The heat has been keeping me from paddling as much as I wanted so when Ken Johnson suggested an early morning paddle I was happy to join in.  We left the L-head in the downtown marina at 7:00 am.  Mornings had been very calm for the past several days, but there was a nice breeze blowing this morning.  We exited the breakwater and turned directly into the wind toward the TAMUCC campus some 6 Nm across the bay.  The wind grew steadily stronger (finally gusting near 20 mph) and after about 4 Nm I was losing energy.  We turned to surf back.  I just could not seem to catch any waves and was paddling slowly so I told Ken to finish at his speed.  He quickly disappeared toward downtown.  Waves were a little strange and made surfing and direction control difficult.  I did manage a couple of rides just before reentering the breakwater.  Nothing very interesting or inspiring on this trip, just unusual waves and nice views across the bay.  Still it was great to get back on the water.