Sunday Morning Fog

Early Sunday morning, 7 paddlers met on the shores of La Jolla Cove for a 7am launch. Jane H, Carol G. , Mike B. , Robert J., Jon B, Inez, and myself set out under foggy skies up towards Torrey Pines State Beach. The ocean was very calm. In fact during my launch the biggest wave only hit my belly button. Once we were all safely at sea, we turned northward, and paddled at a leisurely pace. This turned out to be good for me, since about 2 miles into the paddle my left hip began to ache. I have an old cycling injury, and I think it was just out of whack that day. Various folks practiced some rolls or reentries along the way. I opted not to since I was concerned about the ache. The only complaint was that the day was quite humid. I felt like I was back in Atlanta. I was glad I did not wear a wetsuit!

When we reach the end of the bluffs, we decided to head back to the 'Shores, since the wind was picking up slightly. For the most part the ocean was fairly calm, a few light swells. I never got comfortable in my boat on this trip, so I tended to be a bit edgy. I tried strectching my leg, shifting my weight to the other cheek, but nothing really helped. I almost thought about hopping out and working it out in the water, but we were close enough to home, as I decided not to.

As we approached the boat ramp, the sun started to peek through. We quequed up to land, and after some of the tour groups were out of the way, we began landing. I went in with out too much trouble until I tried to steer a bit on the wave and over I went. I paused for a moment underwater. Set up and BAM! Rolled right up! And this was not even with an extended paddle! Someone who was nearby, saw the roll and commented on how nice it looked. Even though I screwed the landing, nailing the roll in the surf was freakin' awesome. I really made me forget a lot about the hip ache. I opted to skip the coffee, since I was hoping to get a haircut (which did not end up happening)

All in all, a nice paddle with some fine folks!