In late August, the Tsunami Rangers pirate tribe pounced upon the Mendocino coast, somewhere between Russian Gulch and Point Arena. It was our annual retreat, which we took the day after our rock garden class at MacKerricher State Park just north of Fort Bragg. After spending a great day playing on the water with our students, we met up with Andy Taylor of Force Ten and Jeff Laxier and Cate Hawthorne of Liquid Fusion and had a meeting of the coastal tribes as we scarfed down abalone and libations. Much later that night our camp was visited by six big raccoons who would not take no for an answer. A standoff ensued. Even later, a skunk joined me while I took a piss outside my tent. Since I was helpless in an awkward situation, I talked to him in a gentlemanly way, and he responded by jauntily walking away with his tail in the air, and he did not emit even a bit of spray! What a nice guy.
Early next morning we Tsunami Rangers joined up at a secret location south of Fort Bragg and embarked on a five-day journey to secret beaches on the magnificent Mendocino coastline. The first day of our journey was to entail five miles of exploring new territory. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy, and we could barely see a hundred yards. So much for exploration—let’s try not to get lost. We heard a fog horn which we took note of should there be fog on our way back to the cars. That turned out to be a smart move. On the last two miles of paddling, the big yellow sun broke through the fog and guided us to our destination.
Upon arrival at our hobo hideaway, we were greeted by a big dead yellow-brown sea lion, washed up on the middle of the little beach. Oh boy. We set up our typical camo camp, (see https://tsunamirangers.com/2011/04/26/camo-your-camp/) but one of us sported a yellow rain fly on her tent, which let every fishing boat for miles around know we were there. Mellow Yellow became our theme song for the retreat. A golden sunset provided a mellow end to a nice day on the water.
On our first night, we ate a scrumptious meal with delicious wine, t-bone strips seared over the fire with Scott Becklund’s secret rub, and guest Helen Wilson’s local goat cheese with rice crackers as an aromatic appetizer, a cornucopia of salad greens prepared by Deb Volturno and guest Paula Renouf, and the main course of steaming pasta with Alaskan sockeye salmon cooked on the cauldron by Don Kiesling. We eat good.
At the crack of dawn we got packed and paddled 48 miles to our next location. Actually, we drank coffee and shot the bull for two hours, then suited up and went out kayaking to find groovy play spots. We paddled over to the local sea stacks and frolicked for hours, enjoying the spray hitting us as we performed numerous ninja strokes to maintain control. We experienced the pure joy of kayaking, which is my favorite thing to do on a retreat.
After lunch we paddled into a labyrinth of sea caves, and Deb Volturno took photos and video of Scott and Don swimming into the limelight produced by the sun’s rays refracting in the water. Any decent kayaker could have been in there with us, basking in the cool darkness punctuated by a surreal yellow-green glow and occasional small wave to keep us alert. “Electrical banana—is bound to be the very next phase.”
Dinner that night was beyond belief. With chef Scott leading the way, Tsunami Ranger captain Jim Kakuk and officer Steve King made a seafood paella in the cauldron, complete with fresh-caught red snapper, tenderized abalone, and chicken chorizo mixed in with rice al dente and fresh, fragrant saffron. “I’m just mad about saffron!” Ah, it was heaven.
Speaking of heaven, that night we made our plans for next year and watched the carpet of stars parade under a new moon. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.
The next morning dawned and heralded another day of adventure on the coast. We paddled through another set of rock gardens and delighted in the interplay of waves and rocks. The highlight was surfing through a big sea tunnel and right into a convergence of another wave from the other direction. We surfed the zipper waves until time to paddle back to our beach home.
Michael Powers and I made a traditional beef stew in the cauldron and concocted a cole slaw with a fresh head of cabbage that Michael had stowed away. After dinner it was time for our annual “Beach Games of Skill.” But before we started, Steve King got in his kayak and towed the no longer mellow yellow sea lion to another shore. Our olfactory senses thanked him. We then began the games in earnest. In addition to the usual knife throwing, hatchet throwing, and machete throwing competitions, we added a new contest: cutlass slicing! The object was to cut a bull kelp whip into a perfect small slice using Jim’s brand new cutlass. We all tried, but Paula prevailed and proved to be the champion of the sword.
The next morning we donned our tribal raiment and posed for an official retreat photo. Then some of us paddled back to the put-in and went home. It was foggy again over the last few miles, but the fog horn guided us to our take-out. Half the crew stayed another night and then also made their way back through the fog to civilization. As always, we left no traces of our visit on our beach. No, we didn’t invade the coast. It was just another great Tsunami Ranger retreat, full of beauty and kayaking adventure. Next year, we’ll do it again at another secret location.
To find out more about sea kayaking retreats, go to https://tsunamirangers.com/2011/06/27/sea-kayaking-retreats/ and read all about it. We’d love to hear about your summer kayaking vacation. Just comment below.
Thanks a million to the tribe for inviting me along.. what a BLAST! Paula
It was great sharing the California coastline with you Paula. Your Kiwi friends will be proud of you, because not only did you paddle like a champ through the rock gardens and caves, but you won the cutlass contest. I look forward to more sea adventures together.
Eric
Wow Eric, I’m now salivating into my keyboard… and that week looked like the greatest fun ever! You guys sure know how to rock it in style… .and I MUST come and explore that coastline some day! Cheers – FP
FP, we’d love to have you visit the States and show you some good hospitality. The coast awaits.
It’s a Hellava long way from Sydney, but a formal invite would be hard to turn down Eric. 🙂
FP, Consider this the formal invite. Just get ahold of Captain Kuk and he will roll out the red carpet and show you the sights.
Welcome back to America!
Here’s to the good life!!
What a great trip Eric — and you have the pics to prove it!
Eric – I am still laughing at your near-skunk encounter, although Mark keeps telling me it is nothing to laugh about.
Sounds like a fantastic trip! The zipper waves look particularly cool. And the food sounds scrumptious as usual. Wish I could have been there!
Mark and I are about to head off for a 4 day kayak trip tomorrow a bit further south down the coast. Will tell you all about it!
Cheers,
Sasha
Mark is right in that skunk encounters can be serious. Many years ago I was jogging with a friend at night and we ran into a skunk who sprayed us. It was awful. We bathed in tomato juice to help get rid of the smell, threw away our clothes in the dipsy dumpster, and swam in the pool. It still took days for the stench to go away completely.
I’m glad you liked the zipper wave shot. I’m thinking I may do a post on surfing zipper waves in the future.
Have fun on your kayak trip, Sasha!
the shot of the Milky Way is wonderful-thanks!
I’m glad you liked the Milky Way photo, Ann. Michael Powers has taken several great sunset and night sky photos over the years. For anyone interested in checking out his photography, click on the “photo gallery” above, or meander over to http://www.oceanstudio.org/#! and see what Michael and his crew of adventure photographers and filmmakers have created.
Wow, looks like I missed a good one. The food sounds like the best and the pics came out great. I love the one of you and the blowhole and also the Milky Way. Mmmmmmmm…
Yes, another great retreat in the usual Tsunami Ranger way. This type of gathering in small coastal camps, catching food and sharing around a fire, is an important event in the retribalization of our culture. We also use this time to shape the years events and to discuss policy, but mostly to have fun and enjoy several days of kayaking and story telling.
Wow! That sounds like a truly legendary retreat! Thanks for sharing it with us! Reminds and inspires to leave no trace, play, compete, explore, bask, feast, and connect!
Believe it or not, Micaila, almost all our annual retreats are this good. On occasion we’ll suffer through a big rain storm (boo), but we’ve been fortunate in that we still had fun. We used to retreat in late September, but a couple of times we had 12-foot waves from faraway hurricanes, and that was a little too exciting while camping on a pocket beach in the middle of nowhere.
For my readers: to read about the most memorable retreat we’ve ever had, check out the story “24 Hours” in my book CONFESSIONS OF A WAVE WARRIOR, which can be purchased (with my autograph even!) on this site.
Hi Eric
I noticed in the picture of the Tsunami Rangers in tribal attire that the boats had rudders. I would have thought the boats would be rudderless for surf and rock gardens.
Thanks,
Ann
You bring up a good point, Ann. Some of us use rudders all the time, some never, and some selectively. Those who use them all the time like the ease of steering so much that they overlook a rudder’s shortcomings. Those who never use them don’t need no steenkin’ rudders!
And those people, such as myself, who choose when to use them and when not, also have good reasons. If I’m in a short “slalom” boat, of course I use no rudder. If I’m in my 15-foot Tsunami X-15, I use a rudder at sea and in surf, unless I think it might break off, because I’m not making short turns and appreciate the extra leverage a rudder provides (plus my X-15 is rockered with no chines or skeg). I sometimes do and sometimes don’t use a rudder in rock gardens. I do if I’m going over a pourover and want to maintain a course or am fighting against incoming waves hitting rocks and need all the power I can get, but I raise it when in a tight rock garden and need maneuverability. Make sense? It’s all a matter of purpose and preference.
Crikey, Eric, I’m with FP, just droolin’, dreamin’, and slack-jawed with envy! You mates sure know how to craft a magnificent retreat. How did ya keep all that boeuf from spoiling before it hit the stewpot? PS: Glad you speak skunk…
Unbelievable how you eat on your retreats…it sounded like a 5-star restaurant! And I loved the photo of everyone with all the Tsunami kayaks on the beach…I should be on the west coast, then maybe once I’d see another Tsunami kayak. I’m beginning to think that maybe I have more Tsunami kayaks than anyone else east of the Mississippi!
As for the rudder thing…I keep the rudder deployed all the time, unless I’m paddling backwards in shallow water. I know that it’s commonly accepted that you don’t surf with a rudder deployed, but to me, that applies only to the great majority of kayaks that have wimpy rudders, not the Tsunamis.
Tony
Tony, good to hear from you and that you and your Tsunami is still plying the waters of the Atlantic.
hey eric,
thanks for a great story! had a wonderful retreat myself this summer, a year since i broke my hip. first surf session since—in one of the most extremely beautiful rainforest surf breaks i know of. a wolf walked by in broad daylight.
have been learning the constellations—all of them, not just the dozen or so i used to know. try sleeping out with your feet towards polaris—as you lie there trying not to fall asleep you can start to see the rotation happening!
cheers,
dan
Dan,
Sounds like you had a great retreat. The stars are amazing. I certainly don’t know them all, but applaud you for your efforts. It’s amazing to me how many people love the earth but don’t know squat about stars. They forget that earth is just a minuscule part of the cosmos.
I’ll be doing a post on natural navigation in a month, and simple star navigation will be featured.
NOTE TO MY READERS: Helen Wilson, our guest on this retreat, wrote up her story on what happened: http://www.greenlandorbust.org/2011/a-couple-of-classes-and-a-retreat-with-the-tsunami-rangers/. Be sure to read it to get her unique perspective and see more photos of the picturesque Mendocino coast.
What did I just see: The Tsunami Rangers holding a stick?
Is that true or is it just a prop to soon be used as kindling on the beach fire? 🙂
Good to see that you guys are giving the stick a go..
Ha ha! Alack and alas, Gnarlydog, the GP sticks are props. Helen Wilson loaned us her sticks for the photo shoot cuz they look so cool, but the good news is that Jim Kakuk and I will be getting Joe O sticks in the near future, so we won’t be faking it then.
Thanks to the kids that made this happen and the fun that was had by all. A group of impish children paddled into the rock gardens of the Pacific, entirely oblivious to Neptune.
Jeff, you are the imp! I noted that you are a coyote/trickster guy the second I met you.
I clicked on Jeff’s “Fall Kayaking…” link above, and boy is there a lot of stuff happening in the kayak world on the Mendocino Coast. Check it out. I’m not a mushroom expert, but I noticed that the picture of the mushroom you posted seemed to be amanita muscaria–magic mushrooms. Am I right?