-05-04 10:26 AM EST –
bunch of rollomaniacs has a good record of getting people rolling in an hour or two. We use Greenland paddles and start with sculling, then work from the end of the roll back to its beginning. The buoyancy, easy orientation, and sculling ability of the Greenland paddle make it easier to learn with than the "Euro" paddle.
Last summer I taught two deaf paddlers to roll in 15 minutes each--one was an athletic guy, a competitive swimmer, and the other a shy, slim woman paddling for the first time. She learned faster than he did.
I've seen our most enthusiastic instructor, Will, line 'em up and get one person after another his/her first roll, like clockwork. He did this for about 12 hours straight at the last DelMarVa Greenland paddling meeting.
So that's why I'm confident. It's a weird, 3 dimensional, counter-intuitive skill, but it doesn't have to be that hard to learn. To me, one on one instruction is probably more effective than classes or trying to figure it out oneself.
Here are some more things I do to try to make solo paddling safer: I wear earplugs to prevent cold water induced vertigo, carry a PLB, get to know the local fishermen, ferry drivers, CG people so they keep an eye out for me, file a float plan on my car, and use mental checklists to make sure I don't forget things or make mistakes. I use a GPS and a compass, always carry charts, and practice navigation skills every time I go out. I carry enough food and water, and dry clothes. Also, I have tow lines rigged, both so I can tow others and so they can tow me if needed. I roll every time I go out, with goal of having recovery be so automatic that I don't even think about it.
Probably sounds like overkill... but that's pretty much my complete list for the coldest of outings.
Sanjay
Directions
Since I grew up around MoBay, I’m used to the directions. As kids, we used to tell other kids looking at the Monterey Peninsula that they were seeing Hawaii! The low spot formed by the Salinas Valley just south of Moss Landing doesn’t show up as land (check it out this weekend).
Yeah, 'Cuda, I know about going waaaay outside at the Point. Been there, done that! One day, it was bigger than I’d have imagined, and outside it was pretty choppy, so I just slogged at a snail’s pace through the kelp beds. Slow going, but they gentle things out and I was fine. The rest of that trip is like buttah, no?!
As far as directions, just think of West Cliff/East Cliff Drives. Then there’re always the sunsets – you know that’s west!
'Nother story: When I was in my early 20s, brother and I would sail late afternoons, downwind from Santa Cruz Harbor to around Capitola/New Brighton, waiting for the wind to die. After a beer or so (:-)), the land breeze would fill in and we’d sail downwind back to the harbor by dark. Wind at our backs all the way, sailing wing-and-wing with a coupla coldies. Life was good.
Drop By If You Can
So many great stories about that place. It is one of the nicest places I have ever been. Some of my best trips ever were just hanging outside the break in the Frenzy.
I will be at the Venetian until Thursday at noon. The big unit on over beach. Drop on by during the week if you get a chance.
kwikle’s 2 of 3 rule is GREAT
Probably one of the simplest most logical I’ve seen.
I paddle alone frequently as well,when I travel I don’t always know someone and can’t always find a place to rent a drysuit when I rent a boat. Rather than miss a one-time opportunity I go for it. If we always wanted to be safe we’d stay home and eat twinkies in front of the TV… No wait that’ll kill you too :o)>
It’s all about acceptable levels of risk, but you gotta go for it when your able.
Randy
Fines for dummies
Havent we all done something that, when we look back on it, maybe wasnt too bright. I mean, I have never called for a rescue or had a search party looking for me but I have done some pretty stupid stuff in the past and have been unfortunate enough to get out ok. I am not so sure fining dummies is a good idea. Dummies do even more dumb stuff when they should be placing a call instead of worrying about if they will be charged. I think the following link to a story might make people reconsider fining dummies. I mean, we are all dummies once in a while.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/152816_clangston17.html?searchpagefrom=2&searchdiff=23
http://www.pmru.org/common/opsstatement.html
http://www.northshorerescue.com/chargingforrescues.html
Wayne is a great resource.
Living in Southern CA, has given me the opportunity to be able to call Wayne a friend as well as an instructor that I have taken classes from.
He has paddled with us both socially and professionally and also had several of my friends and me “star” in his Surf Zone video.
If you can take a class from him, he will have you rolling in just a few minutes. His rescue and rentry class is also excellent.
You might also want to consider using a Back-Up device. It will enable you to roll upright without a wet exit if you miss your roll. It’s not a substitute for a roll, but it can certainly add to your safety level if you are solo.
The guys that I paddle with are all pretty much safety conscious. We have a rescue practice about once a month. No matter how many times we have done them, the practice helps keep our skills up for when we might need them.
My 2 centavos,
Steve
Scott, Honestly…
I go back on forth on the issue. Some situations, I more “forgiving” in my attitude. In others, I’m like – jeeze…
sing