I’m starting a new full time job, and I was a little concerned that I would not find time to go kayaking as much as I would like. I decided to try a little experiment and get up early for a morning constitutional on the ocean. The forecasts were for mild waves and this is what I saw on the WEB at 6:00 AM. I also looked at the wind, which was mild, but forgot to look at the wave period. When I got to Gleasons beach the tide was low, the beach was steep, and the waves seemed to have a lot of energy around the rocks and the shallows. Looking later I saw that the waves had gone back up a little, to 8 feet, and they were coming fast, every 8 seconds.
That is the average wave height, larger sets came in occasionally and closed off Gleasons Beach. I waited for a small set and launched with no trouble. I sprinted out to sea to avoid the next large set and went north around the first set of rocks where the white water convinced me not to get to close to shore. After this rough spot I started working my way closer to shore. But the really calm section of the rock garden had harbor seals hauled out on them and I still had to stay pretty far out to avoid bothering them. I didn’t get right up against the cliff until I got to Duncans Landing.
Around the outside of Duncans Point there is a channel behind an offshore rock. The water in this channel was very rough today! Waves were breaking into the opening, and then the water never calmed down before the next large swell came in. The waves bounced back and forth in the channel and kept the water churned up and very choppy. I picked a good time and dashed through, slapping the water and bracing just in this left over chop. Then past Duncans Point is a big rock called The Hogback with a narrow channel of water going through it. This channel did not look as rough as the one on the point but I was feeling a little bit rushed. Gleasons Beach, or at least the place where Highway One comes close to the water near Gleasons Beach, does not have a toilet and I kind of needed one. By the time I got to The Hogback I was getting desperate and I didn’t feel like waiting around long enough to find out if The Crack in the Hogback was navigable or not.
Instead I turned back to Duncans Landing, made a nice landing on the protected beach, and took off half of my gear. This is quite a bother, so I checked the time before and after. I took off my helmet, paddle jacket, fleece liner, and spray skirt. I ran up the stairs and across the lot to the toilet. I rolled my wet suit and dive skin down far enough to do my business, then ran back down and put everything back on again. It only took 15 minutes which was not as bad as I figured it would be.
The purpose of this paddle was to see if I could go for a short paddle and still get to work at a reasonable time, so I turned back. I went around the outside of the last row of rocks turning close to them to enjoy the waves breaking and the water roaring back off. The last rock in this chain was directly offshore from the clear channel to Gleasons Beach. Because I was about to turn in for a landing I lingered for a while and while I was there a very large set came in. One large wave after another broke around the rock next to me, then roared towards shore. It didn’t look like a good time to land. I started in after 4 or 5 of these large waves, but more kept coming! Finally things calmed down a little bit and I made an easy landing on the sand.
It took me an hour from the time the alarm went off at 6:00 AM to get to the beach ready to launch. I was out on the water for only a little more than an hour. It took more than another hour to get home and rinse my gear. Then I had a few hours of chores to do including eating breakfast and stopping at the bank. It was noon before I made it to work! I’m going to have to shave some time off this exercise program if I’m going to do this often on mornings.