I tend to agree, that those people were out of their element.
We've had to go 3 miles from the south LJ kelp with a strong downhill current against us, and 15mph+ North winds in our face, to get back to the launch. It probably took us over 2 hours to do it and it was the hardest we ever had to work, but it beats ending up in TJ.
Add-on: we paddled our Fish n Dives using the original paddles that came with our Cobra package. Too short, bad design, and heavier than the Werner 2-piece ones we bought last year.
On the plus note, Julie caught her 1st WSB (30+) in the south kelp area, and I managed to end the long day/paddle with a yellow (30+), once we passed the Condo. Just rewards, but made one helluva workout worthwhile