I volunteered to help out in the BASK skills clinic again this year. This uses up most of the weekends for two months if you let it and several weekday evenings as well. Originally I was going to miss the Instructors clinic on August 9nd because I would be paddling southern California with Konstantin Gortinsky. But since we were turned back early by bad weather, I was able to join the other instructors again. This year they were able to get the historic Point Reyes Lifeboat House for the event again.
I volunteered to teach the draw strokes again this year. This was done in a two day session at China Camp where we could camp overnight on August 22nd. There was a camping weekend on Tomales Bay that I was unable to attend. But finally, for the first time in years, I was able to attend the surf clinic. The surf was very low on the day this was supposed to happen (September 6th) and John Somers decided to move it from Bolinas, which is very protected, to Dillon Beach. Even at Dillon Beach the conditions were not ideal. The water was deep just off the beach and the breaking waves did not have very much energy to push boats sideways. When all the exercises were done, I got permission to take my group of students on a paddle. We paddled a mile north to the mouth of the Estero de San Antonio and went rock gardening in the mild conditions. This was me showing the students one of the wonderful things I like about kayaking.
I was unable to join the clinic for their last camping weekend, this time on Angel Island, because I was on my yearly dive trip to the Channel Islands on September 13th. While there we did have a little bit of excitement.