I was really excited about hosting Orange Coast Tour, but there wasn't nearly as much interest in this trip as I anticipated. For a time the trip was full, with eight kayakers on the camping list and even a few on a waiting list, but at the last moment there were a lot of cancellations. The daily distances of 20, 17 and 9 nautical miles seemed to be a large factor in the low interest of the trip. Only three kayakers completed the whole trip, and they were Roger Halter, Jim Gabriel and myself. Three other kayakers participated in part. I must say that the enthusiasm from those who participated made up for any lack of general interest.
The trip started in Alamitos Bay on Friday, October 15, 1999. Four of us launched at 7:45am. The forth paddler was James Shinkle. The water was choppy the entire day, and we had a moderate headwind for about the first 5 NM. A thick cloud layer prevented the sun from shining, but at least we stayed cool. Although the coastline on this day was mostly flat and unspectacular, I always find that just the ocean itself is beautiful. We paddled at a moderate pace and took breaks about every 45 to 60 minutes to drink and eat. The piers along the way helped us monitor our progress.
We had some real excitement off Bolsa Chica State Beach. Jim Gabriel was trolling a lure in the hopes of catching a fish. One fish bit a lure right off the line. A little while later, he had a couple of hits but didn't hook up. Just afterwards, we stopped for a break. He reeled the lure in and had it dangling just above the water. Without him seeing it, a fish came out of the water and struck the lure hanging in the air. Jim felt the rod pull and hung on as the fish kept taking line off the reel. We knew it was a big fish when Jim started to get towed at a speed of about 3 knots. The fish was going all over the place, back and forth, deep and near the surface. None of us saw a fish fight so fiercely before. Jim's arms where quickly becoming tired and sore.
After about 30 minutes, we started to get glimpses of the fish, but only of it's tail. We recognized the long tail as belonging to a thresher shark, and because we were only seeing it's tail, we made the assumption that it was hooked by the tail rather than the mouth, which would also explain why it was fighting so fiercely. Because we could only see it's tail, we weren't sure how long it was, but we guessed about 7 feet. Jim, along with the rest of us, wondered how he was going to land the fish, but he had a gaff and a billy club ready.
On one of the occasions that the shark was near the surface, I paddled near it to try to see how big it was. Just then the shark suddenly changed direction, and the line became entangled in my undeployed rudder, causing the line to snap. I felt terrible causing my best kayaking partner to loose his chance at this great fish, and I was lucky he took it really well. It sure was an awesome show while it lasted.
Inside Newport Harbor, we landed and took a break at the beach next to the Coast Guard Station. It was nice to stand after about 8 hours of sitting in a kayak. After the break, we paddled farther into the harbor to Newport Dunes Resort, where we were camping for the night. We arrived at 5:00pm.
Newport Dunes turned out to be a nice place to camp. Being primarily an RV resort, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of camping there, but the place was very clean, well maintained, and surprisingly quiet. After a long day of paddling, we were more than happy to try out the heated pool and hot Jacuzzi. It was nice to a drink cold beer from the store too. During the night, we were startled out of our sleep by an earthquake.
On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:30am and launched at 8:00am. After paddling a short distance in the harbor, James Shinkle decide not to continue with the tour. On the way out of the harbor, we met up with Robin Clow and her friend, Mylinh Nguyen. They were joining us to Dana Point Harbor that day.
During the introductions, I noticed that Robin and Mylinh weren't wearing spray skirts. It turned out that they weren't provided with spray skirts, water pumps and paddle floats with the sea kayaks that they rented. I didn't want them on the open coast without this essential safety equipment, so they paddled back to the nearby kayak shop that they rented the kayaks from to get it. The rest of us waited for them at the beach next to the Coast Guard Station. The kayak shop opened at 9:00am, and Robin and Mylinh got what the needed and met up with us again at 10:00am.
Although developed, the coastline between Newport Beach and Dana Point was spectacular. There were beautiful rocks, cliffs and hills. We even saw a few blow holes that shot water high into the air. The wind was calm, and by about 11:00am, the clouds cleared and the sun was shining. Because of a large swell, we had to keep a sharp eye out for the many reefs that waves occasionally break over on this part of the coast. Sharp eyes in the group prevented disaster a few times. The large swell and varied kayaking skill levels in our group prevented us from attempting to land in any of the many coves along the way.
About halfway through the paddle, Mylinh was experiencing such severe pain in her shoulders that she could no longer paddle at a productive pace. We ended up taking turns towing her about 9 NM to Dana Point Harbor. Even Robin, who assured me that Mylinh was qualified for this paddle, took a turn towing. However, the responsibility for screening kayakers was mine, so it was my mistake to let Mylinh come. I have to commend Mylinh for keeping a positive attitude and staying cheerful despite the misery she was obviously in. We dropped Mylinh and Robin off at the entrance of Dana Point Harbor. Having them to talk to for the day was fun, and I look forward to paddling with them in the future.
Roger Halter, Jim Gabriel and I landed through the gentle surf next to the jetty at Doheney State Beach at about 3:30pm. I checked in with the rangers for our campsite, which ended up being about a half mile down the beach. We paddled on down and saw large waves breaking right on the steep beach.
I was lucky and landed between the waves without difficulty. Jim was broached and had to brace but landed just fine. As Roger approached, a huge set of waves came in. He had to back paddle fast to avoid having the waves break on him. Once there was a lull, he started paddling in. When he was almost on the beach, a wave began to pop up behind him. Jim ran down to try to pull him up, but all the water ran out from under the kayak on the steep beach, and with a 4 foot wall of water right behind him, Roger didn't have time to pop the spray skirt and climb out of the cockpit. Roger did all that he could do, which was to hunker down and hold on. It looked like he was going to get thrashed. Amazingly, the wave shot him straight forward, and he had a fast and fun ride up the beach.
On the beach, we saw signs telling us the water we were covered with may contain unhealthful levels of bacteria.
Our campsite was on the beach front, so we had a beautiful view of the ocean and coastline. After we took showers, my wife, Susan, and my daughter, Nicole, arrived to visit for the evening and brought two large pizzas, soda and cookies for dinner. The food really hit the spot. We were lucky enough to have perfect weather, and after a beautiful sunset, we talked and joked around a fire for a couple of hours before crawling into our tents for the night.
On Sunday, we woke up at 6:30am and launched at 8:00am. The beach break was still large, but about 100 yards from where we landed yesterday, we found a rip current where the waves were much smaller, so we launched from there without getting wet. Between Doheny and San Onofre San Onofre State Beaches were beautiful cliffs and hills, and we had hazy sunshine all the way. During the last several miles, wind picked up from behind and gave us a nice push. We arrived near the nuclear power plant domes of San Onofre at 10:30am.
The surf at San Onofre was 4-6 feet, making for a challenging ending to the tour. With family and friends watching, none of us wanted to entertain them with carnage in the surf. While we secured our gear, we watched a couple of large sets come crashing in. We quickly paddled in between the large sets and surfed some of the smaller waves on in. Fortunately, we were able to disappoint those hoping for the carnage by making dry landings.
The Orange Coast Tour really is a great trip and challenge. It may not be in some far away exotic place, but sometimes we don't realize the wonderful adventures we can have in our own backyard. I would recommend the tour for experienced sea kayakers in excellent paddling condition.
You can make camping reservations at Newport Dunes by calling 1-800-765-7661 and at Doheney by calling 1-800-444-7275. For Doheney, I would recommend calling for reservations on the first day of the month six months in advance of the month you want to camp there, because this campground is very popular and books up fast. Ask for a beachfront campsite. Newport Dunes is frequently booked up well in advance too. You can't leave a shuttle car at San Onofre overnight, so it is best to have someone pick you up. Good Luck!
Back to
the PaddleWise home page.