Cuttings Wharf, Napa – Nov. 21. 2010

Sunday morning, November 21. Cuttings Wharf, Napa.
Imagine beautiful clear air, a light breeze, with puffy white clouds on a sapphire blue sky.
And 48 degrees.
Burrrr.

Only two of us showed up; Bill and I. The weather satellite showed lots of little clouds amid clear air, so it was a crapshoot as to whether we’d have Fall sunshine or get wet and cold.

As it happened, it was really nice; cool, but the sun was on us most of the time and it was warm, it never rained and the wind didn’t come up much.

We left from the Wharf, staying in the shoreline’s wind shadow to avoid the nippy breeze. Quick stop at Kennedy and then up to the downtown basin – 3rd St.

The beach at the basin looked great for landing, but the access is all fenced. Yes, there is a gap in the fence under the shoulder of the bridge, but it looked really tight. Easier to go over. If you were willing to walk, you could go around to the left following the shoreline, go under the bridge and there’s street access there at the end of the fisherman’s path. Or so it looked.

There’s a nice spot for lunch just opposite Copia. It’s got a pretty steep bank but it’s sandy. You’d have to tie off to shore trees/brush. On top of the bluff is a great spot for a picnic. Big stone blocks perfect for sitting. I couldn’t find out what this area was, but we saw fisherman on the shore so it probably wasn’t somebody’s back yard.

Bill and I continued way up the river, out into the vineyards along Silverado Trail about a mile and a half past the Lincoln Ave bridge. It was at the top of high tide and there was plenty of water. It was very cool. The BASK trip planner calculated the distance at 8.25mi, making the round trip
about 16 (it’s not that accurate). No wonder I feel sore today.

On the very pleasant ride home on the outgoing tide we spotted a small sea lion having lunch in the middle of the river. Sea lions tear at food they can’t swallow whole, and this guy was thrashing his fish on the surface to rip it apart, with a flock of gulls picking up scraps. It was great to watch. It was really pink; a salmon maybe?

Time out: 10:20 Return: 15:10 Distance: 16mi est.

Another great day.

-john