Millers Run

Had another fabulous Millers run yesterday after work. We got in the water at about 6pm.

The wind wasn?t terribly strong ? Roman Rock (half way point) was registering about 28kts average, gusting slightly more, but the wind at the start and finish wasn?t as strong. The ground swell was big, the forecast quoting 5m at 14second out in the Atlantic. The waves in the bay weren?t quite that big, but there was the occasional big set coming through.

The launch was exciting: it was spring high tide so the waves were breaking over the rocks to the right of the ramp and were sweeping diagonally in front of the ramp. And there was a significant shore break right onto the ramp. It looked worse than it actually was, but my adrenalin levels, heart and respiration rates were way up there as we set off! We had to wait for a pause in the sets, run down the ramp and jump onto the skis & get behind the shore break.

The paddle out to Bakoven Rock wasn?t too hectic though and we paused to set our Garmins before heading off downwind.

There were at least two sets of waves running at an angle to one another and it meant that you could catch a wave, then turn onto the diagonal run, catch that, then turn back again in a kind of zigzag course, putting runs together. Near the lighthouse, as usual, the waves seemed to bank up and I had a couple of adrenalin spiking runs down the faces. Friend Damian was just ahead of me at one point when a pod of dolphins, swimming rapidly in the other direction breached right in front of him ? fabulous sight.

The sea was slightly messier just outside Fish Hoek but again it made for zigzag, bouncing, spray filled sequences of runs. Fantastic. The last 500m or so the waves seemed to die away and we all hit the beach at more or less the same time. My 48:57 (ave 14.4km/h) was my best recorded time. Awesome!

We are incredibly lucky to have such paddling here in Cape Town.

Robin, good story about the "Miller's Run." On Oahu, we have a few different "runs", depending on which side of the island you live on. For us on the south (Town) side, the most common is the Hawaii Kai Run (Hawaii Kai to Kaimana (approx. 7.75 miles), or Hawaii Kai to Magic Island (approx. 10 miles)). The more advanced run is the Makapuu Run, which actually dovetails into a Hawaii Kai run.

I like your description of the cross-swells and what not, as the runs here have their own personalities as well. I was wondering what effect tide has on the Miller's Run, as tide plays a big factor in the Hawaii Kai run, and also a factor in the Makapuu run as well. If the tide is dropping quickly the run is significantly more work as you are paddling against a current, and the waves stack up, feel "sticky", and are harder to catch and ride.

This weekend the wind is down so any runs are just for training/exercise, not for riding any bumps. But last weekend my buddies and I did a Makapuu run in some pretty big water and I (very much by accident in the big seas) came within 50 feet of a whale outside of Haunama Bay - scared the cr*p out of me! Had no idea he was there until I saw this giant boil forming and then his back and the tiny dorsal fin. Amazing.

Love to hear the stories. When we can't paddle its fun to share the stories with other people passionate about the sport.

Scott

Hey Scott,
Sounds like you have a lot of fun over there - just saw an incredible photo on ocpaddler.com of an OC-6 going up a 50ft wave in the Molokai channel.

We seldom get any noticeable current here in Cape Town and as far as I know the tide doesn't have much effect on the seas in False Bay. The height of the water makes a significant difference at the spot where we put in however - at low tide, big waves can close out the little bay where we launch and we have to get our timing right!

Sounds as though you saw a humpback? The whales are seasonal here - from about July to November. A while back we did a flat water paddle around Robben Island in Table Bay and ended up riding the wake of a Southern Right whale for a while - that was wild!

More recently on a Millers Run a couple of Brydes Whales breached about 50m in front of me. I swerved to the left to move out the way only to have them come straight at me. I jinked again to the right and got past them but the paddler behind me hadn't seen them and they nearly landed right on him - he got a heck of a fright.

I hope to come across to next year's Molokai...

All the best
Rob

I had the "breaching humpbacks off Diamond Head" encounter the week before, but none got within 50 meters of me. This time it was much closer, but I really have no idea what kind of whale it was - only saw a little portion of its back. I just knew it was big and close.

I'd love to do Molokai solo but the reality is I do not have enough time to train regularly enough to do the race. I'm not in good enough shape right now and I'm not going to be able to get into good enough shape by the time of the race. I would like the do the relay with someone, but its pretty tough finding a partner to do the race with. Plus, it is expensive. But the Kaiwi channel is just incredible (paddled it twice on the six man) and it would be such a blast on a ski (assuming the wind is blowing of course).

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