I checked the surf at the dawn patrol only to find that the south swell was pretty much gone and the northwest swell was pretty weak. A nagging onshore wind crumbled the tops of what waves did come through, it was overcast and gloomy and looked like a better day for a paddle workout than a surf. So that's what I did.
I paddled up to Sewer Peak and back from New Brighton, taking the low route. A distance of about 5.3 miles. I didn't push it, stopping to talk with Boots, take a little vid, and just enjoy the soul centering physical rhythm, cadence and work of a steady paddle on the rolling sea, the wilderness that is 50 yards offshore.
NB-SP Low RT 9-15-2011
For EveryTrail app (or GPS) freaks I learned something interesting. I upgraded my smartphone from an LG Vortex to a Motorola Droid X2, a much better Android OS phone. But the EveryTrail tracking app constantly malfunctioned, and would not track my paddles on the new phone. Long story short, I found out that if you keypad in *228 and then select option 2, you will update roaming. (Verizon is my carrier.) This puts your phone in contact with the best cell phone signal available in the area, which your GPS needs in order to work. Which it seemed to do because I had no trouble tracking today's paddle. This might be a trick one could use in areas with chronically bad cell phone reception, although I haven't tried it yet.
Finally, I bought a Dry Case for my phone in May and it has slowly deteriorated over the last several months. At first it wouldn't hold a vacuum, then the top of the case tore at the latch seam, then finally the body of the case grew a pinhole that you could see through and I could not use it. Long story short, the warranty process was unbelievable simple. I contacted a rep through their website phone number. All I had to do was send a copy of the receipt/invoice to an email address. The next day I got confirmation of a replacement case shipping. Voila! Good service, I hope the new case lasts a lot longer than the old one.
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