Tag: Treasure Island

Emeryville to Clipper Cove

Nine of us were on the boat ramp at Emeryville Marina at 10:20 ready to launch with 10 minutes to spare for the posted 10:30 OTW (on the water). I noted that club members tend to be early, to which somebody replied, “time and tide wait for no man.” We were on the water at 10:25 with no wind and flat calm water. About an hour later we were paddling into a gentle breeze with wind ripples starting to appear on the water. Rather than set a course for our destination we pointed our boats to the north end of Treasure Island using a ferry angle to compensate for the flooding current that would carry us south towards our intended destination. The BASK trip planner showed a 1 knot current moving south during our crossing.

As we approached Treasure Island we paddled around a barge, and the flooding current was quite evident as we rounded the mooring buoy. After rounding the buoy, we turned towards our destination and make quick time for the beach at Clipper Cove.

The beach is a fine sand beach with a spectacular view to the east including a view of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. It’s hard to imagine that in the middle of the greater Bay Area with over 7.5 million people one can find a beautiful peaceful secluded beach. After lunch we were back on the water, following the bridge for a way, again accounting for the current and eventually heading back to the marina.

Paddling along the bridge offered some dramatic photo opportunities, but the battery on my iPhone was dead at that point, so I didn’t capture any photos on the return leg. As we crossed the bay, we begin to feel the effects of wind coming from the northwest, which was starting to raise wind waves, enough to have some of our boats require additional effort to manage the quartering waves and wind.

I did capture the track of the paddle with my Garmin InReach which logged 9.1 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Buy Nothing Day Paddle

Friday, November 29, the day after Thanksgiving is often referred to as Black Friday. I prefer to spend the day outdoors. This year we (my wife and I) joined a few of our paddling buddies for a “Buy Nothing Day” paddle. If you look up “Buy Nothing Day” in Wikipedia you’ll find it’s described as “an international day of protest against consumerism,” and one of the activities listed for the day is a “Buy Nothing Day paddle along the San Francisco waterfront… promoted by the Bay Area Sea Kayakers to kayak along the notoriously consumptive San Francisco waterfront.” Nine of us gathered at the beach at Crissy Field.

  • Safety Talk: Crissy Field
  • Alcatraz in the Distance
  • Bay Bridge – West Span

After a safety talk and radio check we paddled along the waterfront, and then across the bay to Yerba Buena Island. We were hoping to have lunch on a little beach on the Southwest corner of the Island, but with the extreme high tide there was no beach. We opted to go around the island, passing under the eastern span of the Bay Bridge and paddling into Clipper Cove.

  • Bay Bridge – East Span
  • Clipper Cove
  • Ship Traffic

There we found just enough beach to land and have lunch. After lunch we retraced out route, being wary of shipping traffic, ferries and pleasure boats.

  • Bay Bridge and San Francisco
  • Returning to Crissy Field
  • Track of our paddle

On the return trip it looked like the weather might close in on us with dark clouds gathering and the wind picking up. Fortunately we had a strong ebb current moving us along and the wind didn’t last.

I managed to capture some video of the paddle with a GoPro camera mounted on my helmet. With some effort I’ve condensed over an hours worth of video down to three minutes.

Over the course of the day we covered 13 miles. You can view more photos here and see more details about the route here.

BASK Skills Clinic 2017: Day 9

Calm day. Getting ready to launch.
Come on in, the water’s fine.
Is this what you call a sit-ontop?
Perfect day on the Bay
Leaving Clipper cover on our return to Berkeley.

September 2 found me on the water again with fellow BASK Skills Clinic students and our amazing crew of instructors. With a heat wave baking the San Francisco Bay Area, playing on (and in) the water was the place to be. Following our intro day and four weekends of skills training, this was an optional day.  We opted to spend the morning practicing paddle strokes and rescues. I typically wear a dry suit when paddling on the Bay, since the typical weather pattern is a cool wind and cool water. With temperatures approaching 100 degrees though, I opted to wear my short Farmer John and a t-shirt. Along with the spray skirt and PDF I was quite comfortable in the boat, and in the water. After spending the morning on drills, somebody suggested we paddle to Treasure Island, and off we went. Here’s a link to our track if you want to see our route. We have one more adventure left in the skills clinic; that’s an overnight kayak camping trip on September 23. Stay tuned.