Tag: San Francisco Bay

Rescue Practice

So here’s the scenario. You’re out paddling your kayak along with some of your buddies and one of your paddling buddies ends up unconscious floating face down in the water. And this happens under the Golden Gate Bridge in some lumpy water. What do you do?

This is one of the scenarios we acted out with members of our kayaking club, Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) recently. We gathered in the morning at Horseshoe Bay, on the North side of the Golden Gate Bridge. We broke into two groups, those that wanted to practice basic rescue skills and those that wanted something more challenging including incident management.

I joined the more advanced group. We launched our boats and headed out to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was just off of Lime Point where we had our first execution of a T-rescue. With practice this is an efficient and quick way to get someone back in a boat. After the mornings practice sessions, we landed at Kirby Cove for lunch. As you can see it was a gorgeous day to be on the water.

After lunch we were back on the water. This is where we had a more complicated scenario. Just what do you do when you have an unconscious kayaker in the water? Someone needs to go in the water to assist the person, get them face up, and perhaps provide rescue breathing. Someone else needs to get on the radio to call for help. In our practice, we did get the person back in the kayak and upright, with some cooperation from our “unconscious” victim. The kayak was now full of water and unstable, so two kayakers came alongside to stabilize the boat and the paddler. Two other kayakers used an inline two to get the swamped boat and victim to safety. We were now surfing breaking waves with white caps. I can’t say our “victim” would have survived if this was a real situation, but we all agreed that practicing this scenario gave us a better understanding of what we would do in a real situation. And then messing about in boats with some good friends and well accomplished paddlers is always fun.

Ferry Point to Point Isabel

When we arrived at the parking lot at Ferry Point, we were amazed at how many of our fellow BASK members were getting ready to paddle. It looked like a record turnout for a Thursday lunch paddle. We were on the water at 10 a.m. I counted 12 boats on the water. We paddled out a short distance to the shipping channel and held up waiting for a tugboat with a barge to pass. Shortly thereafter we broke into two pods. One paddler was trying a new boat and discovered that it was not working for him. Fortunately, he was able to paddle back to the beach accompanied by several others and swapped the boat for something more stable. That left the remainder of us waiting. Using our radios to communicate, one pod opted to continue on. The second pod would follow.

We paddled around the end of the breakwater and headed for Brooks Island. On the way we noticed flocks of Cormorants flying about. I don’t recall seeing Cormorants in such numbers. With calm water and no wind, we had an easy paddle. We landed at the Point Isabel boat ramp at 11:40 and with the low tide we had plenty of exposed beach. The second pod was not far behind. They landed about the time we got our boats up above the tide line.

When we arrived on the beach, we were delighted to be greeted by one of our members who had arrived by car, taking a break from paddling due to a back issue. Given the fact that many of us are past 70, I’m about to turn 73, it’s amazing that we can get on the water as often as we do. I keep telling myself to go paddling when I can. My paddling days are numbered. In the morning I will find myself questioning whether I’m up for paddling, given various aches and pains and the desire to just take it easy. But after a paddle I feel ten years younger. I consider paddling part of my physical and mental health regime.

After lunch we were back on the water, taking the inside route back to Ferry Point, landing on the beach about 2:30. Our day’s paddle covered 8 miles.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Roof Rack Failure & Windsurfer

Sometimes it seems the hardest part about kayaking is getting the boat to the water. Getting the boat on the car and getting it off the car and to the water at the launch site can be a challenge. Today I had an added challenge. As I tugged on one of the straps to cinch the boat into the saddles on the car top carrier the cross bar came loose. On inspection I discovered that the support tower that secures the crossbar to the roof was broken. It would be easy enough to just pack it in, but a little voice in my head was saying, “Treve, if you really want to go paddling you have another vehicle you can use.” The racks for the truck were sitting in the driveway, so I accepted the challenge of seeing if I could get the kayak on the truck in time to make it to the launch site. Our intended launch time was 10:00. Google Maps was telling me that it was a 21-minute drive which meant I might just make it. Sure enough, I was able to get the kayak on the camper and on the road in a timely fashion. It was 10:03 when the six of us pushed off from the beach.

With the constant parade of storms coming our way we found a weather window with perfect conditions for paddling. Our course took us past San Quentin State Prison, then under the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and on to Loch Lomond Marina. Just for fun we tried squeezing our boats through a narrow gap in the pilings at the end of the breakwater at the Yacht Harbor.

Time for lunch, but in my haste to get on the road after the roof top debacle I did not have time to make a lunch. Andy’s Market has a fine selection of deli foods and a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, and a loaf of Judy’s bread hit the spot. And don’t forget the chocolate that seems to be ubiquitous on our paddles.

On our return paddle we had calm water and building clouds. We paddled out around the Marin Islands and then back to our launch site, and of course ferry traffic since Windsurfer Beach is close to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal.

My story starts with car top racks, so it’s only appropriate to end with a photo of my boat on top of my camper after the paddle. We covered 8.5 miles over the course of our paddle. Here’s a map that shows our track.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

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.

Angel Island

Thursday morning, November 17. A chilly morning, and climbing into my wet, clammy dry suit seemed quite rude. Wet inside and out. I had been out the previous evening for a rolling clinic. The suit was wet on the outside from being upside down in the cold water of San Francisco Bay, and damp on the inside from condensation. I contemplated adding a layer of insulation but figured once I was on the water I would warm up.

Six of us assembled on the beach at Ferry Point. The predicted weather and tides were favorable for a paddle around Angel Island. After a quick safety talk and radio check we were on the water at 10 a.m. Shortly after leaving the protection of the Richmond Shipping Channel, we encountered a breeze and some wind waves out of the northwest. We watched several ferries zipping up and down the bay, and then we held up for a barge that was crossing our path in the shipping lane. We had a couple of harbor seals check us out also.

Our radios were handy for staying in touch and keeping the pod together in the midst of ship traffic. Once we were across the shipping lane we opted to continue our way around the island in a clockwise direction. We landed on Perles Beach a little after noon. Perles Beach faces the Golden Gate with a panoramic view that includes San Francisco as well.

There was just enough breeze to create a bit of a wind chill, so after a brief lunch we were happy to get back in our boats to continue our journey. Back on the water we continued around the island. After rounding Point Stewart, we paddled close to shore to check out the beach at Kayak Camp. One of the photos shows a fellow kayaker with his boat pointed to the trail that leads up from the beach to the campground. There was no trail visible from the water. The trail is presumably overgrown. Once we were back around to the eastern side of the island, we again held up for shipping traffic and then continued on our way back to Ferry Point.

We were back on the beach at 2:20 p.m. after a perfect paddle around Angel Island logging 12 miles. You can see more photos in an online gallery. Here’s the track of our paddle.

Gone Paddling

I can’t seem to keep up with my own adventures. To get current, here are three kayak trips I’d like to share: February 4 from Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor, March 17 Windsurfer to Loch Lomond, and March 22 Loch Lomond to some islands.

Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor

On February 4, five of us launched Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor. The idea was to cover some miles as training for a club event we call the Gonzo, an endurance paddle that visits 15 islands in the Bay. Depending on the route you take, this can be 40 miles. No way am I going to paddle that distance, but I did want to stretch my endurance a bit so I joined this training paddle. Our plan was to paddle between The Brothers, then to an island near the San Rafael Bridge which will remain unnamed, then between the Marin Islands, through The Sisters and back. Our plans changed a bit after we reached the Marin Islands. It became clear that going for The Sisters would put us at a strong disadvantage with the current and wind to make it back to our launch. Just getting back to The Brothers took some effort as the current was starting to build. We managed to cover 9.8 miles with a moving speed of 3.8 mph. Check out more photos in my online gallery.

Windsurfer to Loch Lomond

On March 17 five of us launched from Windsurfer Beach. Our original plan was to paddle on Tomales Bay, but the predicted wind did not bode well for that paddle. My wife and I got an early start with the plan to beat the traffic across the Richmond San Rafael Bridge with a stop at the Bovine Bakery for breakfast. We were already on the road when the call was made to cancel the original plan. With a few quick phone calls, we were able to formulate a plan “B” to launch from Windsurfer Beach. No Bovine Bakery, but we did find Rustic Bakery which also has a delectable selection of goods, so that suited us for breakfast. We logged a healthy 8.3 miles with a moving speed of 3.2 mph. Check out more photos in my online gallery.

Loch Lomond and Islands

On March 22 eight of us gathered at Loch Lomond Marina for a paddle around several islands. Since our route included crossing shipping channels and dealing with currents, we had a briefing to discuss the route. Once on the water we paddled out to the Marin Islands. We found some very shallow water on the way to the islands, barely six inches of water in places. If the tide had been any lower we would not have been able to paddle this route. From the Marin Islands we headed to the island near the San Rafael Bridge that will remain unnamed, and from there it was back to our launch point. We logged 8.9 miles with a moving speed of 3.4 mph. Check out more photos in my online gallery.

Point San Pablo to Bullhead Flat

On the morning of March 1, six of us gathered at the beach at Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor with a plan to paddle across the bay to Bullhead Flat, a destination in China Camp State Park. Since currents, wind and shipping traffic are concerns, we spent some time discussing the plan before launching our boats. With a slight flood we expected the current to push us north, up the bay, so we set a ferry angle taking us more directly across the shipping channel with the current carrying us towards our destination.

We were on the water at 10 a.m. David turned his radio to channel 14 to notify Vessel Traffic Control (VTC) that a pod of six kayakers would be crossing the shipping channel. He was not able to raise VTC. We paddled on until we were outside of Point San Pablo where I was able to contact VTC on my radio. I reported our location, our destination, and the estimated time for our arrival across the shipping lanes. The red buoy marks the starboard (right) side of the shipping lane.

Once across we headed for The Sisters, a couple of islands off of Point San Pedro. Several of us decided to “thread Grendel’s Needle,” a gap in the rocks on the westernmost Sister. We had calm water paddling through the needle. With a stronger current and wind, there can be quite a surge of water.

We were a bit hesitant to paddle the needle since there was a flock of cormorants on top of the island, and we try our best to not disturb the birds when we are paddling. From The Sisters, we paddled north past McNears Beach, past the China Camp Village beach, and on to Bullhead Flat. There we pulled our boats out of the water and found a picnic table to use as we broke out our lunches.

After lunch, it was back on the water for the return trip. The current was now ebbing a bit, so we had the current working with us as we crossed the bay. Again, we set a ferry angle to compensate for the current. The gathering clouds caught my attention on the return paddle, and I thought they made for a lovely photo composition with the kayaks. I’ve posted an online gallery with more photos. You can see a track of our paddle below. We logged 8.3 miles for a very pleasant day on the bay

Starting the Year with a Splash

On January 2, I was on the water with fellow BASK members (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) for a paddle around Angel Island. Eleven of us assembled at Horseshoe Bay near the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. After a brief safety talk and radio check, we were on the water at 10 a.m. We were looking to take advantage of the strong currents associated with the king tide. Our plan was to head south into the shipping channel to pick up the “express lane,” the flooding current for a ride to the island.

Paddling into the bay, we crossed a well-defined eddy line, the line separating the still water from the fast-moving current. Once we were onboard, it was a smooth ride to the island. We poked around the rocks near Point Blunt and landed at China Cove for lunch, hauling our boats up off what little beach was left to keep them secure from the rising tide.

After lunch we were back on the water. With a high tide of 7.4 feet, an afternoon low tide of -1.9 feet, and slack water at 12:40 p.m., we were looking for a fast ride back through Raccoon Strait. What we didn’t expect was some rough and turbulent water at the west end of Ayala Cove. We encountered a tide race just off the point with whirlpools, eddies and chaotic waves. The chaos resulted in collisions, capsizes, lost paddles and hats, and a bloody head wound. Four of our paddlers ended up in the water. Mind you these are experienced paddlers. While we were facilitating rescues, a few harbor porpoise were cavorting about.

I’m not sure how I managed to stay in my boat in the chaos. Crossing the turbulent water was like being in a washing machine. No chance for photos here. My hands were busy bracing with the paddle. I did capture a photo of one of our paddlers being assisted getting back in his boat. With everybody back in their boats, we made a quick stop on the island for first aid. Then it was time to finish our return trip.

A few of us rode through the tide rip at Yellow Bluff and made our way back to our launch; another pod stayed clear of the rip, riding the express lane in the deeper water before turning into Horseshoe Bay.

You can see more photos in my online gallery. Over the course of the paddle we logged 10.6 miles with an average speed of 3.6 mph. Here’s the track of our paddle.

Picture Perfect Day

I have yet to master the art of capturing photos from a kayak. When I come back from a paddle, I’m often disappointed by how few of the photos meet my expectations. Invariably the photos are out of focus, blurry or have the wrong exposure. It’s a challenge to hold the camera steady with one hand while bobbing around in a tippy boat and holding onto the paddle with my free hand. And then the composition is always changing. I’ll see a potential opportunity forming and by the time I can get the camera in position the scene changes. Then while I’m trying to snap photos my paddling buddies are continuing on their journey. Time to put the paddle back in the water and catch up. And I’m always trying to position myself within the pod to take advantage of the light and composition. Glare on on the viewfinder is another issue, which means I’m more likely to just point and shoot and hope I get something. I like to capture candid moments on the water, water dripping off the paddle blades and the play of light and reflections and clouds. And then there’s the risk of getting water drops on the lens, or worse yet, a smudge of sunblock.

So this past week I decided it was time to master the art of kayaking photography. I use an Olympus TG-5 and on Thursday, November 4, I was determined to see if I couldn’t improve on the quality of the images.

Our launch site was Point Isabel on the east side of San Francisco Bay. One of my paddling buddies suggested this put-in since it is a short drive and I can just sort of fall out of bed and be there. I pulled out of my driveway at 9:02 and parked at the launch site at 9:13. A welcome change from the previous week when I spent two ours getting to our launch site. Our paddle took us to the north end of the jetty on Brooks Island. We had calm water, no wind, and dramatic clouds against a blue sky. Great conditions for photography, with the water offering nice patterns and reflections.

We could see the skyline of San Francisco peeking through the clouds in the distance. We kept our distance going past Bird Rock so as not to disturb the birds.

We were paddling on a high tide, 6.8 feet at 11:40, and as we paddled along we noticed that there appeared to be gaps in the jetty. The tide was so high that it was flooding over the jetty with enough clearance to float our boats. You can see David, riding a little bit of a tide rip over the rocks. We paddled over the jetty and back and continued on to Ferry Point where we stopped for lunch. Then it was back on the water for the return trip. We paddled across the shipping channel and along the inside of the jetty to avoid any shipping traffic. We were back on the beach at Point Isabel at 2:00 having logged 8.5 miles. You can take a closer look at our track here or on the map below. On uploading the photos to my computer, I found that that I had some 424 images! Quite a chore to sort through. But I discovered that the habits I had developed for land-based landscape and architectural photography were hindering my ability to capture photos from a kayak. On land I tend to use a small aperture to maintain a good depth of field. On the water a wider aperture and a high shutter speed seem to work best. I was quite happy with a number of the images. Of the 424 images I captured, I marked 44 as keepers. You can view those photos here. Overall it was a picture perfect day.

Angel Island 03/02/21

March 2, 2021. After returning from my desert sojourn visiting family and exploring the Eastern Sierra, it was time to get back on the water. This paddle took us from Ferry Point in Richmond and out around Angel Island with a stop at the West Garrison for brunch. We then continued around the island and back to our launch site.

A side note here about WordPress. I’ve had reports from those that subscribe and get the email version that the photos are distorted in the email, so I’m experimenting with different gallery settings. The photos above are presented in a Tiled Gallery format. Those below use the straight Gallery format. Please let me know if one of these formats works better.

West Garrison is on the west side of the island facing the Golden Gate Bridge. It was originally called Camp Reynolds, which was established in 1863 as concerns mounted over threats to the Bay Area from Confederate sympathizers and naval forces.

We were on the water at 8:30 a.m. which is early for us. We wanted to take advantage of the tides and currents. Our plan was to paddle to Ayala Cove for a stop but when we got to the West Garrison the water was flat calm and the beach looked inviting so we stopped and pulled out our snacks. You can see our boats on the beach with some pilings and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. We were again on the water at 11:00 and back at our launch site shortly after noon, logging 11 miles and paddling on placid waters for the whole trip. Our trip leader, Jenn, looked quite spiffy in her new boat, black with a sparkling metal-flake finish, yellow trim and deck lines, and matching outfit. I’ve posted additional photos including some artistic representations of a couple of images. Click here to view.

Here’s the track of our paddle.

I’ve posted a number of blog entries about paddling to Angel Island. You can find additional posts by searching for “Angel Island” in the search box.

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