Tag: Pygmy Boats

Gone Paddling x 4

Here are four more paddling adventure which deserve to be documented. I consider this blog to be a diary of my adventures. If I don’t record the adventures, I may forget they ever happened. And for the past few years, as the new year turns over, I have turned my blog entries into a coffee table book.

So here are four paddles: 10/27 Richmond to Albany, 11/03 Eckley Pier, 11/10 Gallenas Creek, and 11/28 Windsurfer.

Richmond to Albany

On October 27 there were just two of us with two wooden Pygmy Boats. We launched from Ferry Point in Richmond, paddled out past the end of the breakwater and then past Brooks Island. We poked into the basin northeast of Caesar Chavez Park thinking we might find a spot to land, but we didn’t see much so we paddled to Albany Beach where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we returned to our launch site by way of the Richmond waterfront, stopping to admire the Red Oak Victory. We logged 11 miles.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Eckley Pier

November 3. Seven of us gathered at Eckley Pier for a paddle to Martinez. The pilings of several abandoned piers provide an obstacle course to practice boat control. I had my GoPro camera running to capture the action. It remains to be seen when that footage will be available. From Eckley Pier we paddled out towards the shipping channel to take advantage of the flooding current.

Once we reached the Martinez Marina, we hauled our boats up the boat ramp and off to the side to keep the ramp free for boaters. We logged 8.8 miles over the course of the day.

Gallenas Creek

November 10. Up the creek, Gallenas Creek. We launched from China Camp and took advantage of the high tide to paddle up the creek. When we could no longer make forward progress, we returned to the McInnis Canoe and Kayak Dock where we hauled out our boats and had lunch. Our course covered 10 miles.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Windsurfer Beach

November 29. Loch Lomond to Windsurfer Beach. This paddle takes us under the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and past San Quentin State Prison. At lunch on Windsurfer Beach, we watched the ferries and a dredge. We paddled around the Marin Islands on the return leg, a total of 8.2 miles.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Middle Harbor

On December 18, we decided to launch from Encinal Boat Ramp in Alameda and paddle to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland.

We launched at 10:30 on a flood current, which meant we would be paddling against the current going towards Oakland, but with a small tidal change, the current would be minimal. In the afternoon we’d be riding the current back. I plotted the course using the BASK.org trip planner, measuring about 4.3 miles to our intended lunch location. I printed a copy of the map which I studied, looking for a landmark that would mark our turning point to paddle into the beach. Then I stuck the map in my dry box, which I keep in a hatch.

I opted to paddle my Dagger Stratos rather than my wooden Coho. Why? Because I hadn’t paddled it for awhile.

All was fine, paddling on calm waters. As we approached the port, I kept an eye out for the jetty I had noted as our turning point. We arrived at the end of the pier at the port and poked around the end thinking we’d find the park. What? No beach? I fiddled with my GPS unit trying to pull up the map on the tiny screen. Then it became clear that I had picked the wrong landmark for our turn into the park. Note to self: Carry a waterproof chart on the deck .

We backtracked and found the beach. A fine sand beach lined with palm trees. It seemed out of place with container ships to the north and south. It was 12:45 when we landed for lunch and we had worked up an appetite after six miles of paddling. We made a note that this might be a fun place to take the grandkids. There is a viewing platform you can climb to watch the tall cranes moving cargo, a nice beach at least on a high tide, and a dolphin sculpture to play on.

After lunch we were back on the water retracing our route, but sticking closer to the shore. We saw a few harbor seals and thousands of birds including cormorants and brown pelicans. We were back at our launch site at 2:45 having logged 11 miles. I was reminded why I like my wooden Coho. On a long paddle on calm water, it moves with less effort than the Stratos. Want to see more photos? Click here.

A Tale of Two Boats

On November 30 we put our two wooden boats on the water at Drakes Estero. It’s a 50 mile, 75 minute drive from our house to the launch point. We opted to drive out to the Point Reyes peninsula the day before and spend a couple of nights at a lovely little Airbnb rental so that we could enjoy the paddle without having to get up early. High tide was predicted for 10 a.m., and my plan was to be off the water by 2:30 when the sandbars would likely be exposed.

I’m paddling a Pygmy Coho, a kit boat from Pygmy Boats. The Coho was built in 1999, so it’s marking 21 years of use. At 17.5 feet long it’s a full size sea kayak. Joann is paddling the Ronan, built in 2017. I have to confess that if I have my choice I’ll choose the Ronan. The Ronan is 14.25 feet long. The Coho has very little rocker, so it’s fine for passage making when you want a boat that tracks straight. It’s also great for camping since it will hold quite a bit of gear. Sad to say, Pygmy Boats is not producing kits at the moment, and it remains to be seen if they will be back in business. The Ronan is a bit livelier with more rocker and a hard chine, and I find it a more playful boat especially if there is some wind, waves, or dynamic water. Today we anticipated flat water and little wind, so the Coho seemed like the boat for me.

I decided to capture some video with my GoPro camera. Here’s a link:

I alternated camera positions between my helmet and the deck, experimenting with different camera vantage points. I’m never content with just one point of view.

We paddled out the Estero to Sunshine Beach, just opposite the entrance to the Estero. Here we found ourselves feeling just a bit of the swell from the ocean while paddling through the glistening fronds of a kelp forest. After a quick stop, we were back on the water hoping to get across the sandbars before the tide dropped and before the wind picked up. We meandered back through Home Bay. In Home Bay we found the propeller of a WWII P-39. Check out an earlier blog about the sunken treasure.

Over the course of the day we logged 10.5 miles. On the return trip we did find that we were paddling into the wind, with the wind blowing 12-15 miles per hour, not enough to cause concern. Over the course of the day we logged 10.5 miles, a very pleasant paddle, and we were back on the beach at 2:15, ahead of the falling tide. We did see a few birds, including white pelicans and numerous shorebirds, along with a few harbor seals.

Drakes Estero is one of my favorite places to paddle. It has the feeling of a pristine section of the California Coast. It’s within the boundary of the Phillip Burton Wilderness, so there are no motorized vehicles. The Estero is subject to closing for seal pupping; check with the park service if you plan to visit.

Check out an earlier post here. And an earlier Youtube video here.

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.

BASK Thursday Paddle

Treve with the Pygmy Ronan

Thursday November 10. Seven of us launched our kayaks from Paradise Cay for a paddle to Angel Island where we landed at Immigration Cove for lunch. This was the first time I had my new boat on the water, a Pygmy Ronan. We had a perfect paddle with light winds, slack current and an amazing display of clouds overhead. We paddled about 10 miles round trip. You can view a partial track of our paddle here. Unfortunately, the battery in my iPhone, which I use for keeping a track log, died before I completed the track.