San Diego Ex-Ed

Location:  San Diego CA

Pacific Soul Surfers Experiential Education Course

The beach is in our blood and the desire to be in the ocean a constant pull on the psyche.  Cara and I designed a trip to meet these needs and also introduce the love of the ocean to others.  Our course was called Pacific Soul Surfers:  Surfing and Sailing in San Diego.

We took 21 high school students to CA for one week.  Camping on Carlsbad beach and surfing/sailing in Mission Bay.  The weather was brisk and sunny, the water tumultuous, and wind  consistent.  Our campsite was very different from those in CO.  It was basically a paved strip with motor homes and camper trailers.  We were the only ones in tents!  I was happy to hear the kids say, "this isn't camping."  

We sailed every morning for about 3 hours.  Cara and I had never done this before and were instantly hooked.  The feeling of harnessing the wind and using it to get from point A to point B evoked feelings of freedom and escape.  The wind some mornings was very strong, gybe turns were potentially dangerous, Cara found out the hard way, bobbing in the cold Pacific bay.   Watching the students was hilarious.  Imagine 24, 6ft sail boats cruising around in circles, captained by squirrly teenagers, laughing the whole time!

The surfing was definitely the most challenging.  The seas were rough, wind, and constantly throwing down waves 8 to 10ft high.  The kids were troopers and stayed in the whitewash, again laughing, freezing, and trying to figure out the art of surfing.  I managed to paddle out past the breaks and got only a few rides.  The rest of the time I was battling, cursing, and way in over my head.  At one point my leash ripped off leg and I was left out there swimming in the boils and tumbling surf.  This was probably the scariest moment I've ever had in the ocean.  

The rest of our time we spent in camp, the kids cooking meals, sleeping, and doing dishes.  We treated them to In & Out and they were in heaven.  It was such an awesome experience for the students and for us.  Hard work and well worth the laughs, waves, and full sails.