Surfski Knowledge Base

Reivers Dustin
01/17/05 #89

Several years ago Greg Barton used to show up for our Wednesday night paddles. On this particular Wed. it was blowing really hard from the South and no one was there when I showed up. I was still paddling the Victory (the one that Ryler paddles) and decided I could use a little rough water drill. Besides, I just thought, hell … it's a lake. What's the worst that can happen?

I had a lot of trouble carrying my boat, had second thoughts, and had put it back on the rack when Greg showed up. talked to him a bit and he said, just go into it, then surf back. Do a few runs 'till you're tired, then pack up. His attitude was calm and I got the sense that he didn't mind keeping one eye on me. So I went for it. He was looking at me close at first, then he blasted off toward Strawberry point. I struggled until I got pooped, turned it around and was thinking: “yeah, me and my buddy Greg. Wait till I tell the guys that weenied out.” I did two more to windward, and that last time I was hammered flat. That's when I noticed that I was wobbly and couldn't focus.

I hulied just at the end of that downwind run and there was Greg outa nowhere. I was smart about hangin onto my boat, but in a blink my paddle was ten yard away. Greg somehow got my paddle and brought it back to me. That was an amazing sight to see. I think he was on his Speedster. Anyway, it was all I could do to drag my shit back to the truck. The story was no longer cool enough to tell anyone about.

I have another story about dumping five or six times in the bay with Larry B. and Dennis Mowrey. By then I knew about holding onto paddle and boat no matter what. On this trip I got a taste of hypothermia. I remember thinking: “I can see the face of God. That means he can see me and it's time to decide now if I'm done.” So that's when I fugured out that the paddle should not do anything but keep me on top of the boat. I learned a bunch from this one.

Just after I bought the Speedster I dumped in that lumpy patch in front of the Gazebo on a Wednesday nighter. I had heard about using the paddle to swim with and tried to catch my boat. The problem with this technique is that it takes huge power. I got close, but couldn't catch the boat. I could barely sit upright after we fetched up against the shore. It was amazing how fast the boat had gotten away.

My last story is about taking Ryler on a storm paddle. We went to Marine park and he showed up w/o paddle leash. An unwanted vision entered my head, so we went up to Lake Padden instead. I have never seen anything like this before: the wind (Williwa's, I think they're called) would pick up water off of the lake and make a huge wall of mist go blasting across the lake. It took both of us to handle one boat at a time. We did several loops and I kept watching for one of those Williwa's. They seemed to come in sets at the West end. Sure enough one came about when I thought. The sound was scary as hell. I had made the turn into it at the right time. Not Ryler. He said he was blown off the boat.

We fished all the pieces together, finished that loop and packed up. This was all perfect for me. I wanted the guy to have a humbling experience and he did. I've given Ry a paddle leash and hope like hell he uses it. Like most of us paddlers, he can summon huge level of effort at crunch time. Maybe that's what is so addictive: the edge, the zone, or whatever.

Man, I sure love this sport.

rd