You never think it will happen to you. . .
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Its inevitable, the more you do something that has an inherent risk the more likely you will find yourself in need of help. It finally happened to me on a beautiful northwest day out of Makah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula.
I was a student taking part in a 3 day BCU 4 Star Coastal Leadership Training. The training was Sat. thru Mon. however I left from work Friday morning and made a bee line straight fro the coast. The weather forecast was for clear skies, light NW winds, and a NW swell of 6-8’ and falling all weekend. I figured I would show up early and get to the beach to get a few hours of playing in the surf.
I arrived at Hobuck around noon and the forecast was spot on. It was a beautiful day! I went down to the water to watch the waves and scope out the beach. There were only a handful of beach walkers around and I had the waves all to myself. I felt pretty confident in my abilities as I had been in surf of this size before on many occasions, I also had on onshore wind and an incoming tide both in my favor in terms of safety and good waves! I got dressed in the usual: Kokatat Expedition Drysuit, Bunny Suit, and Ronin Pro PFD, along with my Sweet Strutter Helmet and GoPro HD Helmet Cam plus my VHF radio.
I was ready to hit the water. I launched and played in the soup and reform for a bit to get a good sense of the waves and found there to be a little more power behind them today. I should have anticipated this fact as I knew the period between crests was 12-14 seconds. I was a little conservative picking smaller waves to catch and get warmed up on, besides I was by my self and not looking to get into too much trouble yet. . . . It was once I started venturing out that I felt the real power behind the waves and after getting trashed 3 or 4 times decided that I would stay inside and ride what I could. I was able to catch a few good rides and had plenty of combat rolling experience so after 2 hours I dragged myself out of the water worn but happy. No Incident today!
I strolled up to Cape Flattery and hiked out the trail to the viewing platforms and was treated by some phenomenal views and a reminder why I love coastal kayaking so much.
I then headed back into Neah Bay to check into the Bullman Beach Inn just south of town. Side bar here, if you are staying out at Neah Bay for multiple days and don't want to camp this is an excellent place to stay. I met up with my roommate, Ray, from Canada and the rest of the group (Nick & Dan from the San Juans, Ed from Seattle and Peggy from Minnesota) and our instructors Shawna and Leon.