**Trip Report - Legs 4, 5 and 6 LI Ocean Paddle**

Posted by Miles (168.100.198.130) on May 06, 2006 at 10:42:36

For those of you who are still following this odyssey that began back in December here are the latest installments.

4th Leg April 2nd - Mastic to Robert Moses State Park distance 23.22 miles, water temp 43F, air temp 50F, windspeed 5 knots from the northeast
Comments - This paddle was relatively easy. About an hour before lunch I started experiencing cramping in my left biceps. This I believe was from a combination of inactivity (our last leg was slightly over two months earlier)and deyhydration. It slowed my pace somewhat but after a lunch with plenty of fluids and a painkiller the cramping subsided. Tim however was paddling around like a madman in order to stay warm. Having just returned from the UK and France where he did a 5* training he made the unwise choice of wearing his new Reed Chill cheater paddling jacket. A classic case of dressing for the air temps, not the water. He looked sexy but he was cold most of the time except when he was paddling hard. He probably covered at least 30 miles in his efforts to stay warm.

5th Leg April 9th - Robert Moses State Park to Long Beach
distance covered 24.49 miles, water temp 44F, air temp 55F, windspeed 10-12 knots, NE, E, SE, SW
Comments - This was to be the dreaded paddle of no return as we were traversing the length of Fire Island State Park. There wasn't room for error as it is basically a 25 mile deserted stretch of relatively unspoiled wilderness. Tim had relearned a valuable cold weather lesson and was snugly inside his drysuit this time. We started out with a brisk wind from the NE which after about 20 minutes shifted to the east where it held most of the day. This allowed us to make great time and progress and renewed our confidence that all would go well. Everything did with the wind shifting to the SE after lunch and to the SW just before we landed on Long Beach.

6th Leg April 30th - Long Beach to Plumb Beach - The Final Leg!!! NOT!!!!!!!!! Disaster!!!!!
Actual paddle - Long Beach to Rockaway Beach distance 10.72 miles, water temp 51F, air temp 65F, windspeed 15 knots E, S
Comments - This was to be our final leg or so we thought. There were small warning signs that something might go wrong this day. We left Tim's car at Plumb Beach got on the beltway, about a mile or two down the road we hear a thump (that was the bow of his boat nicking my trunk. We look back and realized we didn't tie his boat down and it had just fallen off the roof at 60 mph. The boat survived with minimal damage, nothing that a little duct tape couldn't fix for the day, but we were very lucky that the boat immediately skidded onto the shoulder of the road and that it didn't hit another car. Lesson - TIE YOUR BOAT DOWN AND DOUBLE CHECK IT BEFORE YOU DRIVE.

We got to Long Beach and as we prepared to launch we heard stories of rough water, riptides and that surfers couldn't launch early in the morning from passerby's. There were surfers everywhere on the water and the surf was BIG, but it was one big surf line with long intervals between waves and the surf was curling Hawaii 5 O style not dumping. We both launched beautifully and uneventfully through the big surf as it was easy to time. We turned west and with a stong wind at our backs we headed toward what we thought would be a cakewalk. We paddled about a mile offshore and were making great time. The swell was immense 12 - 15 feet and we were able to surf as we went. I was glad that I had my freshly repaired Outer Island back for it's added speed makes swell surfing a joy. We quickly made our way past the western end of Long Beach and set our course towards the middle of Rockaway more or less. At this time we discussed lunch and I expressed my concern about the size of the swell and what it would be doing on the beaches of Rockaway where it was directly headed. I suggested that we raft up eat lunch on the water, piss in bottles if need be. Well it was just a thought and we didn't do it and we headed towards the point of no return. There appeared to be a major dumping surf break fairly far offshore. We reasoned that we could time it and then sprint past the next dumping wave. WRONG!!! Tim was on my right. I saw him get hammered out of the corner of my eye as I began my sprint. I thought I had made it when I saw most of the water being sucked from under me allowing me to briefly see the ocean floor. Then WHAM all hell broke loose. I was tossed sideways the flipped over. I went into my ususal surf routine... stay calm wait for the turbulence to subside somewhat, then roll up. Well I waited, and I waited and I waited but it only seemingly got worse. I tried to roll but didn't come up enough to get a gasp of air for another try, so it was desperation time. I did some thing I literally hadn't done in years, since December 30, 2002 in my Sirroco surfing at Tuckerton. I wet-exited and I'm glad I did or I wouldn't be telling this story. I needed air so bad that I was hyperventilating. To make matters worse I was still at least 100 yards offshore and I was being hammered every 4 seconds by the incoming froth from the dumpers. I could see that Tim had made it to shore. He swam out in an attempt to help, he clipped his tow line to my deck lines and swam out of the way as with each successive surf break he ran the risk of getting clobbered. I continued my fast breathing trying to slow it down, swim, keep firm hold of the toggle, keep myself from being impaled by my boat, cursing nature for the eternity it seemed it took to get to shore. Once we were all on shore, this lady with a dog came up and confessed that she had called 911. We had her call back to cancel the call, but by then it was too late. Police sirens, fireman with rescue floats running to the beach and then two Police helicopters circling over head. After we assured them that we were fine, they got on their radio's and called off the rescue.

We proceeded to eat lunch and then tried to launch. We both made several attempts to get beyond the surf zone but it was to no avail. You could get past the 4 -5 footers on the inner break, only to be hammered by the 8 foot dumper that you had less than 4 seconds to hopefully sprint through. It wasn't happening for either of us. Then we both tried to paddle the coast between the inner and outer break. This worked for about 100 yards until Tim was caught by the inner surf, side surfed to the beach, snapped his carbon fiber Werner and was dumped on his head by the incoming surf. GAME OVER!!! We carried our boats to the boardwalk. Called a car service to take Tim back to his car, leaving me in a humbled state with a renewed respect for the power of the sea.

The journey will continue!

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Message » For those of you who are still following this odyssey that began back in December here are the latest installments. » 4th Leg April 2nd - Mastic to Robert Moses State Park distance 23.22 miles, water temp 43F, air temp 50F, windspeed 5 knots from the northeast» Comments - This paddle was relatively easy. About an hour before lunch I started experiencing cramping in my left biceps. This I believe was from a combination of inactivity (our last leg was slightly over two months earlier)and deyhydration. It slowed my pace somewhat but after a lunch with plenty of fluids and a painkiller the cramping subsided. Tim however was paddling around like a madman in order to stay warm. Having just returned from the UK and France where he did a 5* training he made the unwise choice of wearing his new Reed Chill cheater paddling jacket. A classic case of dressing for the air temps, not the water. He looked sexy but he was cold most of the time except when he was paddling hard. He probably covered at least 30 miles in his efforts to stay warm. » 5th Leg April 9th - Robert Moses State Park to Long Beach » distance covered 24.49 miles, water temp 44F, air temp 55F, windspeed 10-12 knots, NE, E, SE, SW» Comments - This was to be the dreaded paddle of no return as we were traversing the length of Fire Island State Park. There wasn't room for error as it is basically a 25 mile deserted stretch of relatively unspoiled wilderness. Tim had relearned a valuable cold weather lesson and was snugly inside his drysuit this time. We started out with a brisk wind from the NE which after about 20 minutes shifted to the east where it held most of the day. This allowed us to make great time and progress and renewed our confidence that all would go well. Everything did with the wind shifting to the SE after lunch and to the SW just before we landed on Long Beach. » 6th Leg April 30th - Long Beach to Plumb Beach - The Final Leg!!! NOT!!!!!!!!! Disaster!!!!!» Actual paddle - Long Beach to Rockaway Beach distance 10.72 miles, water temp 51F, air temp 65F, windspeed 15 knots E, S» Comments - This was to be our final leg or so we thought. There were small warning signs that something might go wrong this day. We left Tim's car at Plumb Beach got on the beltway, about a mile or two down the road we hear a thump (that was the bow of his boat nicking my trunk. We look back and realized we didn't tie his boat down and it had just fallen off the roof at 60 mph. The boat survived with minimal damage, nothing that a little duct tape couldn't fix for the day, but we were very lucky that the boat immediately skidded onto the shoulder of the road and that it didn't hit another car. Lesson - TIE YOUR BOAT DOWN AND DOUBLE CHECK IT BEFORE YOU DRIVE. » We got to Long Beach and as we prepared to launch we heard stories of rough water, riptides and that surfers couldn't launch early in the morning from passerby's. There were surfers everywhere on the water and the surf was BIG, but it was one big surf line with long intervals between waves and the surf was curling Hawaii 5 O style not dumping. We both launched beautifully and uneventfully through the big surf as it was easy to time. We turned west and with a stong wind at our backs we headed toward what we thought would be a cakewalk. We paddled about a mile offshore and were making great time. The swell was immense 12 - 15 feet and we were able to surf as we went. I was glad that I had my freshly repaired Outer Island back for it's added speed makes swell surfing a joy. We quickly made our way past the western end of Long Beach and set our course towards the middle of Rockaway more or less. At this time we discussed lunch and I expressed my concern about the size of the swell and what it would be doing on the beaches of Rockaway where it was directly headed. I suggested that we raft up eat lunch on the water, piss in bottles if need be. Well it was just a thought and we didn't do it and we headed towards the point of no return. There appeared to be a major dumping surf break fairly far offshore. We reasoned that we could time it and then sprint past the next dumping wave. WRONG!!! Tim was on my right. I saw him get hammered out of the corner of my eye as I began my sprint. I thought I had made it when I saw most of the water being sucked from under me allowing me to briefly see the ocean floor. Then WHAM all hell broke loose. I was tossed sideways the flipped over. I went into my ususal surf routine... stay calm wait for the turbulence to subside somewhat, then roll up. Well I waited, and I waited and I waited but it only seemingly got worse. I tried to roll but didn't come up enough to get a gasp of air for another try, so it was desperation time. I did some thing I literally hadn't done in years, since December 30, 2002 in my Sirroco surfing at Tuckerton. I wet-exited and I'm glad I did or I wouldn't be telling this story. I needed air so bad that I was hyperventilating. To make matters worse I was still at least 100 yards offshore and I was being hammered every 4 seconds by the incoming froth from the dumpers. I could see that Tim had made it to shore. He swam out in an attempt to help, he clipped his tow line to my deck lines and swam out of the way as with each successive surf break he ran the risk of getting clobbered. I continued my fast breathing trying to slow it down, swim, keep firm hold of the toggle, keep myself from being impaled by my boat, cursing nature for the eternity it seemed it took to get to shore. Once we were all on shore, this lady with a dog came up and confessed that she had called 911. We had her call back to cancel the call, but by then it was too late. Police sirens, fireman with rescue floats running to the beach and then two Police helicopters circling over head. After we assured them that we were fine, they got on their radio's and called off the rescue. » We proceeded to eat lunch and then tried to launch. We both made several attempts to get beyond the surf zone but it was to no avail. You could get past the 4 -5 footers on the inner break, only to be hammered by the 8 foot dumper that you had less than 4 seconds to hopefully sprint through. It wasn't happening for either of us. Then we both tried to paddle the coast between the inner and outer break. This worked for about 100 yards until Tim was caught by the inner surf, side surfed to the beach, snapped his carbon fiber Werner and was dumped on his head by the incoming surf. GAME OVER!!! We carried our boats to the boardwalk. Called a car service to take Tim back to his car, leaving me in a humbled state with a renewed respect for the power of the sea. » The journey will continue!
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