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Saturday 2/21/04   

Rock Race practice day at Marine Land

                   or

20 Stitches, but all is well

Our plan for this trip was to familiarize all the participants with the course for the upcoming Rock Garden Race.  All our paddlers were well skilled and equipped for the trip so we had no worries about having to baby-sit anyone.

Brad graciously volunteered to photograph the trip from various locations along the shore, but his participation took on a more serious quality before the end of the day.

Things started a little chaotically . One paddler was delayed because someone blocked his driveway, another paddler forgot his gloves, and before leaving the general area of the launch site we had a paddler with a reliable roll swimming around for no apparent reason.  Yikes!

Seemingly not off to a good start, but once we started paddling everything evened out very quickly. Everyone worked well together so there was little confusion, even though this group has little experience paddling together.

There are 14 obstacles to the course. The first and second are right in the launch area and consist of a rocket launch off a boulder beach, followed by slipping though a slot. Third is a loop around some rocks at Long point that can only be done at very high tide, and only then when a swell comes in to cover the rocks. Forth is a tricky trip behind Shark Rock, and fifth is the rock at Fisherman's Access. Everyone made it through in good shape and with smiling faces and any concerns over a rough start were left behind.

The next two, Point Vicente and Rock1 were pretty tame today but can be more challenging on a day with a moderate swell.

Boulder beach wasn't nearly as rough as when we mapped the course several weeks back, but it was still a challenge to get up on the steep beach without getting dragged back in. Good teamwork got everyone out of the water safely, though not always elegantly. The rocket launch off the smooth boulders to get get back out is much more fun than the landing.

Once everyone was safely off the beach it was on to the Big Pool. The pool tends to end up being the main attraction of any trip on a day when getting in is possible. First of all, its BIG, about 500x150 feet. It can also be challenging getting in and back out in one piece on some days. Once inside you have a feeling of having "earned it" and somehow its great fun to just float around while watching waves explode off of the reef which encircles the pool. Inside is a good place for lunch or rolling practice.

Today we entered by three routes as shown in the photo. I think Duane was first in entrance #2, followed by me, then George. On a day with a larger swell the #2 entrance is a good one, but today there wasn't a lot of water in it. Duane got through with some scrapes and I got slightly off line and hung up until the next big swell . I think Jack slipped in at #3 (the suicide entrance), and the rest came in at #1. Somewhere in the midst of all that Dave attempted to come in at #2, but got hung up.

I was toying with going back out though #4 when a big wave came in and blew me away from the exit and lightly into George. That same wave hi-sided Dave toward his right side (right-to-left photo), forcing a face plant on the jagged rocks.

When I looked over Dave was sideways and still hung up. No big thing as that happens all the time in rock gardens, but something in the picture was wrong. Soon he was out of the boat and I realized what was wrong with the picture - Dave had no helmet on.

Pandemonium ensued as all of us struggled to understand what had happened and begin to deal with it. The following is the Steve's eye view of what happened from my memory.

Blood streaming down from above his right eye indicated he had definitely made contact. That didn't disturb me too much because cuts happen in rocks. From a distance it looked like the blood was streaming out of a large gash. My brain didn't want to accept that. When I paddled up Dave asked me if the cut was bad. I pulled it open with my gloved hand which exposed all the meaty gore of the wound. I slipped and said "Yes", then corrected and said, "You'll live, but you'll need some stitches".

For me it was just beginning to sink in. This trip was over and Dave needed to go to the hospital.

Over the next few minutes pandemonium turned to decisive action by the whole team. Jack and George retrieved the gear Dave had lost in the mishap. Vickie pulled her first aid kit. Brad came down the hill to offer help.

George accurately predicted that he would need 20 stitches.

We had the basic first aid supplies necessary for a temporary repair except for one essential item - a towel. We couldn't dry his head so the butterfly bandage I initially applied came off almost immediately and had to be replaced with the gauze and tape job shown below. The team mocked my medical skills, but I think you'll agree that the ultimate patch job qualifies me as a civil war era medic. Anyway, Dave seemed happy enough about it.

While I was wrapping tape, Vickie and the others formed a plan to get Dave back without paddling. Don and Steve W carried Jack's Jive 8'10" up to the truck (the hard work) and Jack paddled back Dave's boat to the put-in. Duane and Jack paddled back immediately to be ready for Dave's arrival.

One seemly trivial but important note: Duane asked if it was ok to paddle back immediately. He obviously didn't need my permission, but asking was a sign of good leadership on his part. He recognized that in a difficult situation good teamwork and coordination is required for a good outcome. Having someone paddle off on their own without discussion was the last thing we needed.

Arriving back early, Duane drove Dave to the hospital to get his head patched up the right way while the rest of us finished loading up our gear.

At the end of the day Dave explained what happened over the phone. He did get hung up and high sided. When hung up he expected the next wave to come from behind, but it came from the side. The impact tore his helmet off and snapped his paddle. He believes he had the strap secured, but said it might have been too loose.

FYI: I keep mine tight enough so that opening my mouth wide is difficult and I periodically check tightness with the open mouth test. The helmet must be on to protect your head!

Dave said that he was fine and pointed out, accurately, that the injury wasn't truly serious and if necessary he could have paddled back on his own. All of us had some concern about possible serious head injury, but there was none.

He also said the doctor told him some crab was probably enjoying a feast on the flesh that had been torn form his head.

Click this link for an excellent report and more photos by Duane:

http://www.rollordrown.com/rocks.html