Monthly Archive for January, 2011

10 paddlers showed up at Nick’s Cove and found Crystal Clear Blue Skies, calm water and NO winds. Eight of us set off towards Tom’s Point, two went over towards Walker Creek. The Tom’s Point contingent stopped briefly on Tom’s Point Beach, to check for any whale spouts, (none) and to shed clothing which was making us way too HOT! The day was warming up and the sun beating down. We continued over towards Walker Creek and paddled inland, up the creek, about 4 miles, due to the exceptional Hi Kings Tide, landing at the LUNCH spot. All 10 of us enjoyed the 70 degree temp, a simple yet fabulous lunch of fresh steamed vegetables, Larry’s tofu, nuts, fruits, sushi, salami, bread, chocolate, cookies, water, and adult beverages!

We decided to get paddling back as the tide was beginning to recede. Phil and Tedly tried out their skills of walking on water as we returned to the Bay. Gotta love those mud flats. LOL Following is a brief listing of our feathered friends: Surf Scooters, Buffelheads, Brandts, Cormorants, both Pelagic and Double-Crested, Western Sandpipers, Marbled Godwits with Willets, Spotted Sandpiper, Snowy Egrets, GULLS,Gulls,gulls. NO Bald Eagle today. Ray “clocked us” at 11 miles. A most perfect day on our beautiful bay!!

Hey Everyone,

Just got back from an amazing trip to Trinidad Ca. I paddled with a few of the locals on one of their Sunday Morning rough water paddles. The first thing I will say is the people from the kayaking community up there are top notch. If you ever get a chance to go up and paddle with this group, do it! You will not be disappointed.

So Sunday after a long night of restless sleep we met up at Trinidad Harbor at 8:00AM. The usual group of 8 people were already there with their boats on the beach. I was pleasantly surprised to see that almost everyone there was paddling a Sterling Illusion or Grand Illusion. I say pleasantly because I sell Sterlings Kayaks, and my purpose for the trip was to product test his new Reflection Kayak. So my friend and I geared up, strapped on our waterproof cameras and hit the water. The weather felt like classic North Coast, overcast, misty, and a cool 55 degrees. The ocean was predicted to be at 8-10 ft swell at 12 seconds out of the West, perfect conditions to put the new boat through its paces. So as we paddled out of the harbor we weave our way through moored fishing boats, bobbing side to side in the ocean swell. We spot a few seals, and even a pod of Harbor Dolphins.

Local tradition is to paddle out through the first rock formation you come to called Prisoner Rock. Its two big rocks that stick up out of the Harbor with a wide slot big enough to paddle through. Legend has it that this island gets its name because back in the day this is where people would drop off drunk fisherman to sleep it off. Wether true or false I can’t say, but the story helped lighten the mood of the day, and we all took our turn paddling through the slot and into the Pacific Swell.

The first placed we paddled was called “The Corner” which made perfect since because it was the corner of Trinidad Head. Here you are in the full exposure of the Pacific swell along a long steep rock wall. The waves wrapped around the corner rising and falling along the wall making it a great place to get comfortable in lumpy reflection waves. We all took our turn trying to get in
close to the wall and see how high we could catch a ride up the wall. After a bit we began to paddle further around Trinidad Head. To our right was a towering rock wall with constant white wash and foam crashing against it. We made our way up to the next play spot called Smack Wall. I had been to Smack Wall before last summer during a Club Mixer put on by 4 Northern Ca paddling clubs, so I sort of knew what to expect, but this day was not like the last. As we sat back and watched a few sets come in, we saw the water exploding up the cliff and creating a curling wave that sometimes seemed to be 20 ft tall. Then a few seconds later the reflection wave would hit us, and our boats would jump out of the water, as if we where plowing through the surf. I was the first to take a turn. I paddled up nose to the wall and waited for a big set to roll in. When it did I felt the water suck away from the wall leaving an enormous troth between the wave and the wall, and then in a second I was lifted up and shot into the air on top of this frothy monster. I felt myself being back surfed out to sea and I knew what was coming next. The wave curled at the top and sent me cart wheeling backwards for what felt like eternity. While in the wave I made sure to keep my paddle loose in my hands and made sure my elbows where in tight to my body, I was ready to let go at any minute if I felt any pressure on my shoulders. After a fun ride I rolled up in the wave and paddled back in for another ride. After a few more good rides, and a few huge dumpers I decided I better call it a day let someone else have a turn. Right behind me was Marcella, a graceful lady with nerves of steel. She paddled up to the wall as if she had done it a million times, spun her Illusion around and surfed the reflection wave right our to sea. She made it look so easy and smooth and my hat goes off to her. After that a few other got in close to the wall and caught rides including another local gal named Georgiana. I was so impressed to see the Trinidad women charging harder than many of the guys that day.

Being the flat lander that I am, I began to see green. Sitting in the swell looking at a camera lens made me feel a little sea sick so I asked the group if we could paddle to the next spot. We made our way over to Pilot Rock. A large circle rock a hundred yards off the coast. The way the swell wrapped around both sides of the rock made for an interesting point break and surf ride. We all took turns and practiced Greenland rolls while we waited. After about an hour or so we made our way back to the corner, than back through Prisoner Rock for tradition.

I was so impressed by this wonderful group of people, their skill level, and their humility in their boats. You could tell they were all so passionate about the ocean and about sea kayaking. If you ever go paddling up their do yourself a favor and hook up with the Trinidad Locals. You will not be disappointed.

So after we hosed our gear off and loaded the boats, everyone invited us to meet up at the local coffee shop to shoot the breeze and have drinks. As a group they decided that they would be giving me their perpetual Smack Wall trophy for having the biggest ride. The trophy reads “Smack Wall Master” “Awarded for extraordinary skills, courage, and absolute Lunacy.” and it has a kayaker
sitting in a gold cup with an intense look on his face. The fact that they welcomed me in to their community, showed me their spots, and let me have their trophy even though I live 6 hours away, really blew me away. Although its just a cheap plastic trophy, this little award means more to me than almost any award I have ever received, because it was given by peers that I look up to and respect.

A big thanks to all the Trinidad Locals who paddled that day. Mike Dedman, John Day, Marcella, Georgiana, Bruce, Damon, and Mike Z.

As for the test of the new Reflection Kayak? Look at the pictures and you will see what I thought
Here is a link to the photo album with all the picture from that day as well as a few from another  trip that went out of Trinidad on Sat.

And this is what I am most proud to show off. Here is a few minute video of Smack Wall going off! From what they said, this is as big as it can get without closing out. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

Dan Arbuckle
headwaterskayak.com

Only loons and lunatics braved the daunting NWS weather report for Tomales Bay:

Sunday: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 52. Breezy, with a northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.

Clearly, you’d be nuts to try paddling in those conditions.  But the loons and lunatics were well rewarded for their bravery.  The fog was lifting as we arrived, clearing to a  brilliantly sunny day with hardly a breeze at all.  You really couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.  Ok, so it was a little chilly at the start, but hey, it’s winter.

The ten brave lunatics would be Ray, of course, and then another Ray (the more Rays, the better), an Alan, Christina, Joe, Gail, Chocolate Larry, Mike, Dick, and Liz.  Larry’s wife was taking the corgi’s to a dog showin hopes of a top award, and who knows what flimsy excuses everyone else had for missing such a beautiful day.    We launched from Nick’s and headed north, swinging through the oyster beds at Hog Island to spy on a white spot on a brown lump up in a dead tree.  A bald eagle, having a lazy Sunday.  Crossing the bay to the Point Reyes side, we saw a bobcat sitting in the rocks along shore just 30 to 50 feet away.  It seemed fairly calm for a few minutes, and then ambled up the steep slope.   Shortly thereafter a light-colored grazing blob was spotted on the ridge and we added “Tule Elk” to our list.  Around the next bend were a couple turkey vultures feeding on a bloody piece of something we could smell, so we just kept paddling over the pretty red starfish.  To the north were lines of surf breaking across the eastern half of the mouth of the bay.  Several people headed north towards the western, less surfy part of the mouth, and three of us headed across the bay for a better vantage point for spotting whale spouts.  Nothing.

So we took the fall-back option:  lunch on a nice warm Point Reyes National Seashore beachette. There was soup, salmon, Gail’s wonderful cheesy frittata, hummus, potato-leek sludge, crackers, a Brazilian melon, sliced oranges with cranberries, gingerbread muffins, brownies, a few bottles of wine, brie, crackers, and some oranges.  On the way back we stopped at White Gulch to admire bluffs of diatomaceous earth and, more importantly, to look in vain for Ray’s lost pocket knife in the tidal deposits of eel grass.  To make sure we covered the ten miles required for an Official Paddle rating, we continued south to a pelican-less Pelican Point which hosted a small flock of sanderlings.  Ray pointed out a Glaucous Gull, the largest of the gulls, readily distinguished from the other varieties by its grey pinions.  I showed Ray a flock of black quacky things, which he correctly insisted were cormorants.  Also present were willets, buffle head ducks, a cute green finch, more turkey vultures, a couple seals, et cetera.

The takeout was so warm that Ray wished he’d brought his bikini.  And I was dreaming of the Swedish Ice Breaker the Thurseve lads had ordered for my chilly birthday.

In the end, the “lunatics” proved to be a very sensible lot.  Who in their right mind would do anything BUT paddle on Tomales on such a beautiful day? !

• Launch: Nick’s on Tomales Bay, 10 a.m. OTW, no violations
• Paddlers: 10
• Greenland sticks:  4
• Swells:  2″ average
• Wave size:  1/2″  average
• Notable waves:  23   4″ to 6″ wake waves from passing boat
• Furniture:  2 chairs
• Conversation range:  paddle and boat talk, to lipid balls crossing the brain blood barrier being tracked by MRI. Contacts with The Law:  Dick was quizzed by NPS about whether we’d been camping, USCG boat passed by.
• Return time:  Who cares?  Maybe around 2:30 or 3  p.m
• Miles paddled:  just over 10
• Safety equipment:  couple radios, unused compasses, spare paddles, paddle floats, pumps, knives, and lights.
• Hair:  mostly white or dyed, some brown, some blonder
• Thanks: to Ray, our faithful, dedicated, consistently excellent trip planner and bird expert

Liz H.