Introduction to BASK and the Oakland Estuary

B.A.S.K. is the Bay Area Sea Kayaking group, which apparently has over 400 members. I joined them shortly after Big Purple arrived to check out the group and meet some nearby paddlers. They conveniently had a new member paddle scheduled two days after my boat arrived. The paddle would be on the Oakland estuary, which is only a 5 minute drive from my apartment.

We met up at the public launch site near Jack London Square. For the most part, Jack London Square tends to be deserted, but on Sundays the farmer's market makes it a popular destination. It always makes me nervous to drive around the Square because a railroad runs along the center of the road. Apparently the maximum train speed is 15 mph, but when a train is coming, all the side streets are blocked off, so you can theoretically get trapped on the road/railroad. Not cool.

The public launch also features a rental fleet owned by California Canoe and Kayak, which is a local paddling shop. I paddled here once in the fall, and they were able to rent me a plastic avocet (the same type as Big Purple).

I arrived 5 minutes before the meeting time, which is apparently late for BASK-ers because everyone was already there! This was somewhat odd since I usually find myself having to drag people out of bed to go paddling with me. We launched promptly and paddled east, into the "estuary". It's certainly not the most scenic paddle, but we saw some interesting sites along the way. The route took us under 4 bridges, many of which opened to let boat traffic through.

We stopped half way for lunch at the Tidewater Aquatic Center. The shear volume of snacks the BASK-ers brought to pass was quite astounding, and I will certainly bring more to contribute next time! Yum...

Chris took a bunch of other lovely photos, which can be found here.

Date: Sunday, May 6, 2012
Time: 3 hours ?
Distance: 7.8 miles