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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Catalina Island
Posted By: Mike Hanks
Date: Sunday, 6 February 2000, at 7:11 p.m.
Tammy and I met Steve Robinson in San Diego when we left our cruise ship. Steve showed us around town and told us about where he paddles in SD. He was a great host and tour guide. The weather was sunny and it might have reached 80 degrees, it was plenty warm compared to our wonderful Puget Sound winter. We went back to our ship and tried to sleep while anticipating the kayaking on Catalina the next day.
The waves had been rocking the ship a lot (my house still seems to be rocking today), so I was thinking we may get some big water when paddling in the ocean. We arrived on Catalina just after 9 a.m. and the winds were calm. We went on a 50-minute tour of Avalon. After the tour we walked to the kayak rental place (just past the casino). The wind had picked up and we would have it at our backs starting off. We got in/on the Necky Syncro s.o.t. and were ready to go. The guy at the rental place hurled us down the steep beach towards the surf! We hit the water moving quite fast! I thought it was great! Tammy was not as amused, she was in front and was immediately soaked, but it was a nice day so she wasn't too upset.
It was very easy paddling with two engines and the wind at our backs. The water was clearer than we are used to in Puget Sound. We passed a few other kayakers that were heading back. Soon we had the place to ourselves. The rugged coastline of the island was quite interesting. We tried to surf a few waves without much success, picked up a little speed but the waves would get past us. We saw a large boat at a dock in the distance and decided to head for it. It left shortly before we got to it.
We stopped for lunch at the beach near the dock where the boat was. This time I got soaked, Tammy got out of the kayak and a wave crashed over the stern and left me very wet, right before lunch. There was a school just up from the beach with kids on the playground. Some of the kids came down to the beach to play at the water's edge. We ate lunch, sunned our white white skin, and fed part of a bagel and some raisins to the gulls and terns.
We decided to head back since we would be fighting the wind all the way. We found that there were 2' waves out there now, and we were paddling directly into them. It was fun going though the waves. Lots of ups and downs and splashes. Every so often a gust of wind would come up and blow the water off of Tammy's paddle directly into my face. It was stronger than the shower on the ship. I started asking Tammy to stop paddling whenever the gusts would come. This made for some strenuous paddling, one person paddling a double into a strong wind. After a while I had her help me again as I was getting tired.
When we got close to the rental place we started seeing other kayakers. We asked one of them to take our picture with our waterproof disposable camera. We positioned ourselves so that the sun was right and our ship was behind us. Our new friend took the picture and we went back to him and got the camera. Just after he gave it back to us he capsized for no apparent reason. We helped him climb back in and apologized. He said it was not our fault, but I doubt he would have gone over if he didn't mess around to take our picture. We felt bad, but he seemed okay with everything.
We paddled back to the beach, and the rental guy pulled us in before the waves soaked me again. I found out I was pretty well soaked anyway from the spray and waves coming over the side.
We just missed the last tour of the casino by 15 minutes. We milled around town for a while drying out our clothes. We found some sunny bricks to sit on, and started drying out much faster. I was tired so we headed back to the ship an hour early. I found that I was very dehydrated and lost my appetite for the evening. Our waiters at dinner wanted me to eat more, but I just didn't feel up to it. The midnight buffet looked great, but I still wasn't hungry, so we went to bed. I felt much better in the morning and had my appetite back. Just in time for Ensenada.
Mike (& Tammy)
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