You never think it will happen to you. . . - Crossing the Bar
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We went to break the tow down and I was handed back my paddle when both hands immediately cramped up again. Leon quickly and decisively set up a tow like the one we practiced before lunch. He placed the strongest paddler up front inline and Leon tied into our sterns to act as a drogue. Shawna took charge of the the rest of the group and held position as we crossed the bar. The wave height had been dropping all day and we were now faced with 2-3’ breakers across the bar. I was feeling uneasy being in a raft and not able to hold a paddle incase we were knocked over. I had already formulated a plan in my mind to quickly wet exit and get clear of the boats and lines if that should happen.
Ed was rafted with me and did a fantastic job of communicating with Dan who was towing us. There was a fair bit of shock loading on the lines several times as we were not always in sync with the waves. Dan had a 35’ towline and Leon had a 35’ towline and extended it another 15’. There were several times when we almost speared Dan and/or Leon was pulled into us. Dan was knocked over once in the soup as we had already crossed the bar but was able to immediately roll back up.
We made it back to cars safely and no one was injured other than my pride. I was very grateful to be paddling with such a strong and skilled set of paddlers that day. I would like to really extend a BIG thanks to Dan, Ed and Leon for you risked a lot to get me back to the beach safely and I will forever be in your debt. FYI this was my Birthday, what a day!
I was able to finish out the rest of the weekend without incident. The following week I had another paddling trip and a class I taught and both times had issues with my hands cramping by the end of the day.