The things that no one bothers to warn you about, getting ashore is proving to be a challenge. We rowed in to the Santa Cruz wharf and happily tied up to floating loading dock and left to play on the beach for the day. No problem so far, it was when we got back to the dock and found one of the local sea lions had taken up residence across the end of the float where the dingy was securely tied and waiting for us. Roughly 1000 plus pounds of fat hairy beast with no intention of moving. Do what I may, it would just sit up and roar and me. Mary goes for help and the kayak rental guys say, well you can bang a stick on the dock, just don't hit it. Nice help guys.

It must have been a slow afternoon or we were the most entertaining thing on the wharf, and we quickly gathered a crowd as I tried to convince this creature with the disposition of a grumpy pit-bull and the size of a rhino to move off the comfy warm dock where it was dozing into the very cold water. I eventually resorted to ticking its face with a very long piece of seaweed every time it lay down to sleep. There was some clown in the crowd that kept telling me to stop messing with it, but he eventually figured out that it was either that or jump over it into the dingy and he quieted down. Mary was convinced that when the disgruntled sea lion eventually lumbered into the water that we had created another Moby Dick scene and we hustled the kids into the life jackets and rowed like crazy for the boat.

The next day we decided to pass on a repeat scene on the wharf and made our first surf landing onto Seabright beach. It went relatively smoothly, timing a break between the bigger waves and rowing like crazy for the beach. Where things started to vary from the plan was when the next wave formed up behind us and I think the conversation went something like, Scott: "Uh Oh". Mary: "What do you mean, Uh Oh?". Scott: "Just, Uh Oh". Mary: "Don't say Uh Oh Now!". Well then the wave broke and the wall of white water propelled us up the beach exactly as planned. Mary and Finn in the back of the dingy were wet from the neck down but those of us in the front were dry. Success.

Unfortunately, were still not in the clear and the local lifeguards piled up the beach to inform us that we could not launch a boat from the beach and we would need to get our car and take our dinghy away. I had little success with the college aged tanned female lifeguard, but fortunately Mary successfully charmed the boss and by the end of the discussion they had agreed that not only would we launch the dingy when we were done playing on the beach, but he would have the lifeguards make sure we made it successfully through the surf. Now that is why she is the communications officer.