[Paddlewise] CA trip report

While on a weeks vacation to northern California we managed two paddling
excursions. The first was on Tomales Bay north of San Francisco the second
on the Elkhorn Slough (pronounced "slew") on the east side of Monterey Bay.

Tomales Bay

This bay looks to offer lots of paddling options, and we probably should
have just rented a couple boats and had a go ourselves. As it happened we
decided to join Blue Waters Kayaking for their "Morning Paddle" which is
advertised as: "This gentle naturalist-led tour includes an introductory
kayak lesson and is perfect for first-time paddlers & young and old. Bring
the whole family along for a fun adventure of paddling and nature watching!"
They only had plastic doubles available for this, but my wife and I had
never paddled a double so we thought we'd give it a try, opting for less
paddling in exchange for a naturalist perspective on the bay. The day we
were going the tour was leaving from Marshall on the east side of the bay.

There was one boat of first timer's and another four who had some
experience, and two guides in singles. After getting everyone outfitted and
showing them what to do with a paddle we got on the water. The "guide" asked
if the group wanted to cross to the west side of the bay in the fog. All
were game, so we headed off into about 1/4 mile viz and maybe 5 to 8 knots
of breeze, which was interesting. Following the guides instructions the
group carved an arc and ended up heading back east, at which point he noted
there had been a wind shift (!).

It was plain to see our track on my GPS what was happening so I asked him if
he intended to return to the east shore. Actually no, but since we had,
let's paddle up the shore a ways. We landed on a pebbly beach and walked
around a bit and paddled back. The sun appeared when we were about half way
back so we got to look around a bit.

We ended up with a two-hour paddle in mostly foggy conditions for a total of
4 miles. In hindsight we should have realized that a trip that was good for
first time paddlers wasn't something we should select. We'd have been
happier if the naturalist actually materialized, but neither guide could
really be called a naturalist. And $65 per head is a bit steep.


Elkhorn Slough

I'd paddled with Monterey Bay Kayaks twice before from their operation on
the beach in Monterey and had been pleased. I heard that paddling the
Elkhorn Slough from their shop in Moss Landing on the east of the bay was
the thing to do if you wanted to see wildlife so we chose to rent from there
this time.

As we approached the slough, my wife voiced her concerned that the otters
and seals she desperately wanted to see would not be in the slough. Turns
out that the Elkhorn is THE place to see them, as there's a beach where they
haul out to rest during the day only a mile into the slough.

This time we were given really nice fiberglass kayaks, a Wilderness Systems
Tempest 170 and a Necky Elaho. Both were sweet boats, and we spent nearly
five hours in them covering 9.5 miles, including a lot of sitting and
drifting on the tide waiting for the critters to pop up nearby.

We departed in misty fog again, which gradually got lighter as we paddled
west. At our turn around point a cool breeze started to fill in from the bay
and I added a long sleeve poly shirt and a spray top. As we paddled back the
wind got stronger and colder, reaching a sustained 15 kts by the time we
reached the mouth of the slough. This wind blowing against the ebb tide
created maybe three-foot seas that were pretty close together. Sorta tricky
and I was glad to have the skeg. I found keeping it down was best provided I
maintained good headway lest it work against me.

A good day paddling and exploring. There were a number of memorable moments,
such as the time a flight of brown pelicans came down the slough in
ground-effect mode and swooped up just over our heads and then back down to
the wavelets right in front of us. It was too cold for me to want to get wet
and deal with returning the boats and gear while soaked so I didn't try to
roll the Necky despite the shop's boat jockey recommending that I play with
it a little before we brought it back. Oh well, maybe next time.

Oh, total charge for all day in two nice boats? $60. Can't beat it.

Regards,

Carey
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