Surfski Knowledge Base

Larry Goolsby

12/11/04 #24

Dudes……Before someone gets online and mucks up the truth, I thought that I had better tell you about Saturday's paddle, just in case you missed out. First of all (and I swear this is the truth), Dean fell in. I know you may not believe this but the guy even admitted it. We had met at 9 AM and immediately split up with half of us going north against the wind and the other half going south with the wind. I don't know what their logic was because I hate paddling against the wind when I am cold and tired. Our logic was to paddle against the wind and ride the waves back home (sounds simple, huh?). The water was choppy and whitecaps were starting to appear. However, the wind kept switching on us and created an erratic wave action on the bay. Shaun and I were in the double (second time in a month) and we did not look pretty. Did I mention that Dean fell in? Anyway, we did not fall in, we just didn't look as good as we wanted. I can now safely blame our appearance on the choppy water. Did I mention that it was cold? After we dismounted, I could have cut glass with my nipples. Simon wasn't there and the last we heard from him was a request for a few hardy (and dim) souls to join him in a Friday afternoon paddle down Lake Whatcom in 35+ winds.

Back to Saturday. We were privileged to have Jeff “Cousteau” Hegedus with our group. Jeff was working on his new documentary “The mating habits of the elusive Dogfish”. Just about every 3 minutes, Jeff would roll his submersible surfski into a position so that he could view the fascinating undersea world. Did I mention that Dean fell in too? Afterwards, Shaun, Jeff, Larry B., and I went up to Shaun's to drink coffee and discuss septic systems. If I had a knife with me, I would have disemboweled myself just to change the subject.

See you next Saturday at 9 AM? Just in case you get this letter, Shaun and I are planning on taking our singles out somewhere on Sunday afternoon (early afternoon, gotta let my wetsuit finish drying). I'll watch my emails in case you wanna tag along.
Larry G.

Dean Bumstead
12/12/04 #25

Allow me to clarify the “Dean fell in” scenario. Actually, Jeff Hegedus, our esteemed resident oceanographer, asked me if I would contribute to his research project, as he was having a difficult time getting around Post Point. Apparently, the underwater life just flourishes there. He suspected some rather interesting and unusual mating rituals taking place amongst a school of renegade Dogfish near Chuckanut Island. Naturally, I waited till we were at our furthest point south on our paddle, and then tipped the boat to the port side allowing me easy entry into a fascinating water world, while a dumbfounded Kirk and Larry B. looked on. On the positive side, I experienced things that rarely occur, and was able to get back into my boat with boat leash attached for the first time. In addition, I was treated to an exhilarating paddle into a refreshing NW wind on the way back.

Dean

Jeff Hegedus <jhegedus@…>
12/12/04 #26

Dean thank you for your collaboration on yesterdays research efforts on subsurface observsations; I definitely appreciate not being the only sampler. Also, much thanks to Reivers and Rick for their exhaustive participation in my field testing of the new PFD leash; their quality assurance/quality control measures were invaluable. New data was obtained regarding both remounting fatigue limits AND Dogfish mating positions…what a day!

Jacques