Garrapata 6/30

Eric (eyeatbay) and I left my house about 4:45am Sat morning towards Garrapata, with visions of reds and lings dancing in our heads.  We ended up getting a good bit of humility, respect for the elements, and some sense knocked into our heads.  Next time we'll pay more attention to the signs that were provided to us.

We were expecting Nomad and a buddy to have already beat us there, but when we arrived we were alone.  Still in the car, we thought something just might have come up.  But, when we got out, there was a breeze blowing -- this at 6am.  We kidded ourselves into thinking it was just the 'breeze that happens right at sunrise' (I came up with this gem), and headed towards the launch.  Garrapata, at least where we were, has a great, super easy launch, but getting to it is a bit of a haul.  Once you start, you pretty much commit.

When we got the yaks in the water, it all looked calm...



the kelp was so thick it looked like we could have walked across it...



But, when we got out of the protected cove, it was already 10 knots.  We were headed about 1.5 miles south, but after feeling the wind blowing that hard at 6:30, we decided to head to some kelp, tie up (my technique is just to loop kelp around my leg), and pothole, hoping it would die down.  Instead, by 8am, Bo Peep had called out her sheep and the wind waves were growing.

I'd love to know for sure, but it seemed to me the winds grew to over 20 knots.  In my wet suit, paddler pants, and jacket, the wind just tore through me making me shiver pretty badly.  Decided I'd feel better being closer to the launch, so let go of the kelp.  As soon as I did, while tucking things away and clearing kelp leaves, I was already moving backwards at a pretty good rate.  Dug the paddle in, and started heading the half mile back to the launch.  20 minutes later, I was pretty worn out and not making good headway.  I decided to pull over at the nearest kelp bed, hang on to a stalk, and 'fish' (codeword for catch my breath).  I'd wait until Eric was close, then I'd move to the next kelp bed -- took me at least 4 hops to make it back to the launch.

Discovered that if I headed slightly at an angle against the wind, as opposed to directly at it, I seemed to make better progress -- almost like tacking in a sailboat.  The wind waves were enough that at times it was hard to get a good dig into the water, and felt like if I didn't, I'd slip backwards almost like I was paddling uphill.

Cudos to Eric for his strong paddling -- in his Caper.

When we got back to the truck, I made the mistake of picking my Prowler up alone -- the wind twisted it immediately and ripped it over my head.  It was howling!!

Drove back towards Carmel, and were amazed to see a lack of whitecaps not more than 2 miles from where we were.  When we saw Monastery, we were really kicking ourselves.  It was really surprising to see how the conditions varied.  Main lesson learned was to pay attention to the local conditions -- they should override any forecast.

Oh yeah, Eric got a nice 27" ling and some rockies.  I didn't catch anything I wanted to keep.  Found out that Nomad and his buddy had in fact paid attention to the early breeze, and headed for some success at Lovers' Point.  He had forgotten his cell, or would have called otherwise. 

Thanks to Marmite for goading me into posting this!!

-- Dave

With all the recent cudos from Bill, Mooch and others about what a strong paddler you are, Dave, your struggle sure makes me want to pay close attention to the water conditions. I'd probably have had to tie up to the kelp and wait until daybreak to return!

We saw you two go past us as we were unloading our yaks.  I just saw your yaks disappearing around the curve and someone commented that "they must be heading for Sur".

You can see from my pictures, taken about 11:30 AM, how different the water conditions were at Monastery.

Kudos go to Eric for paddling his Caper in those conditions.  That thing looked like a tugboat out there. 

Eric, you take on Thornley for rights to Mooch's Tarpon!!

Honked at you Marmite as we drove past Monastery towards Garrapata.

-- Dave

surfline had huge red arrows forecast all day for the exposed coast that day.

this is why I went to santa cruz that day.

you guys are stubborn to keep fighting the wind! but that's a good way to find
out what the edge of the fishing envelope is,  .

J

Kudos go to Eric for paddling his Caper in those conditions.

I believe Eric paddles an OK Sidekick - it's red and has a small passenger seat up front.....I could be wrong or unless he has another yak.

surfline had huge red arrows forecast all day for the exposed coast that day.

Just checking out surfline.  Impressive local details.  Gonna be my default now, thanks!!

I believe Eric paddles an OK Sidekick

You're right -- its a Sidekick.

-- Dave

So the very first time SCallen and I went to Stilwater S, was due to these exact conditions. We paddled out it was "ok", and by the time we got back we were glad we made it.
drove to carmel and it was FAC.
We carried down carmel beach and launched from there- then paddled all the way to stillwater.  we did have an amazing day,  how little we knew then...

Steve, you posted that story before I could get to it....

Funny eh?  I was re-living our desperate paddle this morning as I read the post.

What came out of the bad start was one of the best days fishing!

allen

Sorry for leaving my cell at home guys.  I'm sure that hill was fun anyway.

Thank Dave for starting this thread. I categorized the experience as "learn by mistake". It was a tough day for me. I had to tie my yak to kelp strings and took breath after struggle paddling. The wind was gusting. For a couple of times Kelp strings had broken!  My yak was like a kite when kite string was broken. I had to resort to 2 or 3 kelp strings together as braid. The wind never stopped in the morning. It got worse afternoon. I was glad that we bailed around 10:30AM.

There were a couple of signs along the way, which were telling us of not launching that place, for instance, size of wind wave, feel of breeze and such. There were other better places to go. Turnaround would be a wise alternative. But we were foolishly committed.  It indeed tested the edge of our strength.

My sidekick is not designed for this type of condition. The experience made me to think of another boat. A good boat makes huge difference in the tough conditions.

Thank Dave for fishing together. It would be scary without a company like you! Two people's mental strength exceeds one (IMO). According to Dave's flowchart, it ends up with a good story to share 

Eric

Glad you two made it back safely and your honest report will hopefully make us all the wiser.

Gang, just my 2 cents having been an avid windsurfer & now kitesurfer here on the coast for over 15 years;

Almost always if there is wind at the buoys, San Martin, Monterey, etc. & it's blowing NW 20+ knots it will blow at the beach by the afternoon & blow hard.  Especially if there's a large area of high pressure off the coast & an area of low pressure inland, wind blows from high to low, the land heats as the sun comes up & sucks the wind in.

I think it is safe to say that rarely, if ever, will you have a good day when the wind at the buoys is up.  If you look at them at NDBC (National Data Buoy Center) you can see the previous 24 hours observations, if the wind has laid down over night you can count on calm conditions, if it's been blowing you can count on windswell & wind in the afternoon if not sooner.

Cheers,
PJ