[Paddlewise] day trip report

    It was a fine spring day this past Sunday on the San Francisco Bay.
Megan and I decided to go out for a short day paddle, launching from
Crissy Field near the south tower of the Golden Gate.  There is a
massive eddy during the ebb that runs along the city front, allowing you
a current assist basically from the Gate to the Bay Bridge.  Then you
can cross the eddy and loop around Alcatraz in the main flow of the
ebb.  Thus you can make a round trip back to Crissy with the current in
your favor pretty much the whole way.  We launched at 11:30 AM.  Maximum
ebb at the gate was a moderate 3.4 knots at 10:30 AM.  As we got started
I clocked the eddy at 1.8 mph using my GPS.  We knew it would get
stronger as the day went on.  A seal porpoised along my bow for a
while.  Others were popping their heads up quite frequently.  These must
be the Pier 39 sea lions.  They didn't seem too worried with all the
traffic.  We saw an ancient (WW II?) submarine docked by Fisherman's
Wharf and went in close for a look.  It's amazing to think people even
went to sea in that thing, let alone into combat.
     I had noticed a couple off shore power boats on Saturday.  Seemed
to be a whole lot more of them this day.  The congested boat traffic
around the city front also seemed more than usual.  The normally bumpy
ride along the sea walls that form the marinas was even bumpier this
day.  Well, it must have been that large cup of Peet's coffee we had for
breakfast, but long about this time Megan felt the call of nature.  We
pulled into the east marina.  A couple of guys standing by a slip seemed
to know what they were doing so I went up and explained the situation to
them.  "Oh no," said one of them, "You picked the worst day of the year
to be here.  Today is the Off Shore Power Boat Race, and we just can't
let you land here.  We're expecting a sea plane any minute."  I assured
them we would be able to stay out of the way and after all when you
gotta go you gotta go.  Jumping into the bay at that time and at that
place just didn't sound very appealing.  "Sorry," the guy said, "Any
other day but today.  There's a phone number around at the entrance of
this marina you could call.  Do you have a cell phone?"  Megan and I
looked at each other.  A phone number?  For what?  The coast guard?
Port-o-let?  "No," said Megan, "You see, this is a simple problem.  We
don't need to call somebody."  It was about this time I noticed Team
Jelly Belly.  Seems upper management at this famous jelly bean maker is
very much into speed on the water.  They were a couple slips away so we
thanked the sea plane deck hand and paddled over.  Along with a race
boat entrant and a support boat they also had a huge motor yacht.  We
paddled up to their slip.  A bunch of guys were standing around in their
colorful and smart looking Team Jelly Belly race jackets.   I caught the
eye of the guy who looked like he was in charge (the head bean?).  When
I explained the situation to Burt (that was his name) he said, "Sure!
Go on up!  Is there anything else you might want?"  I said, "Some jelly
beans would be nice."  "Sure!" said Burt.  He reached into his hip pack
and tossed me some packages of beans.  Megan got out of her kayak while
about three deck hands stabilized her boat.  They were happy to serve.
While she was gone Burt told me that he and his wife had gone to Alaska
last summer and went out with a guide and a bunch of others in double
kayaks.  He said the paddle to their destination was peaceful as could
be.  But upon their return conditions kept getting worse.  "We thought
we were going to die," said Burt.  "Had you done any kayaking before
that?" I asked.  "Not a day in my life," said Burt.  A lot of comments
raced through my mind, but all I said was, "Oh."  About this time Megan
got back.  We thanked them profusely and predicted they would win the
race as we paddled off opening our first package of Jelly Bellys.  Megan
attested to the fact that the yacht was quite luxurious.  And she had a
jelly belly lapel pin for each of us.  It's a little jelly bean with
arms and legs and a smiling face waving the American flag.
     Well we had a bit of a dilemma.  It was now about 12:30.  The race
was set for 1:00.  With all the talk on this list about accident
avoidance there was no way we were going out to Alcatraz with those
monsters blowing about the place (we wouldn't have gone anyway).  More
and more spectator boats of all sizes were gathering on the sidelines.
It was time to return to our launch against the eddy.  I suppose we
could have paddled back to the Aquatic Park and waited til the end of
the race, but we didn't know how long that would be.  And we knew
paddling against the eddy would be a workout.  We just decided to take
our time and enjoy the day.  We reached Crissy without incident.  At one
point the current was coming at us at over 4 miles per hour.  Somewhere
during our return paddle the race began.  Off shore power boats are a
bit like jet skis on steroids.  They were moving very fast across the
water in the middle of the channel about where we'd be if we had stuck
to our plan, frantically chasing each other, with a helicopter in
pursuit.  Back and forth they went.  They finished their race about the
time we were putting our boats on the car.  I have no idea how Team
Jelly Belly did.

Keith Kaste

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