Is it me?

I decided I needed to actually spend some time in my actual boat, so I headed down to Aqua Adventures for the Saturday morning paddle. It turns out that most of those regulars were on their "men-only" paddle. So it was just Greg, his foreign-exchange and myself. I was starting to think no one wanted to paddle with me ;)

We stayed in the Bay and took an easy paddle out toward SeaWorld, then up the west side of Vacation Island, then crossed over to Mission Bay Aquatic center, than back to the shop.

It was an easy relaxed paddle on a beautiful Saturday morning.

There's going to be fireworks

Since my family was returning on Saturday, I knew I was not going to be able to join in the SDKC coastal paddle. Instead I opted to assist in Aqua Adventures Fireworks Paddle. I figure simple paddles like these are great to slowly learn various guiding skills. Jake and Mike were both glad to see that they would have a third hand. We had two groups join us; a Indian family and some folks from Alpine. I helped Jake set up the boats and hand out the gear. Since I don't know the inventory, this is the part where I always feel dumb.

Jake volunteered to act as the tour guide for the grandma of the Indian family, who came in traditional dress. We pushed off at about 8:45, not bad according to Jake. We slowly worked our way toward Seaworld. Mike took the point and Jake acted as sweep. I moved up and down the group checking on various folks.

We were 'early' enough that we paddled over to the Barefoot Bar, where quite the party was going on. From there we followed the shore of Vacation Island, then crossed over to Fiesta Island. That last crossing was painfully slow. We made it just around the bend of Fiesta Island as the fireworks started. I missed some of them as I was pulling one paddler who came close to banging into the rocks.

When the show was over, we made a straight line back to the docks. Just before turning to in the basin, there was a massive fishing boat pulling in. It must have been 100+ feet in length. Once it entered, we made our way in, and back to the docks.

I was a fun evening, luckily without too much drama. A perfect way to end my vacation.

5 Miles with Ben

Rather than go down to the Olympic Training Center and watch the flatwater trials, Ben asked if we could go kayaking instead. Go we headed down to Aqua Adventures to hop into a tandem. The wind was blowing a bit, so I knew I was going to be getting a bit of work out.

We quickly crossed the channel and hugged the shoreline to get some shelter from the wind and use of the eddy to move us along. We then headed up towards the end Sail Bay. Along the way we got a chance to watch some outrigger races. There was a event being held at the Bahia. We paddled past all the activity, then turned into the cove to take a look at the paddle-wheelers.

As we crossed back over the cove toward Mission Bay Aquatic, we saw three teens on a catamaran. They soon we flipped over, we paddled over to make sure they were ok. They said they were fine, and noted that their parents were watching from shore.

We continue northward, finally to find a boat wake to bounce over (which was something Ben really likes). Once we reach the last bit of protection from the wind before the end of the bay, we turn back southward and to the docks.

Ben was slowly getting the hang of how to paddle, his hand placement, and such. I let him do a little paddle all by himself.

We cruised back into the docks and I had him show Jake his paddling skills. He had a great time on the water

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.

Sunday Morning

I invited several friends who want to try kayaking to join me at Aqua Adventures for an easy paddle around parts of Mission Bay. For those who are familiar with Mission Bay this would be the standard Tour d'Penguins. Alas, due to unforseen events, only my good friend and former co-worker could make it.

We outfitted him in a nice stable Looksha V, and gently headed out from the docks. We kept the pace nice and slow since he has been nursing a back injury for some time. There was an abudance of water fowl and a seal or two to be spotted as we made our way toward Seaworld. We talk about the changes, or lack thereof at my old job, and how much I am loving my position at Qualcomm.



We had the tide and a little wind gently pushing to toward the penguins. We took a break and slow drifted past them. Geoff had a wedding to get to, so we turn back toward the docks. The sun was slowly trying to burn through the May Gray, as we pulled up to the docks. Geoff exited the boat without a problem. That is always the toughest part of the whole paddle for beginners. I've seen more than one person go splash!

Geoff helped carry my boat up to my car, and then headed out. I think he understood the peacefulness one can find on the water.

First Paddle in May

The Saturday morning gang meet at the Aqua Adventures docks. As I waited for the folks to show up, Bob Jones pulls up sans boat. He decided to grab a rental and try out something new. In this case a Romeny. Before too long, Neil and Jim pulled into the parking lot. We had one other paddler, Bill who was also borrowing aboat from Jen's fleet. Once Jay arrived, we quickly launched.



As we drifted into the basin, we began to discuss the the route. Several of us commented on the reports of the high surf, so we decided to head out the channel and examine the conditions.



We paddled along the south side of the channel, slowly feeling the effects of swell and the reflection of the waves. We felt that it would be wiser not to take a risk.



So we turn our boats around and cruised over to Sea World. As we took a break near the penguins, it was about 10:30, so the plan to loop Vacation Island had to be postponed as Bill wanted to get the boat back to the docks. Ah, the life of a renter. I remember it well.

For those who get Jay's after trip photo emails, here is a photo of the man himself.



As we headed back toward the docks, two crews began to race by. Several of us cranked up the speed to see how long we could keep pace.



We pulled back into the docks, relishing another fine day on the water.