Tag: Drakes Estero

Drakes Estero

14 of us, all BASK members, were ready to get on the water shortly before 10:00 am. With tide being low we dallied a bit, getting on the water at 10:20. You can see the muddy footprints in the photo. The tide prediction for Drakes Bay indicated 3.0 feet of water at 11:00, and we were hoping that by the time we reached the sand bars near the beach we would have enough water to paddle, assuming we could find the channel.

Our course took us south along the west edge of the estero until we ran aground. At that point we paddled east inside the sand bar and eventually found a channel that would take us to the beach. We landed just shy of the point at which the incoming current threatened to send us in the wrong direction. Along the way we saw a group of river otters, pelicans and bat rays.

After lunch we were back in our boats, paddling back along the eastern edge of the estero, and turning into Home Bay.

Paddling along the shore we found the airplane propeller, the remains of a It seems hard to imagine P-39 Airacobras. I wrote about this in a previous blog a few years ago. We also found a few Leopard Sharks and Bat Rays.

We logged 10.4 miles over the course of the day, paddling into a slight current and wind on the way to the beach and taking advantage of the same current and wind on the return. A perfect day to be on the water at Drakes Estero. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Calm Day on the Estero

Thursday, September 12 I was supposed to have a photo shoot for a client, but the shoot was cancelled. My backup plan was to manage some desperately needed home repairs. My wife had a different plan. She said “let’s go paddling on Drakes Estero.”

Paddling through the eel grass beds on Drakes Estero

So at 10 am we were on the beach at Drakes Estero along with several fellow BASK friends, looking a flat calm and with warm weather. I didn’t even opt for a dry suit or a paddling jacket.

Drakes Estero is an estuary in the Point Reyes National Seashore about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Named after Sir Francis Drake, who may have anchored in adjacent Drakes Bay during his explorations. The estero was also famous for oyster farming up until recently when the oyster farm was shut down. Congress declared the Estero a wilderness and oyster farming is not consistent with the management of the wilderness. See my previous posting about the book The Oyster War.

In any event we had a lovely paddle, paddling out to a small beach we have dubbed Sunset Beach, having a leisurely lunch and paddling back. Logging about 8 miles overall.