Category: kayaking

Paddling the Apostles

Our adventure starts on July 14. That’s when we met our guide and completed our safety check. The outfitters, Trek and Trail, require paddlers to demonstrate a wet exit and self-rescue to qualify to paddle single kayaks. Joann and I both successfully demonstrated the use the paddle float to get back in the boat.

The next morning, July 15 ,we arrived at the outfitters at 7:30 am to assemble the gear for our paddle. Once the gear was organized, we hopped in the van with kayaks in tow and headed to Sand Bay. We did a pretty quick job of packing all our gear for the three-day trip. At 9:30 we were on the water heading out to Sand Island.

On the Northeast corner of the island we paddled through some amazing sea caves. The red sandstone contrasting with the clear turquoise water was mesmerizing.

Once we were around the top of the island we stopped at the lighthouse, landing on some flat rocks. Nahon helped us beach our fully loaded kayaks. Actually, he single-handedly manhandled the boats.

We were treated to a personalized tour of the lighthouse from docent Laurie. With light rain falling and the forecast of a storm moving in, we didn’t dally too long at the lighthouse. We were back on the water shortly after noon, pressing on to get to our campsite for lunch.

On the last leg of our paddle, the sky continued to darken, and the skies exploded with thunder; not just occasional peal of thunder but a continual roar, as if the gods were tearing the skies apart. We were a bit anxious about being on the water with a thunderstorm in the distance. We pressed on and we were on the beach a short time later, landing at 12:30. We unpacked our gear and broke out lunch.

On July 16 we woke to wind, rain and the sound of surf pounding the beach. With small craft warnings up, we decided to explore the island on foot, hiking to the lighthouse and to East Bay. Dinner was pulled pork sandwiches. We ate well on the trip.

On July 17 we woke to sun and calm water. We broke camp, loaded the kayaks and continued our journey around Sand Island and back to the mainland.

Along the northwest side of the Bayfield Penninsua we found more sea caves to explore. We had fun paddling in and out of caves and through tunnels. The cliffs of red sandstone are covered with lush green vegetation and hanging gardens and waterfalls. I was struck by the sound created by the waves lapping into many miniature blow holes: plink, plop, ploink, squish, swish. It would be fun just to capture the sounds and compile them into a composition.

It was about 3:00 pm when we landed on Meyers Beach. There we unpacked and jumped in the van for the ride back to Trek and Trail in Bayfield. Our paddle out to the island and back logged a little over 22 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery. We were happy we had taken our drysuits with us. With the weather and cool temperatures, we stayed quite comfortable. The sign at Meyers Beach noted the water temperature at 41 degrees.

Kayaking Croatia: Drvenik Veliki to Trogir

Our journey today starts in the sleepy little town of Drvenik Veliki on the island of Drvenik Veli. This marks the last day of our five-day kayaking adventure in Croatia. The day begins with breakfast at our villa, Villa LA. Our guide Marko put out a spread of cheese, ham, bread, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice and scrambled eggs. After breakfast we walked down to the harbor and launched off of a boat ramp.

A high tide of 0.49 feet and a low of 0.42 feet means that tides and currents are not an issue. There is little tidal effect here compared to what we are used to in San Francisco. It’s also a pleasure to paddle in swimsuits without the need for dry suits.

The water is flat calm and crystal clear as we launch. We head out of the bay and turn northeast towards the mainland, crossing the channel and keeping an eye out for ferries and pleasure boats. We feel the slight effect of the following seas and light wind, so I alternate between using my best paddling technique and edging and using the rudder to keep the boat on course. I’m not fond of rudders and this boat behaves a bit different from the one I paddle at home, but efficient enough for my needs.

I’m astounded by the color of the water and how it changes from a deep blue to transparent turquoise with the light reflecting off the white limestone and sand bottom. At 11:00 we pull into a small beach on a little island and our guide Marko surprises us by serving up ice cream.

After ice cream and a quick swim, we are back in the boats continuing to the mainland. We stop at a white sand beach just a few kilometers west of Trogir. After lunch we continue to Trogir, paddling up the canal and under three bridges.

As we exit the canal, we join the larger body of water, and we feel wind in our faces. We paddle into the wind, perhaps 10 knots, passing under the highway bridge and landing on a beach just east of the bridge. This ends an amazing five days of paddling the “Hidden Archipelago” of Croatia. I’ll be posting more highlights about this adventure in future posts so stay tuned.

Enchanted Archipelago: Day 1

At 9:00 our guide, Marko, picks us up at Vila Baguc where we’ve been staying in Split. We hop in the van and drive to Trogir to pick up Penny and Phil, a couple from England that are part of our tour. There will be five of us on the Enchanted Archipelago tour. Then we drive to our intended launch point, a beautiful beach at Vinisce. Marko provides the weather prediction which is for wind later in the day. We discuss the options; the plan is to launch from the beach and paddle to Drvenik Mali for a lunch stop.

The clarity of the water and the colors are enchanting. We land on a beach in the harbor at Drvenik Mali. Marko finds a spot to spread out the goods for a picnic lunch.

After lunch there is some concern about the wind. Marko consults with his boss and informs us that we will be taking the ferry for the next leg given the wind. We carry our kayaks up the ramp onto the ferry.

Once the ferry is underway it’s clear we made the right choice. The wind was whipping at about 18 knots with gust to 25. You can see the whitecaps on the water from the deck of the ferry. I kept a log of the day’s activities. The track includes the ferry from Drvenik Mali to Drvenik Viliki.

Even though our paddling was cut short it was a splendid first day of paddling. Once the ferry reached out destination, Marko led us on a short walk to our accommodations at Villa LA. In the evening, we all walked over to a restaurant overlooking the bay for a lovely dinner with a view of the town lit by the setting sun.

Thursday Paddle: Marconi to Tomales Beach

Tomales Bay is one of my favorite places to paddle, so, when one of my paddling buddies announced a paddle on Tomales Bay, I jumped at the opportunity. One of the hurdles to this location is getting across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge during rush hour. Google Maps was predicting a driving time of 1:15 when we left. We were on the road at 8:05 and we arrived at Marconi Beach at 9:50. A slow trip, but needless to say we weren’t the last party to arrive, and we were on the water at 10:40.

There were 10 of us, quite a turnout for a Thursday paddle. The prediction was partly cloudy with light winds and a low tide of -0.12 feet at 10:56. Our plan was to paddle across the bay to the Point Reyes peninsula and to use the ebb current to give us a boost to Tomales Beach. The beach at Marconi is mostly gravel with a few rocks. Those with composite boats need to take care in launching.

The calm water made for some interesting photo opportunities with the reflections on the water.

We landed on Tomales Beach at noon, choosing to land on the eastern end of the beach to avoid the shallow water and mud to the west. After lunch we were back on the water. By now we were getting a slight flooding current, which again gave us an assist in paddling back to our launch site. We were back on the beach shortly after 2:00.

You can see the track of our paddle above. Over the course of the day, we logged just a hair over 8 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Low Tide Kayaking: Journey to Windsurfer Beach

Planning a paddle on a low tide can be a challenge. Many of the put-ins around the Bay are mud at low tide. For today’s paddle our leader, Alan, scoped out a paddle starting at the Loch Lomond boat ramp and paddling to Windsurfer Beach. Both locations are accessible on a low tide. Fourteen of us congregated on the grass next to the boat ramp, ready for a paddle on a glorious day. The plan was to follow the channel out towards the southeast corner of the Marin Islands. From there, once in deep enough water, we headed south under the Richmond-San Rafael bridge and then west to Windsurfer Beach.

Our assembly raised the eyebrows of the harbormaster. While he’s quite sympathetic to kayakers, he did express concern about such a large group of us launching from the boat ramp. He asked us to consider launching from the beach at the north end of the harbor in the future. We’re always careful to minimize our time on the boat ramp, but even so we’ll use the beach for future paddles.

We were on the water at 10:30 with a low tide of -0.55 feet at 11:18. Staying close to the edge of the boating channel we managed to stay out of the mud.

Clear skies and calm waters made for a glorious day. Arriving at Windsurfer we picked our way between rocks to find a few sandy and gravelly spots to land our boats.

After lunch we were back on the water for the return trip. The majority of the group opted to return by paddling around the Marin Islands.

Over the course of the day we logged 9.1 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Joann’s First Paddle in Her NDK Pilgrim

Joann has a new boat. Today she had it on the water for the first time. This boat, an NDK Pilgrim, has been on her wish list for a couple of years. Seven of us launched our boats from Ferry Point, on the water at 10:30. Here’s a photo of Joann heading out. The plan was to paddle inside the breakwater and over to Shimada Friendship Park.

Our plans changed. As we paddled along the breakwater, we noticed that with the high tide, we might be able to paddle over the rocks at a break. Here’s a photo of Joann paddling through the break. If you look closely, you can see the rocks just in front of her boat. I was a bit surprised she was willing to take her new carbon-Kevlar boat close to the rocks.

Once we were through the breakwater we decided to continue around Brooks Island, landing for lunch at Barbara and Jay Vincent Park.

Back on the water, we hugged the Richmond waterfront and made our way back to our launch point. We found ourselves facing a moderate headwind on our way back. Over the course of the day, we had a variety of conditions from calm to a bit of chop and wind, with the wind on various points. Great conditions for trying out a new boat. Joann reports that she is quite happy with the boat. It’s nimble and handles well.

NDK boats are not easy to come by. They are made in North Wales, designed by Nigel Dennis. Joann snapped this boat up in October when the local distributor posted a special sale price. The downside was waiting for several months for the opportunity to have the boat transported across country. The Pilgrim is designed for a small paddler under 140 pounds. At 15.75 feet long and 20″ wide, it’s sleek and nimble. It’s also easy to get on the cartop carrier at 38 pounds. I’m experiencing boat envy; it’s time to think about what my next boat may be.

Tomales Bay: Marconi to Inverness

Having loaded the boats on the car the day before, we were ready for an early start to make the drive to our launch site. It’s a 50-mile drive to Marconi Cove. We were on the road at 8:05, arriving at 9:30. Traffic across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was normal for the morning rush hour. We seemed to have time to spare for a 10:30 launch, so in addition to the usual safety talk and radio check we took a few minutes to do some stretches. We launched on flat calm water under grey skies.

On the water I discovered that my skeg was jammed. I’m paddling a Dagger Stratos 14.5S. Attempts to free it were unsuccessful, so I was putting extra energy into boat control, trying to keep the boat on course. Good practice.

We paddled across the bay and followed the shore to Inverness. Our original plan was to have lunch near the wreck of the Reyes. I actually have a photo of this wreck taken when it was still an interesting photo subject. That photo is available in my art store. Now the wreck is looking rather dilapidated. You can see it over the back deck of the kayaks in one of the following photos.

It was too early for lunch when we reached the wreck, so we opted to paddle back across the bay to Millerton Point in Tomales Bay State Park. During a quick stop while scouting lunch locations Joann and Steve swapped boats, with Joann paddling the Romany. Once we landed for lunch, I was able to free the skeg. Some gravel had become jammed in the skeg well and the pull tab I had put on the skeg to assist in this process was missing.

Jellyfish were quite plentiful on the paddle, and I was tempted to stick my camera underwater (iPhone in a dive case) and snap randomly hoping I would capture them. To my surprise, I actually captured something. More photos are available in an online gallery. We were back at our launch site at 1:50 having logged 8 miles. On the drive home we stopped at the Tamale vendor at the Platform Bridge. Tamales for dinner. Yum!

A Day of Kayaking: High Tide at Richardson Bay

A high tide of 6.4 feet at 11:12 AM gave us an excuse to paddle up some of the creeks around the north end of Richardson Bay. Under a clear blue sky we assembled on the beach at Dunphy Park. After an orientation, safety talk and radio check we were on the water at 10:00.

We paddled across the bay to Harbor Point, then inside of Aramburu Island and along the shore of Strawberry. We looped back on the outside of the island. Once we were back around Harbor Point, we headed north, and up the creek to East Blithedale Avenue where the creek ended. On the way back down the creek we stopped at Bayfront Park for lunch.

Then it was back down the creek and up Aroyo Corte Madera passing under the bridge at Camino Alto. Then up Coyote Creek to the Flamingo Road Bridge before heading back to Dunphy Park.

I think I set a record for the number of bridges I paddled under on one day. We saw many shore birds and a few harbor seals. We logged 12.8 miles, which is about as far as I will typically paddle on a day. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Kayaking Adventure in Monterey Bay

In January our kayaking club, BASK, makes an annual pilgrimage to Monterey for a weekend of paddling. This year on Saturday, January 11, we congregated at Del Monte Beach just north of the Monterey Bay Kayaks for a safety talk and to organize into pods. There were about 30 of us. We broke up into three pods, the “long pod” that had a goal of paddling out to the buoy off of Point Pinos, a “fast pod” that intended to go as far as Lovers Point, and a “slow pod” that would follow the same route as the “fast pod.”

We opted to join the fast pod. We were on the water shortly after 10:00. There was a little bit of wave action getting off the beach. I felt like I got a bucket of water thrown in my face as I punched through a wave.

Once on the water we paddled out past the harbor, along the shore, and past the Monterey Bay Aquarium, keeping a distance from the white water surging around rocks. We saw what must have been hundreds of sea otters.

Off of Lovers Point Beach we stopped briefly to observe the surf, noting that conditions were not conducive to landing for lunch. We continued paddling out past Point Pinos. As we left the protection of the bay we started to feel the swell. These 8– to 10-foot waves would roll under us as we paddled. It felt like we were paddling up and down hills. Up one side and down the other, or as one paddler suggested, an elevator ride up and down. After getting a sense of ocean paddling, we turned around and headed back.

Track of the Monterey Bay paddle.

We stopped for a few minutes to break out our emergency snacks since we wouldn’t be landing on the beach for lunch. One paddler who felt more confident in the conditions ventured closer to shore and managed to surf a few of the waves. Then it was back to our launch point. You can see the track of our paddle above.

I had hoped to have a smooth landing, but my timing was off, and a wave caught me. As my boat broached, turning parallel to the waves, I was able to brace on the wave and side-surf into the beach without getting dumped. We were back on the beach at 1:00 having logged 7.4 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

New Year Paddle Adventure in Oakland

What better way is there to start the new year than paddling? One of our local outfitters, California Canoe and Kayak (CCK), has a tradition of hosting a New Year’s Day paddle followed by a potluck lunch where they provide a huge pot of Turkey Chili. I signed up to reserve a boat since renting would save me loading and unloading. We launched from the CCK dock at Jack London Square.

Kieth, the owner of CCK, put me in a P&H Virgo LV. I’ve been admiring this boat for some time so today I get to give it a spin. The folks at CCK were quite well organized. Boats were already on the dock with names on them when I arrived at 9:30. Actually, the boat that had my name on it was not the boat I paddled. I swapped with another paddler who didn’t fit in the Virgo.

Shortly after 10:00 we were on the water. We had three pods of paddlers, an ambitious group heading for Treasure Island, a less ambitious group headed to Tidewater Boating Center, and an easy group headed for Coast Guard Island. Paddling on the Oakland Estuary is always an interesting experience. I opted for the paddle to Tidewater. As we made our way up the Estuary our first encounter was with several rowing shells. We hugged the shore to let them pass. Heading into Brooklyn Basin, we were serenaded by a DJ playing music and calling out dance steps to a bevy of dancers on the wharf. All the drawbridges (Park Street, Fruitvale and High Street) gave us a show as several fleets of sailboats hailed them to give way.

We arrived at Tidewater Boating Center about 11:30, and after a short break we were back in our boats. One of my challenges on this paddle was wondering if I could climb in and out of my boat at the dock, since I’m still a bit stiff following knee replacement surgery. I’m happy to report that I managed just fine. More photos are available in an online gallery.