Trip #37: Upper Mid-Tomales Bay

The wind was down so I decided to continue on my trip up Tomales Bay.
I simply went from where I turned around last time up to Nicks Cove and back.
Finally, I got to see some sea lions and now I am sure that I can tell the difference between them and harbor seals. Harbor seals are cuter and quieter, while sea lions have aggressive/acrobatic dances.
More interesting, though were the surprise wildlife I saw. I was going over a shallow area and I so a lot of action in the water and some rounded, shark-like fins sticking out of the water. When I look closer it was a group of sting rays. They would swim with their fins out of the water. Some even bumped into my kayak. Definitely a first for me.

Trip #36: Corkscrew Slough

Went on a short trip with Ako back to Corkscrew Slough.
We had some trouble getting the double together. In the end I realized that the skin had shrunk since I did not wash it after the last paddle some weeks back. Once I wet the skin we got it all together.
This time we went directly to where I saw some harbor seals and sure enough we saw them again.

Trip #35: Corkscrew Slough

Had a short paddle here today. The wind had been quite strong recently so I decided not to go back to Tomales Bay.
I don't know if you pronounce it "sloo" or "sloth" or whatever.
I did not look at the map very well and so I entered a smaller canal which after 10 mins or so wound up in a dead end.
I had to go backwards for a few hundred feet before I could turn around and go back.
When I finally did find the slough, it was much wider, enough to fit several real boats.
There I was able to see a family of harbor seals sun bathing.
The round trip was about 2 hours 15 minutes.

Trip #34: Mid Tomales Bay

Did a solo trip today, following my trip with Guy by just a week.
I started at Millerton Park and went back to where Guy and I turned around.
I then crossed the Bay and went up the west side of Point Reyes. There were some interesting sites such as an abandoned boat, a Russian-looking house on stilts, the Inverness Yacht club and more. There is also some classic bonsai-like scenes with pine trees desperately clinging to a cliff. As for wildlife I saw plenty of birds and a few harbor seals. One got within 10 feet of my kayak.
Round trip it was exactly 3 hours which is pushing my limits at this time.

Trip #33: South Tomales Bay

Guy Nicholson dropped by so we decided to go for a kayak.
I had been waiting for a high tide in the middle of the day to come here for a while but I still miscalculated.
It turns out that the area sports a pretty radical tide change and so the current was still quite strong against us just an hour before high tide. This warned that we could have a pretty tough time coming back if we stayed much past high tide.
So, we limited it to just under 2 hours. On the way we saw some beautiful white pelicans with black-tipped wings.

Trip #32: Quick Oakland Paddle

Did a short 1 hour 20 min paddle in Oakland.
Not much to say.
Weather and water: ideal

Trip #31: San Rafael Creek

Had to do some sales for Roc2Loc at Loch Lomond Marina. After that, Dave, my colleague, and I went for a quick kayak. was uneventful but a nice quiet paddle upstream and back.

Trip #30: Candlestick Park to India Basin

Today I took advantage of one of the few days without rain and went for a paddle.
Since there were already clouds and since I had something later in the day, the options were limited.
I chose Candlestick Park simply because it was close and I hadn't been there ever.
It turned out to be a good choice.
It was a little muddy getting in but from there it was stark but in a strange way attractive view of falling down docks and buildings. I had been to the Hunters Point area just once before for the open studio art festival.
To my surprise I saw some wildlife including at least 4 different harbor seal sitings.

Trip #29: Foster City Canals

I got the idea for this route from mapmyhike.com.
Unfortunately, I was not able to complete the route someone else had suggested.
Despite it being only 1.5 hours before high tide, the water was quite low and dirty.
After going about a half mile in one direction I bottomed out.
Rather than risk scraping the bottom, I turned around and went the other direction.
At the end of this route there was a small bird sanctuary island.
Otherwise, a pleasant day in dirty water.

Trip #28: Berkeley Pier Paddle

I just needed to get out to do a short paddle, enjoy the beautiful weather, and get some exercise.
The views from this side of the Bay are great and the water is pretty clean.
I skirted one park and then went across some open water to a peninsula.
The wind picked up so I went inland and skirted my way back.