It was setting up to be a great day. The wind had been blowing WSW 15 kts > all night and the flood current was to be 6.4 at her max. My friend Seth and I were very excited, and very hopeful that my favorite tide race would open up nicely for us. It was the first time I had paddled there with so few people other than when I was paddling out to join a group, so that probably put us 1 notch in the yellow. Gear was good spirits where high and the outs were numerous.... All Greens. The weather was a bit dodgy and the current was great so we gave that a yellow. All and all we were firmly on the yellow as we pushed off shore.
The sea state was fantastic there were little races opening up everywhere and it looked as if the race I had hoped for would manifest. For the first hour it took the form of a rocky waterfall, not exactly what I had hoped for but I knew it would improve. We got our witts about us as the flood raged on, getting more comfortable with out surroundings. Finally it was starting to look good. 2 things in the world make me have to poop, 1 chess, 2 tidal races. I guess I just get so excited that my body cant handle the suspense!! So I hauled up on shore and found a nice spot in the low tide zone. Took my drysuit neck gasket off and RIP a 1 inch gash! No, not as the race was forming. I just can believe this, This race is my personal surfing treadmill. I am supposed to surf myself into extacy today!!
That very moment *“poof”*, a little devil landed on my shoulder. His chest was all puffed out and he was on a mission. I’ve told many people that I have no self control around surf, I will put myself in the red to catch just one last wave. Today was proving that Really I truly have a lapse in judgment in a surf zone. I stuffed my balaclava around the gasket and went out into the race. Told Seth it was no big deal just a 1 inch rip I have 3 sets of cloths in my boat if I need them . (I would go through all of them that day). The race was magnificent and I was ripping it up. Never have I had such control in a race. Really the whole time I was out of control, what if i had to roll. It turned out to be the best surfing I had ever experienced, I was high on life and felt unstoppable.
We headed home after hours of surfing fun. We got to the beach and I took off my drysuit, the rip had advanced to 4 inches. We packed up our gear and headed home. We laughed and talked about the day on the car ride to the ferry. it was great!! Finally on the ferry Seth looked at me and said “ We really should have left the race after your neck gasket split”. He was right I had let my ego and excitement get in the way of my responsibility as a sea kayaker. In that moment I compromised so much just for my own enjoyment. That was when I trusted Seth as much as a trusted anyone I had ever paddled with. He taught me risk assessment that day.
Paddling anywhere is risky business I don’t care if you can flip your boat end to end at a stand still. What we do as paddlers can instantly become dangerous. It is our responsibility to make it safe and to set the standard for our sport. That day I compromised everything I believed in and everything that I teach others. I won’t do that again.
