The beginning of August usually means much lighter winds and the surf in the Gulf drops significantly.  It is the perfect time to paddle out to some of the nearshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.  For our trip this Saturday we decided to explore the rigs just offshore from Bob Hall Pier (Nueces County Bali Park).   There is a single platform about 2 Nm due east of the pier and a group of 3 platforms 5 Nm south of the first one and about 3.5 Nm offshore.  Ken Johnson, Scott Cartier, Mike Rubey, and I launched just north of the pier at 7:30 am into small rolling waves.  By the time we reached the nearest platform we were in beautiful clear blue water that is only found 30-50 miles offshore most of the year.  On the way to the second group of rigs the water became somewhat confused with small swell from the NE and from the SE mixing with wind waves from the west.  Individually they were all small but every now and then they would combine to produce a larger, steeper wave at an unexpected angle.  Just as we started to explore the 2nd group Mike was capsized by one of these waves.  After a little difficulty we accomplished our assisted rescue, pumped out Mike's kayak, and decided to head back.  There was not much scenery or wildlife, but we did get a couple of very brief dolphin sightings and a short look at a good sized sea turtle.  We covered about 11.8 Nm in just under 4 hours and enjoyed some of the clearest and most beautifully colored Gulf water I have seen in a long time.