The sun was shining with a slight breeze as Lance Pillsbury, Bob Glickman,
Peter O'Sullivan and I launchd from Kiddie Beach, Channel Islands Harbor,
Oxnard, this morning. We could see some waves spilling over the breakwater so
were anxious to see how the conditions were.
Bob and Lance were quick to launch, heading to the Pt. Hueneme Power Plant.
They reported that as soon as they got passed the Port of Hueneme channel
opening the ocean smoothed out and left the large swells behind.
Peter and I headed north to the resort and a couple trips outside the
breakwater. The swells were every bit as large as the predicted 5 footers.
When we got back to the pond, there were 20 boats, power, sail and electric
maneuvering or anchored there. They seemed to be from the same yacht club and
one boat had a couple of men in blazers officiating something,
We decided to land on Hollywood Beach, in the pond and stretch for a bit. Peter
made a nice clean launch, but I was not so fortunate. I like to rinse sand off
my feet before putting them in the boat. Well, I set up too close to the water
and was soon sucked off the beach without my skirt in place, and my cockpit was
soon full of water and sand insuring a rough relanding. After bumping the wate
out and removing many handfuls of sand, the next attempt was successful.
After we were cleaned up Peter spotted 3 dolphins in the harbor. As we were
leaving we noticed two men arriving from the harbor in wood strip kayaks. Maybe
we will meet them in coming weeks.
We were hoping Bev Waldron would join us. Her community has been without water
for 60 hours. so she responded an inquiry if she was going to paddle this way.
"I am just too tired. My arms are a little achey from bringing water to those
who were unable to get it themselves. I have done the disaster prep.program
here for about 15 yrs so was quite involved with this." It should be noted that
Bev is 79 years old! I am rushing this report because she expects to read it by
9:00 P.M.
That is the way it was this first Sunday in 2020.
Robert Tongen reporting.
