One Day Two States

[markstephens]

Not to take anything away from Bob's very entertaining trip report...

Took a friend down to Westport for some "rough water" paddling yesterday. She wanted to be challenged beyond her previous experience a little bit. We originally planned a crossing to Martha's Vineyard, but I felt that the predicted 3-4 foot east swell, combined with some southeast wind chop at 10-15 knots and a 2+ knot current running northeast over shallow shoals might prove a bit too lumpy. Probably a good decision. Waves coming from three directions simultaneously over long distances is a new experience for most intermediate paddlers.

So we went to Westport to look for some more tame kinds of trouble to get into. We launched from Gooseberry Island and after surfing some baby waves off the tip of the island, headed out to the Hens and Chicks. Southeast swell/wind waves were hitting the south end of the reef, splitting in two, and then wrapping around the shoals and smacking back together at the other end in a "zipper" effect. I paddled into the zipper and managed to get tossed up on the peaks of the colliding waves a few times, laughing at how silly it was. Good bracing practice, though.

We headed over to Wildcat Ledge. A mile or two offshore, this is the site of a wreck of a cement barge that is literally cemented to the reef. Not much remains of the ship's superstructure, but it is possible to paddle inside the wreck and land on it. However, with the 2-3 foot chop, the landing looked dicey and besides, the thing is covered with cormorant sh*t. We opted for Horseneck Beach for lunch instead. We had a nice downwind surf of a couple of miles into the Baker's Beach section of Horseneck, near the mouth of the Westport River. No surf at Horseneck, though, as the choppy swells were breaking up on the offshore sandbars.

After lunch, we decided to head to Rhode Island, toward Sakonnet Point. At the southern end of South Shore Beach in Little Compton there is a rocky point break that had nice clean 3-4 footers rolling in. The runout was rocky, but the waves weren't that big or juiced, so the surfing looked safe enough.

"Are you going to try to ride these in?" my friend asked.

"I am", I answered, not suggesting she should. But this was what she came out for, right? So after I had had one ride, I see her sitting almost dead still in front of a steep, breaking four-footer. Without any forward momentum, the wave basically picked her boat up and practically pitch-poled her. She was swimming almost before I could even get a clear view of her boat again. I got to her quickly, did a quick tip-out between breaking waves, and she was back in the boat in less than a minute.

Unfortunately, she had lost a fair amount of gear off her decks and out of her cockpit and off of her head (like a $100 pair of sunglasses, a hat and bandana.) As we were still in the break zone, I got her to paddle back out beyond the breaking waves and I went in for her gear, or at least what was still floating. Fun job, trying to pick up paddle floats, water bottles, bilge pumps, hats, and store them securely while sitting on a rocky point with breaking waves crashing over you every few seconds. I'd pick up a couple things, stick them on the deck and then have the next wave just rip them right off again. I leaned downwave to pick up her pump, only to promptly get knocked over by the next breaker. I remember thinking, Could I hold onto the pump and my paddle and roll up all at the same time? Apparently, yes.

Once I had cleaned up most of her yardsale and retrieved my own hat a couple of times when waves broke over my head while trying to get back out to her, I found her calm, but in a boat virtually full of water. We agreed she should exit the boat so I could empty it for her. As I lifted her bow, my own boat perpendicular to the swells, another wave drove her boat forward, rolling me downwave. But, since I still had ahold of her boat, I could roll back up a la an Eskimo Bow Rescue and complete the tip-out and then reposition for the assisted re-entry.

Once resecured in her boat with sprayskirt in place and most gear recovered, she agreed we should call it a day and head back to Gooseberry Island. However, she had lost some of her nerve and the long paddle back with three-foot beam seas gave her the jitters. She kept wanting to turn into the waves, and I would have to gently nudge her boat back on course from upwind.

Good experience for both of us. She got the rough water practice she wanted (and a bit more) and I got some good rescue and roll practice in the surf zone, which is probably the diciest place to perform assisted rescues.

[rick stoehrer]

if i had a nickel for every pair of glasses, hat, chart, shred of dignity...whatever, that was swept away in surf...that's a big bag o'nickels.

lessons...all lessons and fun, albeit sometimes expensive.