Surfski Knowledge Base

Solstice paddle…..
Larry Goolsby
12/22/05 #885

Reivers, Here is what you missed on our Wednesday night paddle. The weatherman was right when he predicted darkness. Boy was it dark. He was also correct with the prediction of 15 to 25 mph winds. It was blowing 12 to 15 when we took off and close to 25 when we returned (with gusts 35+). 25 ain't bad in the daylight but in the dark of night it gets interesting. Some paddlers arrived before 5:30 and some straggled in. I think that there were about 10 to 12 boats out but then you could only see about 10 feet in front of your nose. Larry B and I buddied up and headed for Strawberry point and had decided that it was much to wild to attempt a trip to the island. Along the way we ran into (literally) flocks of ducks that would scare the crap out of us as they all took flight at the same instant. I assume that they couldn't hear us until we were right on top of them. The further south we got, the bigger the wind and waves. The whole way down we only saw Joost stop by and then he disappeard into the dark again. Oh yeah, the rain. It was raining on and off but it really cut loose whe we were halfway to the Point. The Point provided shelter and quiet from the wind but we were eager to catch some of the waves back to Bloedel. Too bad neither of us had a gps on board.

More ducks and bigger waves on the return trip. It got really interesting as we neared Bloedel with the introduction of another waveset from a side direction and the knowledge of a field of pylons near the boat launch. I stayed wide enough to skirt all of this and did a U turn in some big rollers before finding the boat launch. Larry B didn't show up right away and I wondered what happened until he appeared and informed me that he had run aground further up (easy to do with the low water level). Joost was kind enough to come over and make sure everyone made it in, otherwise the parking lot was empty except for Erik's and Jeff H.'s cars. We waited about a 1/2 hour for their return. Erik came in first through the pylon fild, banging into logs and finally doing a dismount 20 feet from shore (thought he could walk in). Jeff went swimming in the pylon field but remounted and came around the outside. With everyone in, it was time for beer and food at Boundary Bay. By the way, we did get our usual table.
Larry G

Jeff Hegedus <jhegedus@…>
12/23/05 #886

Yeah totally awesome paddle…came out of it in need of a repair job though. The trip back was so fast that we misjudged our location in the dark…there we were surfin' away, and BOOM a mini canon went off right under my freakin' ass. Sh_t, the old sawmill dock, already; I had surfed right down on top of a submerged piling. Instead of IMMEDIATELY bearing off to deeper water, I thought 'What was th__..' and that was all it took to see the pilings rising up out of the dark behind Erik…a whole boat length away. It was like out of Apocalapse Now or something, the things rising out of the smoke, a hundred pilings a hundred yards wide. I cut sharp right into the troughs as Erik yelled 'I'm going through!'; I looked sharp to the left to evaluate (don't EVER 'think' in these situations…)and went over. No time to remount, went defensive; the pier was like 4 pilings deep I think, not that I was counting. Swam through the pier with the boat, remounted, bumped another submerged piling, and nudged over the rope. Larry G. had his headlights on at the dock, waiting for us; surreal, short stacked waves with the heads being blown of 'em. Yeah baby! Thanks you guys.

This was why I built a strong boat ('cause I know I do things like this sometimes), with heavier fabric and that extra layer of kevlar. The outer 9.0 oz glass and foam core were damaged, but the inner two glass and kevlar layers are undisturbed. Luckily, the hit was taken right under the foam stringer, so no deflection. Easy repair.

Safety afterthought: I had a marine strobe light on my PFD, and would recommend it for everyone when paddling in the dark. Not that, after this, I'm in any position to be making recommendations!