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Saturday, November 23, 2019
N wind 10 to 15 kt.
Becoming NE 5 to 10 kt
with gusts to 15 kt.
W swell 11 ft at 16 seconds.
Wind waves NE 2 ft at 4
seconds.
Couple weeks back, during
a stretch of unreal mild weather, the forecast called for 1-2 foot surf, light
winds and temps in the high 50's on Oregon's North coast. I talked my wife into
her first ever ocean outrigger paddle.
Arrived in Manzanita at
about 1pm to give it time to warm up a bit and still beat any potential
late afternoon winds. Rigged the Huki OC2, suited up and carried the boat
down to the water.
We've been paddling for a few years now, but only flatwater water for her to date. Put her in the front seat (as she prefers the view, as opposed to staring at my back!) and started out through the small waves.
It was an uneventful launch (thankfully) and we quickly made it outside and headed north along the hulking Neahkahnie Cliffs towards Oswald West's Short Sands Beach.
"Paddle
Harder!" I told her. Punching through the next wave elicited a small
yelp of excitement and I said "Paddle Harder!" as I saw the next wave
in the train bearing down on us. The final
wave was at best a waist high one but it was enough to launch us and the boat
into the air and partially unseat her but my now familiar bark "Paddle!" she
refocused her effort, was quickly back in rhythm and we were clear of the surf.
The run back to Manzanita
was uneventful...paddling around sea stacks, through surging keyholes and what appeared to be a shark ripping apart
another sea critter (as we paddled quietly past) were the only things to
note.
Arriving back at Manzanita
Beach, we surfed a wave in, carried the boat up to the car and quickly loaded
up as the sun dropped behind the offshore fog bank and the temp quickly dropped several degrees.
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1 comments:
What happened to your blog? I just found it and would love to read more.
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