Archive for the '2010 Trips' Category

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

Well I had a nice paddle at Drake’s yesterday. It was overcast and cool when I started and I decided to paddle the entire shoreline and try to find critters. I went part of the way into Creamery as it was pretty shallow and there wasn’t much to see. In Barries I saw a few Batrays scattered around. On the way from Barries to the Drake memorial I came a upon a family of 5 river otters. I spotted them up ahead and stopped paddling and drifted right up to them. They were so busy playing that they paid no attention to my kayak.

I crossed the mouth and stopped on Limintour spit for a spot of lunch. Lots of Harbor Seals and AW Pellies shared the beach with me. The sun came out making the paddle to Home Bay nice and warm. Home Bay had tons of BRs and a few sharks. I also saw BRs and sharks all the way back to the launch.

The conditions are really good in the estero these days. With the light winds the water is crystal clear and the paddling is easy. The GPS said the paddle was 13 miles.

Ray

Kris and I hit the water at Doran at about 9:45. It was calm and overcast (what else is new?) and we headed for the mouth. We practiced ranging between two channel markers in the stiff flood. We fought a 3 knt current to get out of the harbor. We poked around outside for awhile and then had a nice ride back into the harbor. We saw the usual suspects including an early arriving C.Loon still in full breeding plumage. We paddled all the way around the harbor including a tour of Spud Harbor (which seems emptier than last time). By now there was a 5knt SW wind which had a nice cooling effect. We paddled 8.5 miles by the time we got back to the launch.

We decided to go out to the headlands for lunch since Robin H had told us last weekend that four or five Greys were hanging around the area. Sure enough, no sooner did we get out sandwiches unwrapped than we started spotting them. They appear to be feeding in the area and are quite close to shore.

Ray

Well 20 or so PPers showed up at HD with various agendas. The weather was cool and calm as we headed out on our various plans. The main one seemed to be to paddle up to Tomales Beach take a break and return for the BBQ. While we were breaking several of us took advantage of the new permanent solar powered toilets. The heated seats were especially nice. On the way back we picked up the stragglers and had a happy group enjoying the beautiful conditions.

Allan brought the double and stayed in the Heart’s Desire area giving his sister and niece rides. I’m not sure where P and JC went but we all arrived back at the beach at about the same time. The charcoals got lighted and the chicken and brats were soon sizzling away.

We had a great lunch, the sun was out and we were living large. Don H showed up still nursing a bad wing, he says he’ll be paddling soon. As we were winding down, Colleen showed up with her family and took over our table and still hot BBQ and Christina helped them cook their oysters.

Not sure about next Sunday yet, any bright ideas? Don F has suggested a great paddle for the 15th from China Camp to Red Rock. The tides are perfect and the weather should be fine.

Ray

After the delicious oyster BBQ (thanks, Christina!) and our afternoon paddle from Heart’s Desire we loaded the kayaks and drove over to Nick’s Cove for an evening paddle.  Our boats were back in the water by 8 pm as the fog settled over the bay.  A compass kept us on track so we found Hog Island in the mist and then continued on to explore the white cliffs while listening to elk on the ridge and waiting for darkness.  Finally, when it was dark enough that it was hard to see the other paddlers, the magical luminescence became visible.  With Hog Island blocking the lights from the shore we delighted in the sparkling eel grass, the fire balls behind each paddle stroke, the shimmering schools of small fish and the ghost-like images of rays and larger fish swimming by.  It’s definitely an excellent time for a night paddle from Nick’s.

Colleen