How to Turn the 5-Mile Pier-2-Pier Into 27

The annual Pier-2-Pier (Santa Cruz to Capitola) is an event I can't bring myself to miss. But if I was going to do it, I somehow had to turn it to the purpose of training for the Catalina Classic - a 32-mile race I have registered for but have not yet been accepted into. I was slated for 27.

The Pier-2-Pier has accurately been called the un-race. No fee, no tee, no awards, just paddle. It's much a social event as it is anything else - the vibe is the best anywhere. I figured on going out slow and backing off.

The first step was to begin my day at 6 am, in Capitola, where the race ends, and paddle the five miles up to the race's start at the Santa Cruz Municipal Pier.

The drive up from Carmel began just after 5am. It was mostly clear, but I could see fog over the middle of Monterey Bay. When I got to Capitola, I was greeted with morning magic.

I got in the water just after 6:30 and headed west (Santa Cruz and Capitola face south).

On my paddle through morning glass, I was surprised at how much open water there was between the Capitola pier and Pleasure Point. Especially since it was a nearly zero tide. The waves were down, and the tide would rise a foot higher by the time the racers were going to come through, so this route was definitely preferable to taking the longer line outside the kelp.

After passing Pleasure Point, on my way to the Santa Cruz Harbor, I saw some dolphins. Their size surprised me. I almost got a picture – that disturbance in the water in the photo below is where the dolphins were.

 

I stopped to talk to two other paddlers (a prone and a SUP), and tried to sell them on coming to the race. I pointed out there’s no cost, and it’s all about the fun. Many paddlers aren’t really there to compete.  Really. Then I realized they might not paddle fast enough to get to the starting line on time. Then I realized I wasn’t exactly going to be really early and got going, leaving my new-found friends to paddle on their own.

I arrived just after 7:40, and here’s the scene as I emerged from the water:

I was hardly late. Easily half the field arrived after I signed up.

This event happens because a magnet shows up in the form of David King. If you don't immediately take a liking to Dave, you should have your pulse checked.

Also on the beach was Phil Curtis, just back from a two-year Peace Corps stint. This was going to be his first paddle anywhere near five miles for over two years. He was beaming. 

Before the paddle can begin, it's traditional to pose for this picture:

... and Dave has to discuss conditions, etc. The previous day, a shark had been sighted in the New Brighton Beach area. Any questions? No? Let's get in the water.

 And sure enough, right by the pier, another shark sighting:

 But it was only a sand shark.

OK, I'm always down for a bad joke.

So, we got in the water:

It seemed a more or less even split between prone paddlers and stand-ups. I started out a little fast, but did back off to a pace I thought I could hold onto while not sabotaging the 17 miles that would follow the race. The fog moved in. I followed the coast all the way to Pleasure Point, which added some distance, but at least I knew where I was. Once around the point,  visibility improved.

I got to the beach in Capitola just inside one hour, and in time to catch a still-smiling Phil emerging from his paddle:

My plan was to hang out on the beach and talk to friends until all the paddlers arrived, then find someone who was going to paddle back to Santa Cruz. This has always happened, but today, I couldn't find a single one.  So, I headed to my car, re-filled my water bottle, and headed west.

The next seventeen miles took me back to Pleasure Point and beyond. On the way to Pleasure Point, I saw a paddler in front of me and soon realized the paddler was going my direction. A surfer in the lineup joked that the paddler in front of me wasn't in the race, so I would win. I caught up and said "Hi." It was Suzanne, a long-time paddler and resident, whom I often see on my paddles from New Brighton Beach. Suzanne is good company, and this paddle was a good chance to catch up - we stuck together, talking until we got to the harbor, where she turned back and I went on.

The sun came out, and the northwest wind picked up. When I got back to the lane, I decided to paddle back inside to Cowell's Beach and follow the shoreline back to Pleasure Point to maximize distance.

Bad decision. Had I gone on a straight line (or out to the mile buoy), I would have had nice downwind run. The line I took led me into crosswind chop and backwash from the shoreline. It was the opposite of that smooth glass I had so enjoyed earlier. But it's all good training -- you never know what race day will be like.

Paddling all the way to New Brighton Beach, I was still short some distance. I took one last trip most of the way to Pleasure Point. By now, some surfers were out in just boardshorts. it was that warm in the sun.

I completed the 27 miles. It was tempting to hang out in Capitola. There were lots of people, and the town was preparing for the Wharf-to-Wharf run, to be held the following day. But I had a nice sandwich DeeAnn had prepared for me and a long drive back. A drive made longer by an inch-by-inch traffic jam from south of Watsonville to south of Moss Landing. What had been a 50-minute drive up turned into a 90 minute crawl back.

I could have paddled home faster than that! Or maybe not.