Trip #43: Quick Afternoon Paddle

The weather was just perfect. In other words it was one of those rare days that it was actually hot in SF.
To add to that there was little or no wind. Perfect for an evening kayak.
I decided to go locally; the public dock by the ball park. What I should have done was see if there was a ball game. There was.
One problem is that the place I knew I could find free parking now only lets you park for 1 hour. So it really had to be short -considering building and packing time, I could only only be on the water 40 minutes.
Still, it was nice.
I met up with 2 guys in kayaks who regularly come when there are games in hope of catching a ball. One of them has the last ball that Barry Bonds knocked out of the park.
Otherwise, I just had some nice cities views on flat water.

Trip #42: Return to Drakes Estero

Thanks to my friend, Kerry, I got off my ass yesterday and went back to Drakes Estero.
This time... everything went well.
Kerry and his friend, Dan, joined me on their Folbots and I went in mine.
Interestingly, Kerry has 3 Folbot kayaks and I have 2 and we do not have any of the same models.
Starting sometime after noon, we took a leisurely paddle down to the ocean, following the tide out.
At the ocean we beached the kayaks on the Estero side and walked over a dune to the ocean.
The wind started to pick up so we head back before the tide turned, making it a difficult paddle.
On the way back the tide and the weather improved so it was easy all the way back.
Wildlife spotted: cormorants, brown pelicans, harbor seals including some 20 pups, sting rays and bat rays.
After returning we indulged ourselves on some of the freshly harvested oysters at the Drakes Oyster Farm.

Trip #41: Jack London Square

I really need the exercise so I blew off work this afternoon and went paddling in Oakland.
Conditions could hardly be better. There was a slight wind which kept me cool but did not make the paddling any harder.
Going out I had the current with me and made good time. Coming back was a bit more work. It was roughly 50 mins out, 65 mins back. Afterward I had a beer at Heinhold's First and Last Chance Saloon, a place where Jack London hung out as a kid and wrote part of Call of the Wild in.

Trip #40: Bodega Bay

The wind was as still as it ever gets in this area when I first arrived. Unfortunately, it was still 3.5 hours till high tide and there was a lot of exposed sand bars. So, I decided to have an early lunch.
By the time I got on the water the wind had picked up.
Still, I was able to accomplish what I wanted to do: a circumnavigation of the Bay.
There were some harbor seals and a sea lion, as well as some diving pelicans.
Other than that a pretty short, but enjoyable paddle.

Trip #39: Oakland

Had a nice short trip in Oakland today. I simply got in at Jack London Square, paddled out toward SF Bay and turned around after about 40 mins. The weather and water were nice. Save for a few assholes creating too much wake with their speed boats, it was a perfect short paddle.

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Trip #38: High Tide Sausalito

Been a long time since I rock and rolled. On the water that is.
Actually, the weather was quite calm and enjoyable.
The tide was higher than I have ever seen it here.
That let me go to the far side of 101 where I had run aground before.
The water was so high that I could see that the bike trail was underwater.
Felt realllly good to get out again.
Gotta do this more.