Paddling with the Brits (and a Yank or two)

We recently held a company wide symposium for the various User Experience teams at Qualcomm. Several folks from the Cambridge office joined us and stay for a few days working on various projects. I was asked to host a kayak outing.



With Jake's masterful help, we got everyone fitted into various boats. Jon and his boys brought their own SOT tandem.



This was my first large scale guiding experience, so was trying to be attentive to each paddler. We got Chad into the water and ready to head out into Mission Bay.



We carefully worked our way toward Seaworld. Leaving Quivra Basin, we had to sit and wait as a several ships came and went. There was a bit of wind, so I knew we were going to have to work a bit. We worked our way to the first bridge.



We got as far as the second bridge, and Jon need to turn back since he was paddling a tank with his two boys as ballast :)

As we approached the entrance to Quivra Basin, Jon, Chad and Martin decided to head back to the dock with Jon. I took Paul and Rob out into the channel a bit to enjoy a little texture.

We paddle about a third of the channel. I was able to grab a little ride on a swell on the way back. We landed back at the dock, then many of us headed down to Hodad's in OB from lunch after a nice day on the water.

BCU 3 Star Assessment

I just missed it. Unfortunately my roll went AWOL under the pressure. Everything else felt really good. I had a nice chat with Jake a few days later, and that really lifted my spirits. What is more annoying was besides have to replace my bilge pump that got knocked off during my surf landing (which was not pretty, I got caught in a double wave and with my long boat, not so good), the bite valve for Extrasport Waterpack fell off. It probably was torn off during a reentry. Unfortunately, the do not sell just that part and I have been unable to find any sort of replacement.

Coastal Navigation Class

As part of the Southwest Kayak Symposium, I took a full day couseon Coastal Navigation taught by Sean Morley. There were eight of us in the class. The class is a requirement for a BCU 4 Star award.



The course was fantastic as we worked our way through learning about reading charts, weather, the rule of thirds and so much more.



We spent lots of time pouring over various charts and tide and current charts.



My final exam was planning a trip around Martha's Vineyard. We had lots if interesting decision points to address; Go-No Go points, escape plans, among other things. It was a great course and can't wait to apply the lessons learned to the water!