Mental Health Day

Being the parent of a one year old is awesome, but stressful. H and I don't get many chances to paddle and even fewer chances to paddle together. So, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and bug's day at daycare. H organized a hooky day paddle with some of our favorite playmates!
This paddle was H's first day on the water since Bug's arrival, so we decided to take it slow. The day was calm and forecasted to stay that way, so we decided to do a mini outer west passage route. We figured it would be flat and relaxing.
The crossing from Bay Campus to Dutch Island was a nice warm up. The paddle along Jamestown past Ft. Getty was continued the relaxed conditions.
Just past Ft. Getty, the conditions got a little lively. We're talking anthills, but it was more than we expected. It was actually kind of nice to have some bumps. I find paddling on glass boring and tiring. This was perfect for paddling and chatting.
About halfway down the Jamestown coast we turned and crossed the Bay. Our lunch spot was the standard outer west passage lunch area. The highlight of the crossing was watching a helicopter land at one of the mansions south of Bonnet Shores and pick up a passenger.
Our lunch spot was occupied by one of the beach's owners. Being anarchistic socialist kayakers we landed anyways. Beaches cannot be owned (at least not below the high tide line). Always the diplomat, H did "ask" the lady if it was OK for us to use a remote corner of the space for lunch. We behaved ourselves.
After lunch, we headed home along the bluffs. A few of us decided to brave the rocky shore despite our lack of helmets. The biggest wave was barely tape height; what could possibly go wrong?
A rouge wave pushed BH into the rocks. He rode it like a champ, but in the end he wound up out of the kayak and standing knee deep in the water. RS and I decided we were not going to rush in and try to pull BH and his kayak off the rocks. We didn't have helmets, the wave patterns were unpredictable, and BH seemed to have his wits about him. We yelled for him to push his kayak out. Before he could comply TM dashed in to the rocks and did the rescue.
When we talked later, he said he thought that BH looked like he was a little shaky and he was confident that he could pull off the rescue without any risk to himself. Things worked out for the best and BH was put back into his kayak without further incident.
For the remainder of the paddle, we stayed well off shore. The rest of the trip was a relaxing finale to a relaxing paddle.
H and I had plenty of time to get cleaned up, drive home, and retrieve bug. She had a fun day with her buds and we had a good day with ours.