aliso beach surf launch

well, sunday, wade and i were able to make some time and take the kayak out for a surf launch and paddle along the coast. we loaded up the boat and headed down to pacific coast highway, not quite sure of where we'd launch from. i've tried to get in contact with the county and state beaches, but they never return my calls. so, i'm not quite sure where it's legal to launch from.

as we drove along pch up toward laguna beach, we decided to check aliso beach. the shoreline is close to the parking lot, so we though we'd unload the boat, park and make a rush for the surf before anyone could tell us we couldn't. well, while unloading the kayak, the lifeguards drove past several times and never said a word. guess we were okay to launch from there.

the surf report had stated that there was a light swell, light wind and glassy conditions. that was at 8am. it was now 4pm. things change. hahah. the surf launch was pretty easy, since it was a shore break and timing the sets was pretty easy. we got away from the shore without any difficulty. as we began paddling away, though, it was apparent that it was less than glassy conditions. there was a stiff wind, 1-2 foot seas and a heavy northwest swell.

we decided to paddle north, against the swell and then ride it back in on the return. the seas were heavy enough that the bow would occasionally submerge and send a cascade of spray into the cockpit. i got a little bit wetter than when smsmh and i went paddling in back bay. after about 30 minutes of paddling, we were at least a mile off shore. wade jumped out of the kayak to swim around a little bit and nearly gave me a heart attack. no warning, just a heavy rocking and a huge splash. next thing i know, he's 10 feet way from the stern. what a goofball!

he floated around a bit, got a ways away from the boat and i decided that it'd be easier to get back to shore if he was helping me paddle, so i went and picked him back up. we did some more hard paddling and got to what must have easily been two miles off shore and then just floated around a bit, taking pictures and shooting video.

the kayak handled really well, despite how heavy the swell and wind were. i was very pleased with it's performance. after a while of just enjoying the solitude, we paddled back to shore. the surf landing was a little more hectic than the launch. we came in okay and didn't hit the sand hard, but the surf turned us sideways as soon as we beached and we didn't jump out quick enough to grab it kayak. a huge wave followed us in and shot the boat up the shore, breaking the dummy cords to our paddles. no real harm done, though, and a good lesson learned.

Posted by jeff at May 30, 2005 8:29 PM