Work continues on my beastly qualities: I did the strength routine Tuesday and yesterday and plan to do it again tomorrow morning.
Summer wears on: the forecast calls for Fahrenheit highs in the 90s for at least another week. The heat wasn't too bad when I paddled a loop of the harbor with Joe Tuesday morning. But I knew it would be tougher Wednesday when, for a variety of reasons, I waited until the afternoon to paddle. A nice breeze from the south gave some relief during my 60 minutes out there as long as I was paddling into it, but when it was at my back, as it was in the last 15 minutes when I paddled up the harbor back to the dock, there was nothing I could do but sweat and long for the cold drinking water and refreshing hose bath that awaited there.
My surfing attempts have been a struggle since I got home from the Columbia River Gorge in July. For starters, I haven't had many opportunities; barge traffic has been light most of the times I've paddled in the last two months. My own boat here at home is a bit tippier than the boat I used out West, and I've had a hard time getting used to that during the handful of times I've tried to surf. And finally, the explosive power I'd built before my trip has waned as the oppressive weather and the lack of medium-distance races to do has dampened my motivation to keep working on it.
But when I saw a barge rig hurrying downriver Wednesday afternoon, producing some of the biggest waves I've seen from a downstream-moving vessel, I had to get out there and see what I could do. Solid balance and explosive speed were indeed hard to find each time I found myself in the "zone of uncertainty" atop a wave, but I dug deep and found just enough of it to get one pretty good ride. The rig steamed quickly into the distance and the waves didn't linger, so I was happy to get what little I got.
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