Category: kayaking

Lunch on Angel Island 8/23

On Thursday August 23 with my work docket managed, I strapped my kayak on the top of my truck and headed to Sausalito to join fellow Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) for a jaunt to Angel Island. We had a cool “Fogust” day with favorable currents and wind. We launched from the public boat ramp next to Salitos Crab House. You wouldn’t know there is a public boat ramp here without some local knowledge; and while it’s a convenient spot to launch on a weekday morning, I can imagine it would be a challenge on the weekend with the town full of tourists.

BASK Thursday Lunch Paddle. August 23, 2018.
BASK Thursday Lunch Paddle. August 23, 2018.
BASK Thursday Lunch Paddle. August 23, 2018.
BASK Thursday Lunch Paddle. August 23, 2018.

We launched at 10:30, Paddled down Richardson Bay to Peninsula Point where we poked our heads out into Raccoon Straight to see what was in store for us. Conditions looked promising, so we headed across the straight towards the West Garrison. As we crossed Raccoon Straight it became apparent that the current was carrying us east so we altered our course for Ayala Cove where we landed and had lunch.

After lunch we were back in our boats and we made a course for the Corinthian Yacht Club. Once we were across the straight and close to the Yacht Club we paddled along the shore admiring the houses clinging to the cliffs. We had an easy paddle out and back, on what can be a bit of a challenge if the wind and currents are contrary. We were back at our launch site at 2:30 in the afternoon having covered not quite seven miles.  You can view more photos here and you can view the track of our route here

Hunt for Sunken Treasure

The word was, that if we were lucky we might find the propeller of a World War II fighter plane that went down in Drakes Estero. The tide has to be just right. If the tide is high the propeller is underwater. If the tide is too low, there’s not enough water to float a kayak. As it turns out our timing was perfect. We launched from the location of the old Oyster Farm and paddled about 2 1/2 miles down the Estero and into Home Bay. The propeller is not far from the eastern shore of the bay.

Propeller of a P-39 Airacobra in Home Bay. Drakes Estero. Point Reyes National Seashore.
Propeller of a P-39 Airacobra in Home Bay. Drakes Estero. Point Reyes National Seashore.
BASK Skills Clinic paddle on Drakes Estero.

During WWII Drakes Estero was used as a practice bombing range. It seems hard to imagine P-39 Airacobras flying dive bombing missions over the bay, given it’s current peaceful state.

The usual paddle on Drakes Estero is to launch from the beach at the parking area, the previous location of the oyster farm, and paddle down the bay to the sand spit at the entrance for lunch and return. Here’s a link to a Youtube video I put together a couple of years ago of a paddle on the estero. We were paddling as part of the 2018 BASK Skills Clinic. Our group decided on an alternative plan. We decided to poke into Home Bay and look for sunken treasure, the treasure being the propeller of the P-39. We were lucky enough to find the propeller and then, with a nice beach close by we landed and had lunch. With a rising tide, the propeller was just about all under water when we finished lunch and our boats were just about to float off the rapidly diminishing beach.

Back in our boats we were amazed to watch several schools of bat rays and a few leopard sharks gliding under our boats in the shallow water. With the hopes of capturing one in a photo I stuck my waterproof camera in the water, over the side of my kayak, and snapped away.

BASK Skills Clinic paddle on Drakes Estero.
BASK Skills Clinic paddle on Drakes Estero.

Amazingly enough, I actually captured one, although not something to brag about as far as quality of the photo is concerned. When we returned to our launch point the wind was picking up and the fog was moving in. Perfect timing for a pleasant day on the water.

 

Rock the Boat

Most people prefer to have a boat that’s stable.  Being on a boat that is rocking can be unsettling. Kayaks on the other hand can be a bit tippy, and learning how to use that characteristic to your advantage can be a valuable skill on the water. Take for example a situation where you might get thrown off balance by a wave. Learning how to edge and brace can save you from tipping over.

On Sunday, August 5 our goal was to teach fellow kayakers how to rock the boat.  This is the second weekend of this years BASK 2018 Skills Clinic. Last year I was one of the students in the clinic. This year I’m a volunteer on the teaching side. Putting your kayak on edge also makes it much easier to turn. You have less boat in the water if it is on edge.

BASK 2018 Skills Clinic session at the Berkeley Marina on August 5, 2018.

Learning these skills takes practice, since some of the motions are counter-intuitive. As you can see our students are well taken care of with plenty instructors and volunteers. We start with simple exercises to build the basics and then progress as the students gain confidence in their skills. Part of this process is learning to trust your fellow paddlers. Knowing you’re among skilled and knowledgeable paddlers add to the fun and camaraderie.

Building the Pygmy Ronan

After paddling a Pygmy Coho for close to 20 years I decided I wanted a boat that was a little more playful on the water. The Pygmy Ronan caught my attention and after paddling one at the Pygmy facility in Port Townsend Washington, I decided this would be my next boat. This boat is intended to serve two purposes, when I’m paddling with my wife it will be her boat, and when I’m paddling with others, it will be my boat. I started building in May of 2017 and during the course of the build I kept several time lapse cameras going to document the process. I launched the boat in October. Over the course of the build I accumulated over 40 hours of time lapse video, so it’s taken me some time to edit it down to two minutes.  The boat took about 75 hours to assemble, working in chunks of time from an hour or so up to three hours.

I’m happy to say the boat performs beyond my expectations. Light weight and easy to get on an off my the top of my pop-up camper,  playful on the water and easier to manage in rough water than the 17 foot Coho.

Turn Left at the Gargoyle

#1 Park N Surf Oceanview.. Wild Tender Sanctuary.

On Saturday evening July 21, with the sun setting and the fog moving in I was a bit concerned about finding the campsite I’d reserved. I had printed off instructions on how to find the site. The instructions were two pages long, including such instructions as “veer LEFT on what we lovingly call “Wong Way.” There is a sign on the road that reads “Wrong Way,” and then further along “take a left at the gargoyle and proceed toward the ocean…”

This was following a day on the water learning how to teach kayaking techniques for an upcoming kayaking skills clinic being offered through the Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK). The kayaking was happening in Half Moon Bay, but the closest camping I could find was a site called Park N Surf #1 located on a property called Wild Tender Sanctuary near Pigeon Point Light House. I found the site through Hipcamp.com, a website that’s useful for locating camping alternatives to the better known campgrounds. It’s a bit like Airbnb for camping. Actually I should credit my wife for finding the site. I trust her to conjure up a camping when everything seems to be booked.

I was secure in my camper at twilight, just as the sky was going dark. The next morning I broke camp, and headed back to Half Moon Bay for the second day of kayak exercises. On Sunday it was all about the forward stroke; learning how to make the boat move efficiently without tiring your arms. While the kayaking was fun, the real adventure for the weekend was finding my campsite.

#1 Park N Surf Oceanview.. Wild Tender Sanctuary.
Skills Clinic Volunteers Weekend. Half Moon Bay.
Tunitas Creek Beach

Great Basin National Park

Our camp near Great Basin National Park

Friday evening June 15 found us in Great Basin National Park. The word was that Great Basin National Park is one of the least visited parks in the country, and that said, we were hoping to find camping at one of the campgrounds in the park. We headed first for Wheeler Peak Campground, which was full, then on to Upper Lehman, which looked like a lovely campground, but it was also full. We then decided to try going off the grid, taking a dirt road near the Pole Canyon picnic area. The road took us just outside of the park where we found a quiet spot in some junipers to put the top up.A  very peaceful and pleasant spot. No services other than a fire pit, and we did not bring fire wood. Not a soul in sight, and not a single car on the road.
The next day we drove back up the mountain and we had a lovely hike up into the Bristlecone Pines. I was hoping to make it an early morning trip to catch some soft light, but given the drive and a 1 1/2 mile hike to reach the trees, that seemed unpractical.
Wheeler Peak. Great Basin National Park.
Bristlecone Pine. Great Basin National Park.

 

What Memo? And Whales!

Thursday, May 3. Up at 5:30 to take care of some business before joining my kayaking friends for a paddle out the Golden Gate. After taking care of business, a conference call, I hopped in my truck and drove to our intended launch site, Horseshoe Cove, near the Golden Gate Bridge. When I arrived I was greeted with “Didn’t you get the message that the paddle was cancelled?” It seems with the weather prediction for wind the official BASK trip had been cancelled. That left five of us with our boats and weather that looked manageable. We huddled up and discussed the prospects. If the predicted wind did come up, it would blow us back in the Gate.

Paddle out the Golden Gate to Point Bonita.
Susan playing in a blow hole.
Thar she blows! Whale sighting
Can you find the whale? The black spot to the left of the two kayaks.
Yours truly at Black Sand Beach, our lunch stop.

With the requisite radio check and safety talk, we launched our boats for a “non-BASK” paddle. We went out the Gate, and hugged the coast along the north side looking for opportunities to play in the rocks. I’m a bit shy about rock gardening, not wishing to bash my wooden boat into rocks, and thinking I’ll need to get a plastic boat for rock gardening. Playing in the rocks looks like so much fun. I did find a few spots where I could poke in and out of the rocks confidently. We stopped at Black Sand Beach for lunch, and then continued on to towards Point Bonita. We found a blow hole not far from the point, and took turns nosing our boats into the hole and taking a shower in salt spray. An impressive amount of spray for just a little wave action. Then we headed out to the point where we waved to the tourists lining the railing at the light house.

For our homeward leg we took advantage of the wind to blow us back under the bridge. We went for the deeper water making a straight shot for the bridge.  It was there that we saw two whales spout. We first sighted them when they were a couple of hundred yards ahead of us. They closed in on us fast, passing between our boats.  We also saw porpoise, sea lions, seals and a huge flock of grebes. We made quick time returning to our launch site with the wind and current in our favor. We launched at 10 am and were off the water at 2:30 covering 8.9 Miles.

About the time we were pulling our boats out of the water blue shy was showing and the wind was picking up. I seems we were just ahead of the predicted wind. You can view more photos from our adventure here and view the track of our paddle here, including a way point that shows the whale sighting. A remarkable paddle for those of us that didn’t get the memo.

Back on the Water

On Thursday April 12, I manged to get back on the water to go paddling.  We were off to Africa in late February and upon returning home in mid-March I developed bronchitis which kept me off the water for a couple of weeks. Almost two months without a padding “fix!”

Kayakers approachint the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. BASK Thursday Paddle on April 12, 2018
BASK Thursday Paddle on April 12, 2018
BASK Thursday Paddle on April 12, 2018
Protect the Environment. BASK Thursday Paddle on April 12, 2018
Return trip with Angel Island and San Francisco in the distance. BASK Thursday Paddle on April 12, 2018

In any event,  my schedule permitted me to join my BASK friends for the Thursday Lunch paddle on April 12. Our journey took us from Ferry Point to Point Molate.  We paddled past the tanker pier at the Chevron facility in Richmond. Note the words on the superstructure of one of the tankers “Protect the Environment.” Seems a bit ironic. We had blue sky with puffy cumulus clouds and calm water. There were four of us and our paddle covered eight miles. You can view a track of the paddle here.  As we approached the San Rafael Bridge, I was struck by the graphic element of the bridge with the clouds and I thought it might make an interesting black and white image. What do you think?

 

Up the Creek

Georgia J
Old Sailer Statue
House on a cliff
Anchor detail of the tall ship Active
Driftwood and clouds

On Sunday February 20, I paddled my kayak up San Rafael Creek, launching from Loch Lomond Yacht Harbor. The original plan was to meet with a number of fellow paddlers for a paddle across the bay.  With high winds predicted, crossing the bay did not sound like a wise thing to do, so I cancelled the organized paddle. Being the trip initiator though, I thought I should show up at the launch site to intercept anybody that might not have gotten the word about the cancellation.  No other kayaks showed up. From the launch site it’s just a short distance to San Rafael Creek, and for the most part, staying close to shore provides protection from the wind. I decided I would go on a solo paddle. I was wearing a full dry suit for protection should I end up in the water, my personal flotation device (PFD, lifejacket), and I had a marine VHF radio and cell phone which I keep in a Lifeproof case, along with my trusty little Olympus Tough TG-4 waterproof camera which has become my go-to camera for paddling. I was also curious to know how my new boat, the Pygmy Ronan, would handle in the wind. So I put my boat in the water, climbed in and took my time paddling up the creek as far as I could go. Being solo I was able to poke along and explore the yacht harbors and boats without having to keep up with the gang; free to do my own thing. Here are a few photos I captured along the way. Happy to report that the boat handled the wind better than I expected. Many kayaks tend to “weathercock” meaning they turn into the wind, which adds to the effort required to get the boat to go in the direction you want. Skegs and rudders are often used to correct for this. I’m thinking I may be fine without any modifications. Shortly after I returned to my launch site the wind picked up and I was happy to be off the water.  A round trip of 5.5 miles. If you are curious about just where it was I was paddling you can see my track here.

Lunch at China Camp

Paddling towards the Marin Islands. Thursday BASK Paddle. Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp.
Threading Grindel’s Needle at The Sisters. Thursday BASK Paddle. Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp.
Lunch at China Camp. Thursday BASK Paddle. Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp.
Lunch at China Camp. Thursday BASK Paddle. Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp.
Mt Tamalpais rising out of the bay. Thursday BASK Paddle. Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp.

 

I joined a few of my fellow BASK members for a paddle from Lock Lomond Yacht Harbor to China Camp where we had lunch. At the launch the weather was looking a bit chilly with the potential for some wind. By lunch time thought, the weather had warmed up and the little wind we had seemed to have disappeared. We paddled out from Loch Lomond going between the Marin Island and then altered our course for The Sisters. There where we took the opportunity to “thread Gridel’s Neddle” a slot in the rock on one of The Sisters that one can paddle through.  Once through the Needle, we headed for the beach at China Camp where we broke our our lunches. After lunch we had the current with us for a quick trip back to the Yacht Harbor.  Clear skies and calm water for the day’s paddle. We get some of our best paddling weather in the fall and winter.  Our course covered nine miles. You can view the GPS track here.