rick stoehrer Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 So....saturday the winds were whipping the waves up the rocks and the spray was blowing across bearskin neck. The seas looked to be about 4 feer or so and boy....did I want to get on the water....but we had plans. Alas....Yesterday was gorgeous! Winds died a bit but the swells generated at sea from a storm system were still coming in and booming off of halibut point....The sad part was that I had to look at all that from shore...shore! My paddling buddies were all off either to various points or socked away, snug in their homes! Pobre sito!I thought about going myself on sunday...come on, beautiful, sunny day, not windy and I could just surf offa long beach, right? But.....I figured that once I put that hull inna water the horizon would call, as she ever does, and then there'd always be that fluffy white surf line offa thatchers or straitsmouth or salt or....or...or....like a dog with his nose down, I woulda just kept going til I ran into something. Alone. When it's just about winter.And the problem is that once you do that, you're margins pretty much disappear and while in my heart I know that my only weakness is kryptonite my head tells me that the ocean is a lot more powerful than I am. Probably.So I went for a walk with janis. Then we went home, watched tv and ate pot roast.....but boy....did I reeeeeaaaallllyyy want to paddle.So go to adams cold water day next week, learn everything you can about what'd kill ya without even trying, make lotsa contacts with paddlin' buddies and then in a competent group get out there! The ocean in winter is amazing! Cold, clear air that raps at your nose, NO ONE around and everywhere you go...you have a sense of having earned passage and the space around you, you share with the day. It can be a very spiritual experience. Cause pot roast is great but sometimes it just don't fill up your belly like salt water. Or your soul. Go next weekend! Learn, soak it up, enjoy the company of the rest of our tribe. Remember too though THAT NO GEAR MAKES UP FOR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE! Remember safety margins and group safety! Know what you are getting into and who you are going with! Risks ratchet way up in winter!It's very generous of those guys to share their experiences next weekend when they could be off on the water and doing what this is all about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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