Wait, I almost forgot!

I took a trip up past San Francisco  over the 4th of July looking for a little kayak action and though I didn't get in a whole lot of that I did get to see some amazing country and some spectacular coastlines.  The whole problem was I should have spent far more time up there but I didn't have it.  But I'm sitting here promising myself that on my next trip up there I will do just that.

Where I wound up going was Drakes Bay off that little finger to the the west and north of San Francisco.  My word that place is nothing short of amazing!  The rolling hills, the long sloping pastures were just spectacular.  I just stood there breathless.  I drove down every little side road I could  taking it all in.  Visited all the beaches, Point Reyes Lighthouse, Pierce Point Ranch, all of it!  Stunning countryside!

As I said, I had every intention of kayaking  Drakes Bay and off the North and South beaches but the wind proved me wrong.  40 miles an hour was my best guess.  Just standing on the beach it was just about impossible to take a picture handheld as the gust would about blow you over!  I did spend some good time walking there though picking up trash as I usually do but kayaking,  no way.  I even tried getting up at 5:00 am thinking if I could get out before the wind picked up I could at least get out past the breakers, go for a little paddle and let the wind bring me home but no dice.  And as I stood there that morning looking at the surf a shiver went up my spine.

Normally I'm not afraid to paddle alone and do so all the time and in some pretty wild water.  It's just what I do.  I love the peace and tranquility and the ability to go where I please at my own pace.  It's how I get away.  But at North Beach I stood there for about an hour contemplating heading out.  But every time I went to unload my kayak something told me to take another look at what was going on out there.  And every time I did that shiver went up my spine.

I could have probably gotten out eventually but my word the breakers were absolutely relentless.  I kept looking for potential launch spots but everywhere I looked those breakers just kept pounding away.  Close to shore, out a ways, all over the place.  And the ferocity was quite unnerving.  More often than not you would see the waves smash into one another surging upward and I just knew that if two of them came together under you, you would be launched straight up!  Brutal!  So I just sat there and watched and what a show!

I did wind up coming home with some nice images however.  I've always got my cameras with me where ever I go so I'm never bored.  But one day I do want to launch from North Beach and I do want to paddle Drakes Bay, but not alone.  And in thinking about it I think Drakes Bay would be an amazing paddle.  You'll see what I mean in the photo's below.  Enjoy!

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on the way to Point Reyes Lighthouse.

One of the small bays I photographed under a full moon.

Drakes Bay looking towards Point Reyes Lighthouse. (South)

Drakes Bay looking North.  A friend of mine said this must be what
heaven looks like.  Maybe she's right.

I asked some of the locals if they knew of anyone who had launched
off South or North beach and assume the shaking of the head
meant no.  (She wasn't very talkative.)

Just to be sure I asked another local further down the road if she would
ever consider launching from the beaches around the area and
got what I assume was a big NO!  (I can only assume this was
what she was saying.  She wasn't very talkative either.)

Little warning, maybe?

North Beach at 6:00 am.  This is quite deceiving as to how wild things

actually were but trust me,  I wasn't about to enter this alone!

8/5/2012...CURIOSITY HAS LANDED!

Wow, what an amazing accomplishment!  Mars!  Who would've thought?  And as a kid I thought we were hot launching our Estes model rockets into the far reaches of our schoolyard skies!  But hey, we tried!  Well all's I can say is congratulations to the JPL team!

I just happen to know Patrick Martin who works at JPL and is instrumental in the success of this mission.  He's one of the guys who purposely tries to break everything JPL puts together.  I met him through the California Kayak Friends club and have the distinct pleasure of paddling with him from time to time.  Great guy so if you want to meet a celebrity join CKF.org! (Not that there aren't any other celebrities in the club...)

As for me, I've been lazy.  That's right, just downright lazy.  I haven't kept up with my blog and have been absent from the paddling scene for a bit as well.  As some know I greatly prefer paddling during the fall, winter and spring as I like a bit of a snap in the air and a sting to the cooler water. Makes you feel alive!  When  it starts getting hot and muggy I head for shelter and I suppose it has something to do with having grown up in Arizona.  I've had my fair share of blazing sun and don't need anymore of it!  The only times I have been on the water worth mentioning were my trips to San Diego and my recent solo adventure north of Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

San Diego was especially fun as I recently joined the San Diego Kayak Club and met up with them a couple months ago for a wild paddle on a very blustery day.  I met them at Aqua Adventures and we headed out to the channel where the wind was just-a-howling!  After leaving the safety of the harbor we paddled a bit south staying away from the surf zone as there were some breakers even I wouldn't have wanted to contend with.  The swells were amazing enough and provided us with some good fun.  We wound the morning up playing at the mouth of the harbor surfing the swells as they came rolling in and a good time was had by all.

My most recent adventure took me south to San Pedro where I launched from Cabrillo Beach and headed north towards Palos Verdes.  I have to say that this is really a beautiful area to paddle as you don't see too many houses built along the cliffs.  As a matter of fact I found one spot (see photo) where I saw no sign of the intervention of man.  In my mind it looked as it must have before someone got in and developed the daylights out of it so it makes for a nice visual.

I also fell in love with the kelp beds there and came back with some nice underwater photos of them.  I just held my camera underwater and snapped away.  The light being filtered through the kelp and water made for some nice images.  I do have to warn you that if your going to try this make sure you don't lean over too far as I did! lol  (Yet another reason to have a good roll!)

Other than that I've just sped out of Marina Del Rey to play in the surf a couple times.  I need to get back into venturing north to Channel Islands Harbor where the water is cooler, cleaner and I have some good friends to paddle with.

My launch point at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

Rest stop along the way.

Just another shot I found interesting.

Beautiful sun streak through the kelp beds.

Reaching for the sunlight.

As it may have been thousands of years ago.

This guy kept peeking at me here and there just to make sure.

The dolphins were plentiful and one jumped about 8 feet in front of me!

1/6/2012, a day to remember.

As most of you know it was the day that big swell 

came rolling in creating chaos all up and down the coast.  

I thought for sure all my friends that surf were going to be 

heading out but I was wrong and  in fact they thought I was a bit 

off for planning on taking my kayak out.  Having done 

just that I now know I was not thinking clearly and 

won't be doing that again any time soon. 

I paddled out of Marina Del Rey at about 2:00 pm at 

low tide thinking things wouldn't be so bad and that

maybe, just maybe the waves wouldn't be slamming onto the beach

as they usually are as this area is known for it's beach

break.  Anyway, as I rounded the corner I was pretty 

darn amazed at what I saw and that was BIG waves.  

Bigger, I think, than I have played in in my entire 

kayaking career but naturally, me being me, the bigger 

the better, right? Well...

I started off at the south end of the beach in the smaller

waves as I wanted to get a feel for things and get warmed

up for the good stuff but soon found that there was 

absolutely nothing to be surfed.  It was pretty much 

just surviving the crushing blows of those darn things. 

I mean I have surfed at night and gotten the crap kicked

 out of me, paddles ripped out of my hands and such but 

these things were just downright violent!  Far too often I

would get knocked over and found it a challenge to roll

back up and a couple times had to bail and swim.  Once,

I honestly didn't think I was going to find that grab loop, 

gulped and nice bunch of sea water and finally popped

back up watching my kayak race towards shore and the

jetty.  That kinda told me things were coming to an

end for this day.  But oh, I just had to paddle to the pier

just to put a good close to the day!

Just to try and describe how big some of these waves got I

was cruising along towards the pier at which I honestly thought

was a safe distance from shore.  Yeah, I was playing hide and seek

as a big swell would roll under me but I felt quite safe and really didn't

think anything this far out would have the courage to break on me until...

As usual I always keep my eye out to sea and this time I saw the

swell coming but didn't think it would break until I saw that tell tale foam

building at the lip!  Honestly, my heart started racing as I paddled like hell

trying to turn straight into that thing as it raised it's ugly head

and just about stood me vertical!  I thought for sure I was going to

meet my maker and for an instant I realized that my stern was 

nearly at the bottom of the trough and there was only about 

4 feet of my kayak breaking clear of the lip!  (My kayak is 

17 feet long!)  Once I cleared this thing I quickly paddled out a 

bit farther and headed for home!

Ok, so I learned a lesson and that is, don't be a fool!  I'm doing 

pretty well building my skills, can handle some pretty wild 

water,  have been told I am a good teacher and that is enough. 

 I gotta learn to live a little less on the edge.  I love this sport 

more than any I have gotten involved in but I'm not willing to

accelerate my death doing it.  It's extreme  enough on it's own!

  

Wriggly coming to my rescue with a miniature life ring!

2012, here I come!

Wow, a whole new year ahead of me and I can't wait to get started!  

2011 was interesting,  some say it was down right nasty and I will admit, it 

wasn't my best but I did certainly learn a lot from it and what it brought to bare.  

Now I'm going to try to apply those lessons to the year ahead and make sure 

it's a good one.

To start off I, after a bit of an absence,  I hopped back in my '82 Mercedes "Joon" and took a

nice trip up to Carpenteria to check out the local oil platforms up there.  This has

been a trip I've been trying to make with some friends but missed out on

each time so decided to put it in my book of travels on my own.  In all honestly

it was nothing spectacular, nothing wild happened.  No night surfing or 

shark attacks just a beautiful day on the water.  I was amazed at how

flat the ocean was that day.  It was like glass the entire day with absolutely no 

wind and the surf couldn't have been more that 6" but still,  I got out there

and had a great time.  I do however have to be honest and say that I'm not 

sure I would do it again as there are about 8 platforms within as many miles

of the beach and the smell of petroleum was a bit unpleasant.  Makes one 

hope clean energy would get a move-on.

Of course I had to add a shot of my kayak on the 

beach before launching.  Not sure why but I 

always do this but you can see the three oil platforms

Hondo, Heritage and Harmony in the distance.

The four platforms I didn't visit.  No idea what 

their names are but they're out there pumping

away.

Hondo, Heritage and Harmony.  Not sure which

is which.  I think Honds is in the middle but 

don't quote me on that.

Got a little too close to this one and the guy

on the loudspeaker yelled at me to steer 

away.  Ok, ok, I just wanted a nice photo.  I 

couldn't see the guy scolding me but I waved

and went on my merry way.

In the distance is Carpenteria State Beach.  That

tan spot on the mountain to the left of center was my 

landing marker.  Things get awful small when your 5 

miles out in the ocean so you need to pick out points 

of reference so you can at least get close to where you 

started when heading back in.  I did check my compass 

bearings first though and if the fog rolled in I just needed 

to put my compass at a heading of 30 degrees and I 

would have gotten close to home.