Kayak adventure

Adventure for the day: We anchored in Smuggler’s Cove and chatted with fellow cruisers, also at anchor, about their dinghy ride into shore, a hike up the road to an old adobe ranch house, and the view from the top of the hill. They encouraged us to check it out. So, after lunch, we dropped the kayaks in the water and paddled toward land, only to find breaking surf waiting for us (really, we couldn’t see how big it was from the boat!). Despite our best efforts at good timing, we were flipped and dumped and dragged ourselves and the now water-and-pebble-laden kayaks up on the shingle. We squelched our way up the road to see the house, built in 1895 with a unique sundial above the entry door, and back—more focused on how to get through the surf than the history of Santa Cruz Island, sad to say. It turns out there was a pattern: two big waves, a five second pause, followed by two small waves, followed by a pause of 10 seconds or so. I just caught the lip of the last small wave, and was safely beyond the surf. Marv was late getting into the 10-second pause and took both big waves head-on. Fortunately, he was 90 degrees to them, paddling like crazy, rode through them and safely into deep water. We discovered that the kayaks still go when they are full of water, though they don’t track quite as well. A warm, fresh-water “tea-cup” shower on board Odyssey followed our swim. And our appreciation for the pattern, rhythm, and power of this world keeps growing.