Sunday Paddle

So today I did an early paddle in Santa Cruz – same as last week, and yup there she was, paddle girl (we’ll see if she needs a pseudonym for the blog). This time she wanted to go east, towards Aptos. And she wanted to go faster, and farther. It’s actually really nice to have someone to paddle with. I’ve been going solo for the past 8 months or so and that is both dangerous and stupid. Seems paddle girl has been doing the same for a shorter period of time. Except she trains during the week in the afternoons with a coach.

She was on the dock next to her boat doing some stretching exercises. Waiting for me? I pulled down my boat and dragged it over to the dock. “hey”

“Morning. Looks like a good day for a paddle.”

“Where you headed?”

“East, Aptos. Maybe 4 miles out.”

“Looks like a good breeze today, don’t you want a downwind return”

“Nope. I need a challenge. You coming?”

“Yeah. Can’t let you paddle alone.”

“Better stretch.”

I set up my boat and did some stretching exercises. Then we set off. The seas were getting pretty rough. She was in front of me heading out of the harbor where we go past some breakers. She got caught by a wave, and went over. “Oh, shit” I thought to myself. I pulled a few hard strokes to catch up to her so I could do a rescue, and she pops out of the water, in her boat, laughing. She executed a perfect Eskimo roll. If I went down like that I would need a rescue. Wow.

We did 8 miles in less than an hour and a half. It took everything I had to keep up with her. I am going to be a hurtin puppy for a few days.

Once we were back in the harbor she set a slow pace. We leisurely paddled back to the dock. Even with a cool down, I was still out of breath. We threw our boats up on the dock. I took off my dry top and lay down on the dock with my feet in the water. She sat down next to me. “You OK?”

“Yeah, fine, no problem” gasp, gasp.

“You’re a pretty good sport. I’m impressed you can keep up with me. I’ll go easy on you next time.”

I guess there’s going to be a next time. Looks like I have a new paddle buddy. “You know, when you spilled on the way out of the harbor I thought we were done.”

“Don’t know where that wave came from. But I got a bomb-proof roll. You think I’d go out in these conditions with out it? Can’t you roll?” Maybe she’s not as suicidal as I thought. If you have an expert Eskimo roll these conditions are not nearly as dangerous.

“In good conditions.” I replied

“Oh. I didn’t know. I’ll keep a better eye on you.”

OK, I’m humbled. This 17 year old school girl is a way better athlete than I am.

We sat there on the dock talking amiably for about 20 minutes. And then she said “He got me pregnant.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, you are not telling me this. “I’m really sorry to hear that – but, you know, you should not be sharing this with a 30 something guy you met at a dock.”

“You seem pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I am, but this is getting into an inappropriate area.”

“So were you married?”

“No.”

“Commitment phobic?”

“I was engaged.”

“You got cold feet?”

“Nope - she did. 2 days before the wedding. She just disappeared.” I knew I shouldn’t go on, but it was so easy to talk to her. “We had the church booked, the reception paid for, flowers, non refundable plane tickets, the works, and she ran away.”

“Wow, that’s cold.”

“Yeah. I call her the runaway bride. Now I think all women are scum.”

“Hey!”

“But paddlers are cool. And you, next time, birth control. They have pills for that kind of thing.” I stood up. Damn, I’m not getting involved with a teenager. My life is f*cked up enough as it is.

“God, you sound like my mother.”

“Yeah, well your mother sounds pretty smart. And I’m your paddle buddy, not your relationship coach. You want to talk about boys pick on someone your own age. OK?”

She shook her head.

“Next Sunday?” She asked.

“I’ll be here.”