Coastal Dreams Come True by Eric Parker

I have two words for you: ocean surfing. Without a doubt, the ocean has offered the best playboating of the quarter. 7-foot waves crashed on our brightly colored watercrafts. The play features gave big bounces followed by big blunts and psychedelic pan ams. The Oregon coastline hosted some of the more unique paddling experiences of the semester.

Walking up after a great day on the beach! photo by Susan Hollingsworth

Sam Makman sets up on the face of a nice wave in Brookings, Oregon. photo by Susan Hollingsworth

Along with the ocean, we paddled various rivers while based in Florence. One great Coast Range run was Sweet Creek. Sweet Creek is a low volume, rocky riverbed full of slides and waterfalls. It offered the perfect opportunity for a World Class race. Thirty seconds apart, 16 student and teachers flew down the quarter mile run. After ten minutes of aggressive paddling, head coach Jesse Shimrock grabbed the gold medal with a time of 1 minute and 7 seconds, closely followed by sophomore Danny Doran. Senior, Dave Meyers, summed up the race, “It was a sick point sick on the sickter scale!”

During our time in Florence we studied in our spacious yurts, one of the more unique classrooms I have ever had.