It was my 50th birthday and I couldn't get organized to do something really exotic for this big date. So instead I planned a big party for myself at my own house. It started with a few friends coming up the night before, putting a goose in the oven in the morning, and going for a paddle out in Bodega Bay. Another bunch of my kayaking friends drove up to met us at Campbell Cove and we launched into a pretty messy day. It was overcast and windy but the swell actually was not as big as it was on my birthday last year.
As I had planned last year on my birthday, my only goal on this day was to get out into the choppy water behind the Bodega Rocks and be in a wild natural place for a short while. We paddled out from Campbell Cove and a few of us went through the shallow spot in the breakwater, since the tide was almost high enough for this stunt. Then we headed out to where the waves were breaking around Bodega Rocks and we might get a surfing ride.
Roger Lamb was with us and this was his first time back in a kayak since he broke his ankle ice skating months ago. He took risks and was too close to the rocks when a big wave came in. He started to surf down the wave but it was too steep and looked like it was going to flip him over. He angled across the wave to keep his bow up and his boat turned and started back up the wave. I thought he was trying to turn and go back over the top of the wave, but he admitted later that he was totally out of control! At any rate, his boat didn't make it back up over the top of the wave, stalled, and fell sideways down the face of it. Roger disappeared in the rolling white water. He reappeared several times to catch a breath of air as the broken wave carried him for over a hundred meters. I saw him do the "surf roll" at least once. Eventually the wave calmed down on the inside of Bodega Rocks, Roger rolled himself back up and stayed that way. We came over to congratulate him for an incredible show on his first time back on the water in so long. After months of having to stay at home his comment was "Now I feel like Roger again!"
A little later I was considering paddling the long way around Bodega Rocks when I noticed John Somers and Roger already half way around, and that made up my mind for me. Dave Littlejohn followed me and the two of us climbed over some very large waves on the outside. I hadn't seen John and Roger deal with anything this big and I worried about Dave behind me where the waves rose up even steeper. Fortunately he climbed over them and we made it all the way around.
Back around the rocks we met up with the people who had not done the circumnavigation. We grouped up and paddled north around Bodega Head, but didn't make it all the way to Horseshoe Cove this time. I had "goose anxiety" and wanted to turn back, get home and check on the goose in the oven. (It was a little overcooked, but still edible).