Last week, Jeff and I diverged paths as he journeyed south to the 26th annual Santa Cruz Paddlefest (formerly Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival).
As Jeff journeyed south, I enjoyed a couple of quiet rainy days at home. Tom Cat and I watched the Surfline webcam for glimpses of Jeff and other friends competing in the contest at Steamer's Lane.
We also kept an eye on the river flows and correspondence with all of our "foul-weather" friends. Tom of course stayed home, but I went inland for whitewater fun on the Eel River (photo by June Ruckman Albright).
On Monday, Jeff and I met up - at the put-in of the Outlet Creek to Dos Rios Stretch of the Eel River. It was fun to get together with a bunch of old and new friends for a fast, high water run down the Eel.
Of course, Jeff, Don and I couldn't get enough and had to run the river twice. Jeff and Don vied for every surfable wave while I caught a few and worked on peeling in and out of eddies and ferrying.
As Jeff and I drove home together, the truck was a buzz with tales of our adventures:
waves surfed
our foul weather friends
new friends
beatdowns n mystery moves
wildlife
and new adventures - brewing was a discussion and a big decision that we would have to make the next day.
Congrats Jeff on placing 11th in the Men's High Performance. Conditions were tough and it was a field of top paddlers from around the world.
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