Petaluma Paddlers

It was a rare and superb day on Tomales Bay! Sun was shining, air was warm and the water was calm! Ray said that the forecasts were all over the place, but that winds as high as 29 mph had been forecast, so it would be better if we launched earlier than the stated 10 am time so that we could return before it really breezed up. I had been out on the SF Bay the day before to see the Blue Angels and it really got ferocious late in the afternoon.

So eleven launched just after 9:30. (Good thing most arrived plenty early!) Two left early, leaving a core group of out-and-returners at the gravel beach at Marconi Cove: Ray, Gail, Chocolate Larry and Ellen, Joe and Sue, Kris, Laurie, Jeff and me. The light wind was from the NNW, so we struck off across the Bay to reach the lee of the far shore. We stopped for a brief break at a small beach and then headed north to Tomales Beach to watch the BASK Rodeo.

Just after hauling up the boats to keep them from drifting away in the quickly rising tide (it was just after the very high new moon tides) we saw at least four river otters swimming close by our point, out by the drifting kelp. They quickly disappeared to the north.

Some saw a great blue heron, otherwise most of the wildlife had probably scattered under the onslaught of the huge flotilla of boats!

At about 11:30 the rodeo started. Floats had been set up to define lanes and three boats at a time did an out and return trailing a line with a water-filled gallon jug. One fellow “cheated” (for apparent lack of clarity in the rules) and did an out and a – backwards! – return, which saved a lot of time by not having to turn around! The rules were quickly modified to even the playing ”field”.

We saw paddlers standing up in their boats as long as they could. And we saw floating boats stacked on top of each other, perpendicular.

Rolls were, of course, the highlight of the competition. The eleven-year old champ rolled fast with arms only – no paddles! The apparent winner (I do not know his name) looked like he did 8 or 9 rolls in the allotted time (30 seconds?)

We ate another superb PPer lunch. The broccoli salad was a big hit, as was the selection of Laughing Cow cheeses – which included a delicious blue soft cheese. The potato-&-egg salad was delicious, and we enjoyed premade sandwiches. There were snacks galore. No one left hungry!

Dick Mallory was there in combined PP and BASK capacity – and made a horn out of a length of bull kelp by cutting off half the bulb and making a mouthpiece of of the narrow end. The many wannabe brass players (and the one real trumpet player in the bunch!) took turns making surprisingly good tones and tunes from the kelpenhorn. The eleven-year old, in particular, loved to play.

At one point a gust of wind lifted our beach umbrella and set it upside-down atop the Bay. It was funny to see it drifting away – fast – before it was retrieved, signaling time to go before the winds increased.

The return was uneventful – but full of conversation and cameraderie.

See the attached link for some photos taken at the beach.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46009592@N00/sets/72157625157468044/

- Lyrinda Snyderman

Last Sunday at Tomales Beach Don mentioned he had seen the elk and they were bugling. This reminded me of one of the many reasons I live here so this morning I was out at Tomales Point before sunrise. If you have never been out to Tomales Point (aka Pierce Point) you should go now while the elk are still in rut. You can see the elk up close (and hear them bugling) without even getting out of the car. This is cowboy TV at its finest.

The best time to go is sunrise and sunset when there are few people around (like none) and the elk are most active. If they are near the road just park and shut off the motor but don’t get out. Within a few minutes you will be part of the scene. Can the elk be dangerous? Yes, I think so. I keep my distance and have never had a close call.

There is an 8 mile round trip hike to the point. On a clear day this is one of best hikes in the bay area. About 20 minutes out notice the old rock wall that traverses the point. To the south the rocks point to the Farallon Islands and to the north Mt. St. Helena. No one seems to know the origin. Was it the first settlers? Perhaps the Miwoks? Aliens?

A few photos from this morning:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ptreyeshiker/ElkAtTomalesPtSept12010#

If I have enough energy it’s sunset with the whales tonight at Bodega Head.

Joe

Nine intrepid paddlers gathered at Nicks Cove for an evening of kayaking and bioluminescence. In attendance were Joe, Sue, Jeff, Brigitte, Jeff, Bonnie, Mike, Gail and Sig. The launch was leisurely, but eventually we got all the glow sticks distributed and we were on the water by 8:15 PM.

The fog was in when we started, but not too bad. There was no wind to speak of the whole trip. From Nick’s, we headed across to the North side of Hog Island. There were plenty of harbor seals there to keep us company and the usual assortment of birds making a racket and a stink.

From Hog Island, we headed straight across into White Gulch. Elk were heard calling and someone also heard a night heron. Owls were spotted on the wing close to the cliffs at the water’s edge. We paddled way back into the bay at White Gulch as the sun was setting. By the time we regrouped, the biolume could just barely be seen. After a short rest, we headed further North up the Tomales coast.

By now the sun had fully set and the plankton were really doing their thing. Every time you put a paddle in the water, it struck sparks and stars spinning in the water. We saw fish illuminated in the shallow bay, streaking past us as we startled them. The eel grass was especially spectacular. You could slap your paddle on top of it and light up a big mat, maybe three feet square. I was
shocked by how dark it was on the water. There was just a sliver of moon, but even that was hidden by the fog. This made for some great biolume viewing, but it was a challenge keeping the group together when we couldn’t see more than a couple hundred feet (at least I couldn’t). The glow sticks were perfect, thanks Joe!

The return trip took us back to White Gulch and then around the South end of HogIsland (aka Piglet). Again, the bioluminescence was spectacular. Some folks saw a diving cormorant lit up by the plankton. We followed the lights back to Nick’s Cove and were all safely ashore by 11:00 or so.

Brigitte

Only two paddlers showed up on one of the best no-wind days this year at Drakes Estero. We launched with no mud from behind the store but it was not really necessary as two other paddlers launched from the usual spot and got on the water with no difficulty. A state employee walked out on top of the firm mud to get a water sample and had no problems with sinking or getting stuck.

We started out with high overcast skies and glass-like conditions on the water. Near the end of the wooden oyster racks we began to see many bat rays with their floppy wing tips just peeking out of the water and swimming slowly about in the eel-grass. Ray saw a single leopard shark just poking out above the water.

Keeping to the left, we were able to avoid the shallow spots and then made the traverse across the channel to the beach where the Sir Francis Drake marker is and where we got out for a brief stop. The opening to the estero was very flat, wide and calm. As we proceeded, we noted the mouth was split by a shallow sandbar which was occupied by dozens of seals. There was little current so we continued to the south to explore Limantour Estero stopping only when we hit shallow water. We saw a few bat rays but not so many as in the first part of Drakes Estero.

For lunch we stopped at the spit at a hillock that protected us from the onshore breeze.  Ray made a two-match fire which burned for two hours as we ate our wild salmon-sliced egg with wasabi mayo sandwiches downed with plenty of red wine in the Petaluma Paddler style.

Our paddle back was easy, again no wind. If these conditions hold, we are in for a very fine day on Sunday.

Kris