First I lead Ralph into a group of rocks past the next section of sandy beach to the north. There are several rows of rocks here, and we went between two of them. The larger waves broke around and over the seaward row and made the water choppy and exciting. Ralph liked it in there and didn't want to leave, even though we braved a gap between two rocks to get out to calmer water.
I took Ralph a few coves farther north and showed him the opening of the cave I had recently discovered. I felt it was a little too rough today to try paddling into it, so we looked in but passed it up. We went as far north as the spot where I had caught two rock crabs a week or so ago. I pointed out the railing of the Vista Point lookout, 200 meters over our heads. From this point north, the shore gets a little less interesting. No more coves, only a few rocky points until you get to Fort Ross Reef. So we turned around and went back past Russian Gulch Beach to the area with lots of little coves with rocky points between them.
One of these points has a small cave that I wanted to take Ralph through. There is a crack in a big rock here that has a narrow opening to the north, and a wide opening facing out to sea. We approached the narrow opening of the crack from a relatively calm cove, but the waves would be coming directly into the wider opening. As we approached the crack I saw that the low tide made it very narrow, and I wondered if we would fit through after all. But this was only an illusion, and there was even enough room to paddle in the narrowest part of the crack. Once inside, we drifted in front of the other opening and let the waves come in and churn the water up around us for a short while. The curved expanse of shear rock to the east and the arch to the north that we came through gave us the feeling of being in a cathedral.
As we continued south towards Jenner, I considered going a little farther out to sea to avoid the rough water behind the rocks. But whenever I asked Ralph which side of a rock we should go around, he always chose the rougher, more exciting looking water. When we got near Jenner Beach there is a rock that has 5 different caves running through it at the water level. I have avoided trying to go through these caves several times before; Because of bad weather, seals, pelicans, or cowardice on my part. This time there was no wildlife to disturb, and we paddled back and forth through one of the caves, no problem. On the trip back, we stopped between two arms of rock in front of this cave and paused while I dug out another camera. While we were there a set of large waves blasted through the cave and churned up the water around us. After the water calmed down, we went back through the cave anyway!
We turned back without going all the way to the mouth of the Russian River, and paddled back into a head-wind that had come up while we were out. Ralph commented that a head-wind this strong would be a real bummer on the Russian River in a canoe, but the ocean was so interesting that it didn't bother him at all. I have noticed this same phenomenon: I have gone on long trips, working hard, and would have predicted that I would get tired or bored. But as long as I have rocks to paddle between, coves to explore, and caves to look for, the long hard trip flies by. Sitting out on the ocean looking up at the birds flying over and the sun shining on the cliffs, I often get a euphoric feeling that threatens to burst my chest. This feeling can easily compensate for hours of hard work paddling into a head-wind.
On our way back, we passed the crack in the rock that we had paddled through on the way out. It looked a lot rougher than before. I asked Ralph if he though we should go back in there. Looking at the grin on his face, I rolled my eyes and wondered out loud why I even bothered to ask. We paddled straight into the large opening, then paused in the cathedral just as set of large waves came in. The shear wall and the deep water under it caused these waves to just bounce back out without even thinking of breaking. We were sloshed several meters up and down and back and forth, but I didn't feel particularly threatened. When the water calmed down, we went north through the crack and back to Russian Gulch Beach for a reasonably easy landing.
It has taken me years to get this comfortable on the ocean, and I would normally try to find a calmer trip to take a beginner out to sea. But this does not seem to be a problem with my brother Ralph. When I go out with my brother Paul, we are always so goal oriented: Just go out, get some abalone, and come back. I'm going to have to take Paul out on a strictly fun trip like this and leave the abalone for another day.
