August 27th, 2015
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Our monthly after work pizza and beer paddle in Newport Harbor.  Which this month just so happened to fall on an unusually strong tide.  Oops...

July 21st, 2015
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The after work pizza paddle fell on a Tuesday night this month.

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Last year Kristen and I bought an inflatable tandem kayak and started paddling around Newport Harbor some evenings after work.  We found it's ideal since the water is usually smooth, boat traffic is limited, and there's plenty of light from the shore to be able to see.  Soon we were going enough that we upgraded to sea kayaks along with Jen.

We'd been going semi regularly until WTC hit in January and things got busy.  With class ending last week we've all been excited to get back on the water.

We kept the inflatables as loaner boats and after sending out invites and this time we ended up with 14 people in for a Pizza Paddle.

What: Newport Christmas Light Parade
When: December 18th, 2014
Where: Newport Beach Harbor
Who: Matthew Hengst (kayak), Jen Blackie (kayak), Gracia Delavida (kayak), Kristen Lindbergh (kayak), Karyn Strong (SUP), Steve Kotzbauer (SUP), Paul Ludgate (boat), Alan Bennenbroek (boat)
Pictures: [Matt]

I kayak in Newport Harbor quite a bit after work.  It's been one of the perks of being back in Orange County full time after years spent working on the road.  It's a nice bit of exercise and the water is usually pleasantly glassy at night.  Not to mention we can paddle over to Pizza Nova, dock, and have pizza and beer!

This time of year the harbor gets decked out in some impressive Christmas displays and each night for a week there's a parade of decorated boats.  Viewing locations along the shore are all packed and restaurants and hotels with a view all charge a premium and fill up.

I've a few times riding through with a bike club during my cycling days or just walking through the houses on shore but since we've bought the kayaks I've been thinking it would be neat to see it close up from the water.