[CKF Info] Day # 39, Matriculating at UHK

Sun May 4 16:53:10 PDT 2008

For those who aren't old enough to remember, there was an old man who  
greeted people as they entered Laguna Beach.  He was called "The Greeter"  and there 
is a bronze statue of him located in the downtown area.  What  folks don't 
know is that he is still alive and is just offshore in the form of a  reef.  
Mark and Steve met the Greeter this morning.  As I was  viewing all this carnage, 
I was wishing I had the Explorer instead of the carbon  EPIC.  The visual of 
chunks of carbon floating down to meet the Greeter was  more than this old man 
could handle.  Consequently,  when I went to  the Southwind sales event 
today, I went straight to the booth that sale  helmets.  

Ken

In a message dated 5/4/2008 3:21:41 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
sandmarks at ca.rr.com writes:

5/4/08

When you get to a certain age, regular school often isn't  enough for you, so
some of our group today enrolled in the University of  Hard Knocks!

It was an early start for what was to be a longish paddle  to the Laguna
environs. Ken and I left the Secret Beach early and met the  rest of the
group chomping at the bit at the coast guard beach. It was a  nice crowd with
Henry and Kathy, Dave O'Connor, Duane, BBBob McMurray and  Steve Wilson
joining in. The wind was quite a bit stiffer than what we were  led to
believe on the day and there was quite a bit of chop, so we had our  work cut
out for us. Of course, we were also led to believe we'd be  paddling at a
crossing pace, but Duane and Bob despite those skinny little  paddles had
everyone working hard to keep up. Dave and I were able to catch  up to them
just before we stopped to break at Crystal Cove to let everyone  catch up and
hydrate.

You could tell that Steve was itching to  paddle, because he didn't rest for
long. While the rest of us drank, he  headed in to shore to spend some time
in the waves. As we continued south,  we could see him floating over the
waves, his rock star hair blowing in the  wind. He was waiting a bit for us
inside of Reef Point and as Duane and I  grew closer, we were surprised to
see him paddle between the two rocks,  especially as a rather large set had
come in. We paddled around half  expecting some carnage, but he was happy and
intact on the other side. I  had almost mentioned to Duane that I find the
outside area around RP more  dangerous than the inside, but then things had
settled down a bit so we  seemed fine. Until...With Duane on my left, a wave
decided to appear out of  nowhere right on my beam. I don't know how high it
was, but I know it was  16' 10" long, as it was the perfect size to try to
take out my boat. I had  no time to avoid it and planted a high brace as it
broke into me. Perhaps a  bit too high. I found myself upside down, a
condition I like to call a  "Libby" in honor of one of our newer CKF members.
Now I figured we were  probably safe from most of the rocks in the area, but
it's hard to tell at  Reef Point, but I took my time and rolled up-my first
combat roll in my  long boat. I basked in the cheers as we paddled on for
Abalone  Point.

Once again Steve seemed to be ahead of us, lingering right at  the edge of
the reef at AP. Now this is an area I am always leery of as  even in mild
conditions it can be down right contrary. Duane had just  mentioned that
Steve was in a bad spot when a wave formed right on Steve's  beam and despite
a good brace sent him careening into the reef! He seemed  to have been
protected from his trip over the rocks by the amount of water  in the wave,
but now he was upside down in the churn and his roll failed  him. He was now
in the water with waves still rolling along each side of  the reef. I headed
in to the south side of reef to see if I could help, but  with my hard to
maneuver boat, I couldn't get close enough to help without  becoming victim
#2. Duane headed around from the north end and got to Steve  toot sweet and
held on to his boat while he did a quick reentry. But  Steve's boat was still
full of water and you could tell he wouldn't get far  as unstable as he was.
Dave headed in with his tow belt and hooked up to  Duane to pull them to
safety, while Steve started pumping frantically,  their two boats rafted
together. They were quickly out of harms way, but  decided to land at a
nearby cove to empty out the remaining  water.

Although close to our intended destination, we all seemed to  agree that the
adrenalin used up in the incident called for us to start  home early. Steve
seemed well recovered from his play time, but kept asea  of any reefs on the
paddle back. I took the inside passage home, soon to be  joined by Bob and
Duane, with an eye peeled for any more sneaker waves to  catch us so close to
shore. Time flew on the trip back and Steve voiced  mock relief to be back in
the harbor. When everyone comes back alive,  you've got to admit that's a
good paddle, especially if you decide to take  to heart the lessons only hard
knock can sometimes provide. It was not a  paddle I'll soon forget!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Post  Mortem-
I figure I better point out some of our mistakes made on this  paddle before
those who weren't there point out the glaring facts. I hope a  few others on
the paddle will add some choice words. Paddling in a group  today, I was
lulled into not wearing my helmet in areas I would normally  have it on.
Although conditions weren't really tough today, that tends to  be the time
you start to push the envelope a bit and then find yourself in  trouble. Does
the term "risk homeostasis" mean anything to you? Steve would  be the first
to admit now he should have had a helmet on, but today wasn't  supposed to be
a rock garden day. Perhaps he was trying to make up for  missing Jack's
paddle a while back. Although there didn't seem any obvious  rocks in the
area of the wave that got me, I figure there must have been  something under
the water to make it form right on my beam. Alone, I've  conditioned myself
to don my helmet at the mere hint of a rock or wave and  I shouldn't have let
the safety of a group deter me from my usual prudence.  Steve took some
chances paddling and hanging out where he did, but what  better time to take
such chances then with a group around to come to your  rescue. But you have
to realize the chance you are taking and a helmet  should have been the order
for the day for Steve. Once out of his boat,  Steve maintained his composure
which facilitated an easy rescue. And he  never lost his rock star good
looks, even with the hair a bit plastered  down after his swim. Familiarity
with rescues certainly helped and who  better to come to your aid than Duane.
With no injuries other than pride,  everyone felt today was a great paddle
with excitement to share for years  to come. Sometimes the dividing line
becomes a bit thin.

Mark  Sanders
www.sandmarks

#

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