Every September our kayaking club, Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK), heads to Mendocino for a week. Over the course of the week there were some 70 or so club members camping at Van Damme State Park. Joann and I arrived on the afternoon of Monday, September 22. Events of the week included a number of organized paddles on the coast and on the rivers. I participated in four paddles, two river and two coastal.
September 23. Big River. The Big River empties into the ocean just south of the town of Mendocino. Nine of us were on the water at 10:00 launching from the sandy beach to the east of the highway.
This is a winding lazy river which feels the effects of the tides. Redwood trees come right down to the water, and the banks are lined with ferns and alders as well as redwoods. Paddling here is a serene and peaceful experience. Most of the group stopped for lunch at the “second culvert.” There is a dirt logging road that runs along part of the river, and the road goes over a couple of culverts that are big enough to paddle through. Rather than join the others for lunch, Joann and I opted to continue paddling up the river riding the tail end of the flood. At 11:30 we noted that the current had stopped going upstream. It was time to stop for lunch. I caught a glimpse of a river otter as we were preparing to stop. Other paddlers reported seeing a number of otters and a bear.
We found a shallow spot with a downed log, pulled our kayaks up out of the water and sat on the log while we ate lunch. As we were eating the water level was rising and our boats were threatening to float off without us. The dry log that we were sitting on was no longer dry. We hopped back in our boats and paddled back down the river. We seemed to be chasing a Great Blue Heron down the river. He would alight and fly down the river a few handed yards, only to repeat as we approached again. We were back at our launch site about 3:30 having logged 14.5 miles.
September 24. Open Coast. While the rivers are calm and serene, the coast can be quite dynamic. Some spots give you the sensation of being in a washing machine with water sloshing back and forth with the wave action. We joined a paddle led by two of our more experienced members, Tom and Ellen, launching from Van Damme Beach at 10:30. Eleven of us paddled south exploring a couple of caves and tunnels. There was plenty of dynamic water with a significant swell spicing things up. Fortunately, there are some reefs and rocks that provide protection for some of the features.
One popular feature is a pour over called Disney. A pour over is a feature where, with proper timing, you can ride a wave over a rock. I have watched many people execute this pour over on previous trips but never had the nerve to try it myself. Today it looked like something I could manage, so I went for it.
I positioned myself for the ride and was holding position while watching the waves, looking for the wave that I would ride. As a wave approached all the water in the hole I was in disappeared, and then with a whoosh a wave caught me and took me over the rock. I was quite happy that I stayed upright. Having a good bracing stroke saved me from capsizing. One of the pictures above shows Ellen riding over Disney.
September 25. Albion River. The Albion river is another lazy tidal river south of Mendocino. Nineteen of us launched from a boat ramp at the Albion River Campground. There are several houseboats on this river which gives it a sense of humanity although most of the houseboats are abandoned and deteriorating which gives them a ghostly feel.
We paddled up the river and found a dry marsh where we could haul out for lunch. After lunch we continued up the river until we were stopped by a downed tree at the 4 1/2 mile mark. Several people decided to haul their boats over the logs and continue exploring. That looked like quite an exercise, getting out of the boat, climbing up on the log and dragging a boat over. A couple of people ended up in the water, or hanging onto the log like drowned sloths. You can see a photo of Deborah hauling her boat over a log. Most of us were content to call this the end of the road and we headed back down the river.
September 27. Rock Gardening 101 and Potluck. Today I was happy to have made the list for Bill Vonnegut’s Rock Gardening 101 Class. This is all about learning how to read the water and making decisions about what features to explore given conditions and skill. I opted to leave my camera on the beach, since I wanted to be unencumbered by any equipment that might be a liability should I capsize. It was actually refreshing to concentrate on paddling without my mind always looking for photo ops.
One of the thrills was doing the elevator ride. Waves that come into a vertical surface such as a cliff lose their forward energy as they reflect off the cliff. You can actually point the bow of your boat at the cliff, holding it just inches away while the waves take you up and down. It’s an amazing experience. Conditions were such today that we did not execute any pour overs or explore any caves.
In the evening the club had a potluck dinner with more food than you can imagine. We participated in the Dutch Oven Cookoff, entering our Enchilada Casserole as an entree. After dinner, with our eyes drooping, we were off to bed before the awards were announced. We woke the next morning to discover that we had won the best entree. The award was a bottle of Silver Wood 2002 Cabernet. What an excellent wine! Cheers!
More photos are available in an online gallery.
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