BCU 3 STAR!!!

As many of you know I have been working on my British Canoe Union (BCU) assessments. They recently revamped their assessments, requiring us to retake each assessment. Four of us meet down at Aqua Adventures on Sunday. The day began with us assessing the paddling conditions and risks we might face. The float plan was to launch from next to the shop, then work our way down Sunset Cliffs.

After carrying the boats down the rocks, we slipped into the San Diego River. We quickly found ourselves at Dog Beach. We took a moment to pop into an eddy, and survey the surf before heading out. The surf was not like the last time I had my assessment (5 footers0, so paddling over to Ocean Beach Pier was not a problem. We spent a few minutes navigating under the pilings (weaving backwards through them, surfing down the middle), before continuing down the cliffs.

The conditions were such that we could get in nice a close, in fact one test Jen had us do was touch the cliffs while we were tucked inside a cove.

We landed down at No Surf beach (without surfing) for lunch. After lunch, which we sent Jake an SMS know how nice of a day we were having. After lunch we worked on the wet stuff. We did our various tows. Jen had us do some rapid tower-towee switching, as well as fast tow rope storage during the assessment. We then turned to rolls and rescues. The roll is what I failed on during my last assessment. I figured I should get that out of the way as quick as possible. I set up, and BAM up I came. In fact I almost went 360. At that point I knew the rest of the assessment should be no problem. We did the various rescues with no problem.

The Santa Ana winds were picking up slightly, so we wrapped up the deep water portion, and headed back to the shop. The paddle back was nice and comfortable (except for my thermos rolling back and forth as the swells rolled past.

We stopped off at Dog Beach again and played in the surf and demoing bracing. There was not a lot of surf. In fact I never caught a wave at all.

We then headed back toward the buoy and came back in via the channel since we were now at low tide and did not want to carry the boats up the rocks. They are working on the jetty, so we had to head a little further out and wider to get back in. Once we returned docks, we were informed that all four of us passed!!!!

Next up for me is attending the Golden Gate Kayak Symposium, past that I am not sure. 4 Star? Level 1 Coach?

Sunday at the Shores

Finally had a chance to get on the water, so I headed down to the Shores. There was an almost 7 foot high tide, so there wasn't a lot of beach to launch from. The surf was quite small, but i still grabbed my helmet since I was planning on being near the caves and paddling solo.

I launched between the few waves, in fact I didn't even get my skirt fastened. I cruised down toward the caves. I was actually feeling a little wave reflection from the various sea walls, and cliffs since the tide was so high. I paddled along the caves, then turned past the point and headed toward the Children's Pool. I was no hurry, so I enjoyed the view from the water. I then head back to the cove, to play along the caves a bit more.

I needed to head back home since I had some family duties, and landed quickly on the sand. When I pulled up in my car to load up my boat, Jake from Aqua-Adventures was getting ready to take a student out to learn about surf launches and landings. We chatted a bit about gear and what it takes to be prepared on the water. In contrast, one of the local tour companies was getting ready to launch. Their guide was in board shorts, a bikini top, a basic PFD and a tow line. Meanwhile, we had repair kits, spare equipment, rescue devices, and more. I will admit she was nice to look at than Jake ;), but would rather be on the water with him.



As an aside, during the Monday Night Football game, they ran some local footage bumpers when coming back from commercials. One of the clips, was of two kayakers at La Jolla Shores looking out from the Sunny Jim Cave. Yup, it was Jake and his student. I knew I should have gone back out with them!

Dana Point to Three Arch Bay

Decided to drive up the coast to Dana Point Sunday morning to go paddling with several OCers, along with Dennis H. Five of us launched from Mother's Beach and headed up the coast. Both Dennis and I had some time constraints, so we did not paddle as far as originally planned.

The waters were very calm, and the skies overcast. We all worried about being fogged in, as we had all encountered some while driving to the launch point. This was my first time traveling up the OC coast, so Kathy acted as my guide to the sights along the shore (and a few in the water).

We reached Three Arch Bay, and Kathy and I turn back. Henry, Dennis and Nichol continued northward for a bit. Kathy and I chatted along as we made our way back down the coast. As we approached the Dana Point harbor jetty, the other three caught up with us.

We opted to take the inner route past the boats, rather than along the jetty and it's lovely smell. All told I think we covered about 11 miles in about 3 hours. Dennis made back for kick off of the Charger game, and I made back to have an early dinner for Yom Kippur started.

Down Sunset Cliffs

Four of us turned out for the Saturday morning paddle. Jim opted to paddle with Paulette, so we left him at the docks. We cruised out the channel to pretty calm waters. We turned south toward the O.B. pier. Once there we opted to keep heading south. Once we reach the end of Sunset Cliffs, we turn back around.

Just off the pier I found a hat floating in the water. Our trivia question for the day was what is the distance from the north end of the jetty to the buoy. If I measured correctly in Google Earth, it appears to be .22 miles. I guessed 1/6 of a mile.

I had grabbed a Greenland Paddle from the dock shed, and did try it out a few times. Interesting, but a bit tough on the elbow and shoulder. I did get a few questions about it as I paddled back into the docks. A great day on the water. I estimate we paddled just under 9 miles.

From the OB Pier to the Coaster

A nice group of us left the docks at Aqua Adventures and headed out the channel. The seas were fairly calm and the waters warm. We looped down toward the Ocean Beach Pier and swung back toward Mission Beach. We were almost to the Belmont Rollercoaster, when we heard the call to the lifeguards about a diver in trouble on one of the wrecks.

We kept an eye out as we knew the lifeguard boats would be racing to the scene. We slipped back into the channel, wondering about the diver. We saw the boats returning with the diver on board. He had run out of air. I never found a mention of the incident in the new, so I can only assume he recovered.

Paddling close to the north side of the jetty, I grabbed what I thought was a empty can floating in the water. Instead, it was an unopened can of Coors Light. It was later poured down the drain.

We looped through Mariner's Cove. A few folks did a roll or two in the water. It was nice comfortable paddle, capping three times on the water in the same week.

The twins go kayaking

We finally found a time to have some kid focused kayak lessons down at Aqua Adventures.



We had two classes. The first class was a bit short due to a mix up. Spent a good hour working on the basics, paddling forward, stopping and turn. They both had a great time.



Our second class was taught by John, and Otto tagged along for fun. This time we headed out toward Mariner's Cove to allow the twins to experience falling out and getting back in. Along the way we played under the pilings of the hotel. I had to tow Shira across the channel, as she got cold. Since they were not wearing spray skirts and she had a standard bikini bottom, her legs were fairly exposed. Once we got to the beach, she ran around a bit a warmed back up. Ben mean while went ahead with John and Otto. He practiced falling out. What was more amazing, was the he was able to scramble up the back deck and pop right back in. I can't do that.

With Shira warmed up, she took a few turn falling out and playing. After a while we decided to head back to the docks. I laid my spray skirt over her legs and she paddled back with no problem.

They are both looking forward to the next time they can go out kayaking.

BCU 3 Star Training

Jen Kleck conducted a BCU 3 Star training yesterday. A total of 9 paddlers (Jane, Miki, Bob Jones, Jay, Brian, Joe, Tom, the other Bob) turned up for the class. The weather was prefect, we had a light breeze under sunny skies. We headed to the lifeguard station, and worked on our reverse paddling slaloming through the moored boats. With my Chilco, I have put the boat on a nice edge and work my way through. Apart from avoiding my classmates, I was able to move the boat through the course.

We then turned our attention to draw strokes. But soon Mike showed up with his Learn To Kayak class, so we crossed over to Islandia basin. There, we continued playing with various draws and rudder strokes. I played under the pilings of the restaurant. Not only did it give a challenge, it offered a little shade.

Then we worked on towing. Having some towing experience, I teamed up with Brian, who was new to kayaking. We worked our way out of the basin and headed up the channel. After a bit of towing up the channel, we then practiced becoming comfortable next to the jetty. We had a bit of current coming into the channel coupled with a bit of wind, so we had some minor conditions to deal with.

Jen then had us spin around and paddle backwards along the jetty. I brought up the rear, as I waited for the kayak traffic ahead to clear out.

As we cleared the end of the jetty, we headed toward Dog Beach. I unfortunately was feeling the effects of just having oatmeal for breakfast. Note to self, eat a better breakfast.

Bob went in first, and signaled that we could land. We took turns working our way in. I timed it perfect. I had a text book surf landing. I was able to back paddle over the waves and slipped right in. At the end I caught a nice little wave and surfed right in. Miki was the last one in, with Jen coaching her through her first surf landing. She did great! Everyone made in with their boat.

We grab a lunch, then back into the surf to play in the soup. This felt so good, the conditions were perfect. I did take a small break to rest the elbow, but it was so comfortable out there in it. We had a bit of confusion on heading to our next skill set. I was playing in the bigger surf, trying to retrieve my water bottle. I had Joe's for a while, but a good wave knocked it loose. Looked up to see most of the class outside the break, signaling for us to come out.

We headed to the north side of the jetty for rescue practice. I teamed up with Bob Jones. Our first skill was T-rescues, with a roll attempt first. Bob nailed his, as did I (extended paddle). After each person had done a rescue, Jen tossed in a race against the clock. I was able to get Bob back in his boat in a minute. WooT!

After that, we worked on Bow Rescues, or as the BCU refers to them as Eskimo Rescues. I was able to get Bob back up, unfortunately Bob just missed finding my hands and I had to swim. I developed a nice charlie horse in my left calf, so that made things more fun getting me back in.

We then practiced a bit more towing, including some contact tows, then headed back to the docks. We hugged the rocks and used the eddies to help push us along.

It was a great day on the water, I only wish it had been my assessment rather than just some training....