Tag: rock gardening

Mendo Madness 2025

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.

Mendocino Tunnel Vision

Seven of us gathered on the beach at Russian Gulch to explore the coast north to Point Cabrillo. When paddling around rocks we wear helmets and prefer plastic boats that are more forgiving when banging into rocks. We also wear wetsuits or drysuits should we end up going for a swim. We were on the water about 9 a.m. After a few days of rough water, we had calm conditions with little wind and wave action. This afforded us the opportunity to explore just about every cave and arch between Russian Gulch Beach and Point Cabrillo.

We did have one person go for a swim early in our paddle. A good opportunity to practice a T-rescue.

We paddled north along the coast noodling into every feature we could find. I had a GoPro camera attached to my helmet and was able to record much of our cave exploration.

We did find a couple of channels that offered some dynamic water. A few members of our pod opted to avoid the surging and sloshing water by paddling outside the rocks where conditions were calmer. Those of us that paddled inside the rocks had some fun bracing and practicing boat control.

We arrived at Point Cabrillo just before noon and found a very protected beach on which to land for lunch. After lunch we noodled our way back down the coast, once again taking advantage of the conditions to paddle in and out of the many caves and tunnels.

We were back on the beach a little after 3 p.m., having logged 7.7 miles. You can see the track of our paddle on the map. An excellent day on the water with some good paddling friends.

Kayak Around Iona

August 31. Our Wilderness Scotland paddling adventures included several day paddles exploring parts of the Isles of Mull and Iona. The day’s adventures usually started with a briefing by one of the guides. Here’s Howard explaining the route around Iona. Our land base for these outings was Achaban Houses which was a mile from Fionnphort, our launch point for the paddle around Iona. You can see the van with the kayak trailer in the photo.

It was a promising day as we schlepped boats and gear down to the water’s edge. Without much delay we were on the water but since we had the tail end of the ebb against us, we stayed close to shore looking for eddies and paddling inside the rocks that separate the Sound of Iona. Once we were around the rocks and on the sound, we picked up the pace a bit to make the short crossing to Iona where we paddled around the point and into a white sand beach for coffee and tea.

For the rest of the trip we had the current with us. We poked our noses into caves, paddling in and out of rocks admiring the clear and colorful water. Coming back into Fionnphort we had to hold up a few minutes for the ferry. And then it was off to the pub to celebrate.

More photos are available in an online gallery and you can view a video as well.

We logged 11 miles on calm water. An excellent day’s paddle.

Intro to Rock Gardening

It’s time to get caught up on a few of my recent adventures. The past two months have been quite busy providing photographic services to my architectural clients and caring for a family member that is recovering from a hip replacement. That in itself has been an adventure worth writing about, so stay tuned.

Before that, though, I’m going to turn back the clock to May 15 when I had the opportunity to join a few fellow Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASKers) for a paddle out the Golden Gate. The plan was to paddle out for an introduction to “Rock Gardening.” Most of us have had some experience paddling around rocks, so this was somewhat of a refresher course. You’ll notice that we are all “dressed for immersion,” as well as wearing helmets and paddling plastic boats. It’s better to scrape a plastic boat on the rocks and barnacles than a fiberglass boat.

Once on the water, we poked along the coast inside the bridge to get a feel for the rhythm of the waves. Then we paddled out around Lime Point and under the bridge. Our leader Jan pointed out a number of features suitable for testing our skill and timing at navigating the rocks. It’s all about timing. Time the wave right and you can experience the thrill. Time it wrong and you can end up in the water.

Since paddling in the rocks requires keeping both hands on the paddle, I did not take many photos. I did have a GoPro camera on my helmet and I captured some video including a few frames where I ended up going for a swim. Fortunately my paddling companions were well practiced at rescues and they had me back in my boat in no time. I had been thinking it had been quite some time since I had practiced a rescue, so I guess you could say I got my wish. A fun day on the water. More photos available here.

Through the Washing Machine

Through the Washing Machine. Rock Gardening near Van Damme

I call this image “Through the Washing Machine” for reasons you can imagine. This was captured on a recent trip to Mendocino. I had a GoPro camera mounted on my helmet. I had intended to capture video, but for some reason I ended with a series of stills. It’s a challenge to take photos here. I’m not going to take my helmet off to see what the camera is doing and this isn’t the kind of place where I’m going to pull out my still camera. With water surging in every direction, keeping both hands on the paddle to brace is a good idea.

We were in Mendocino with our kayaking club, BASK, for an annual event called Mendo Madness. The club takes over the better part of the upper loop of camp sites at Van Damme State Park and spends several days paddling in various environments. Rocks and caves on the coast and quiet flat water paddles on the rivers. This day, Thursday September 19, some of the more experienced paddlers offered a Mendo Newbie paddle and I’m always game to tag along when the more experienced paddlers are offering to serve as guides. More about Mendo Madness in the next post. Here’s a couple more photos from my helmet cam. Note the other paddlers playing in the surf and rocks. You can see a kayaker punching through the surf in the right photo, the kayak is just under my paddle.

  • Rock Gardening near Van Damme
  • Rock Gardening near Van Damme

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.