1/6/2012, a day to remember.

As most of you know it was the day that big swell 

came rolling in creating chaos all up and down the coast.  

I thought for sure all my friends that surf were going to be 

heading out but I was wrong and  in fact they thought I was a bit 

off for planning on taking my kayak out.  Having done 

just that I now know I was not thinking clearly and 

won't be doing that again any time soon. 

I paddled out of Marina Del Rey at about 2:00 pm at 

low tide thinking things wouldn't be so bad and that

maybe, just maybe the waves wouldn't be slamming onto the beach

as they usually are as this area is known for it's beach

break.  Anyway, as I rounded the corner I was pretty 

darn amazed at what I saw and that was BIG waves.  

Bigger, I think, than I have played in in my entire 

kayaking career but naturally, me being me, the bigger 

the better, right? Well...

I started off at the south end of the beach in the smaller

waves as I wanted to get a feel for things and get warmed

up for the good stuff but soon found that there was 

absolutely nothing to be surfed.  It was pretty much 

just surviving the crushing blows of those darn things. 

I mean I have surfed at night and gotten the crap kicked

 out of me, paddles ripped out of my hands and such but 

these things were just downright violent!  Far too often I

would get knocked over and found it a challenge to roll

back up and a couple times had to bail and swim.  Once,

I honestly didn't think I was going to find that grab loop, 

gulped and nice bunch of sea water and finally popped

back up watching my kayak race towards shore and the

jetty.  That kinda told me things were coming to an

end for this day.  But oh, I just had to paddle to the pier

just to put a good close to the day!

Just to try and describe how big some of these waves got I

was cruising along towards the pier at which I honestly thought

was a safe distance from shore.  Yeah, I was playing hide and seek

as a big swell would roll under me but I felt quite safe and really didn't

think anything this far out would have the courage to break on me until...

As usual I always keep my eye out to sea and this time I saw the

swell coming but didn't think it would break until I saw that tell tale foam

building at the lip!  Honestly, my heart started racing as I paddled like hell

trying to turn straight into that thing as it raised it's ugly head

and just about stood me vertical!  I thought for sure I was going to

meet my maker and for an instant I realized that my stern was 

nearly at the bottom of the trough and there was only about 

4 feet of my kayak breaking clear of the lip!  (My kayak is 

17 feet long!)  Once I cleared this thing I quickly paddled out a 

bit farther and headed for home!

Ok, so I learned a lesson and that is, don't be a fool!  I'm doing 

pretty well building my skills, can handle some pretty wild 

water,  have been told I am a good teacher and that is enough. 

 I gotta learn to live a little less on the edge.  I love this sport 

more than any I have gotten involved in but I'm not willing to

accelerate my death doing it.  It's extreme  enough on it's own!

  

Wriggly coming to my rescue with a miniature life ring!

2012, here I come!

Wow, a whole new year ahead of me and I can't wait to get started!  

2011 was interesting,  some say it was down right nasty and I will admit, it 

wasn't my best but I did certainly learn a lot from it and what it brought to bare.  

Now I'm going to try to apply those lessons to the year ahead and make sure 

it's a good one.

To start off I, after a bit of an absence,  I hopped back in my '82 Mercedes "Joon" and took a

nice trip up to Carpenteria to check out the local oil platforms up there.  This has

been a trip I've been trying to make with some friends but missed out on

each time so decided to put it in my book of travels on my own.  In all honestly

it was nothing spectacular, nothing wild happened.  No night surfing or 

shark attacks just a beautiful day on the water.  I was amazed at how

flat the ocean was that day.  It was like glass the entire day with absolutely no 

wind and the surf couldn't have been more that 6" but still,  I got out there

and had a great time.  I do however have to be honest and say that I'm not 

sure I would do it again as there are about 8 platforms within as many miles

of the beach and the smell of petroleum was a bit unpleasant.  Makes one 

hope clean energy would get a move-on.

Of course I had to add a shot of my kayak on the 

beach before launching.  Not sure why but I 

always do this but you can see the three oil platforms

Hondo, Heritage and Harmony in the distance.

The four platforms I didn't visit.  No idea what 

their names are but they're out there pumping

away.

Hondo, Heritage and Harmony.  Not sure which

is which.  I think Honds is in the middle but 

don't quote me on that.

Got a little too close to this one and the guy

on the loudspeaker yelled at me to steer 

away.  Ok, ok, I just wanted a nice photo.  I 

couldn't see the guy scolding me but I waved

and went on my merry way.

In the distance is Carpenteria State Beach.  That

tan spot on the mountain to the left of center was my 

landing marker.  Things get awful small when your 5 

miles out in the ocean so you need to pick out points 

of reference so you can at least get close to where you 

started when heading back in.  I did check my compass 

bearings first though and if the fog rolled in I just needed 

to put my compass at a heading of 30 degrees and I 

would have gotten close to home.