 Dilapidated buildings, west shore of Point San Pablo. | After our nature-drenched paddle on Saturday, Jeff and I stayed close to Berkeley and checked out the developed shoreline of Richmond in San Francisco Bay. After kayak polo we loaded ourselves + our wet butts into Tess (my blue Subaru) and drove 15 minutes up I-80 to Miller Knox Regional Shoreline. Some of my colleagues are working on a project to restore a pond in the park, so we went for a brief stroll around the pond to take photos. The pond used to be a coastal lagoon/inlet before a railroad was built along the entire shoreline, cutting off connection with the Bay and converting the tidal lagoon to a scummy pond. After the stroll, we parked at Keller Beach, just north of Miller Knox, to launch our boats. A park attendant pulled over in his truck to inform us that we were launching in a very inconvenient location. Rather than take his advice to launch further south, we stubbornly carried our boats down and up the large hill, including multiple flights of stairs. We do this partly for exercise, right? |
|
1 Comment
 San Quentin State Prison Alice and I made reasonably spontaneous plans to paddle yesterday (no cancellations and only planned 2 days in advance - that's real progress). Since we were both tired of driving, we decided to meet in the middle, at San Quentin. Yes, San Quentin State Prison. There's an easy launch spot called Jailhouse Beach that's sheltered by the prison on one side and by the Richmond bridge on the other. There are only a few parking spots along the side of the road, but we had no trouble. It's 1-hour parking, but in Alice's last 3 visits she hasn't gotten a parking ticket. Shhhh!
 The playing field. The goals are the tall floating structures on either end. I've always loved the graceful aspects of kayaking: wake-less drifting, a perfectly-carved turn, an effortless roll, a silent lake. Kayak polo throws elegance out the window in favor of aggression, throwing, tackling, and yelling. But it's different, it's fun, and I'm hoping to stick with it.
A few weeks ago I stumbled across a Berkeley Kayak Polo Meet-up group. Okay, I didn't stumble - Google is just good at advertising. It seemed too good to be true: young kayakers, $8, all gear included (makes logistics much simpler), 10 minutes from my apartment (a rarity in this crowded/spread out Bay), and not already filled to capacity (also unusual for outdoorsy meet-up groups). The sessions are run by the Bay Area Kayak Polo Club (BAKPC) and meet at the Berkeley Marina, in a sheltered area (see photo above and map below)...  Johnny, Alice, and I at Bird Rock. Photo by Stijn Schiffeleers. Alice, Stijn, Johnny, and I met at the Berkeley Marina at 9am for a very "unplanned/casual" paddle. I use quotes because it took us a week of rapid-fire emails and changing plans to reach this point. Most of us (except Johnny) had abandoned our boats for far too long. For most of us, this was our first sea kayaking trip out of Berkeley. We launched from the docks near Cal Adventures on the south side of the marina. The parking is free and the launch works well at most tide levels.
[This post has been in draft form for 1.5 months, so I figured it was time to accept its imperfections and wrap it up. Lindsey, my fellow king-tide tour-guide also wrote a post, available here]
Choose inundation over inebriation** and celebrate King Tides because it's much more exciting than celebrating the New Year. Why? [Thanks to Lindsey for helping brainstorm this list]
So... what are King Tides...?  Approaching Hog Island at dusk. Photo © 2013 Joël Thai Today I'm digging into the archives to recount my first true overnight kayak camping trip in California (sad, I know). Beth, Sara, Eddie, Joel, Christina, Brian, Alice, and I camped overnight at Tomales Beach in Tomales Bay. Dane + 2 friends joined us for the Saturday paddle and lunch.
Chiddling = Chill paddling
Sponyaking = Spontaneous kayaking Imprompaddling = Impromptu paddling It's my favorite kind of day on the water. Never planned more than a day in advance. Simple logistics, slow pace, and good friends (none of this organized crowd-yaking with strangers nonsense). It's the kind of paddle when your PFD is the perfect beer holder. There is no purpose, destination, or expectation, so only pleasant surprises remain. The day after Thanksgiving I made the trek from North Berkeley to the Kayak Hotel in Oakland...  Hot springs in the middle of Soda Bay! Look closely at the base of the red rock to the right, and you can see the springs bubbling up. Clear Lake, in Lake County, California, has been on my to-paddle list since I discovered it on a map and learned about its fascinating history a few months ago. More than a few friends responded with apathy at visiting the lake, alluding to its reputation for motorboats, rednecks, and water quality issues. While I certainly love a remote, undeveloped lake, I also enjoy exploring other flavors of paddling! Alice agreed to join the long day trip. We left the Bay at noon, drove about 2.5 hours (after accidentally "meeting up" at two different park-n-rides in Novato), and put our boats on the water around 4pm. Within 5 minutes we jumped out of our boats to refresh, ignoring the algal bloom that filled the water around us.
|
Welcome!This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.
In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology. Happy Paddling! Nena Subscribe Here!Email updates on new blog posts, about once per month.
Reader TipsClick the "Read More" link at the bottom of each summary for more photos, to see an interactive map of the route, and to read about the adventure.
Maps in each blog post: Click the icons to learn more about the launch site (amenities) and destinations. Click the square in the bottom-left corner to see an aerial photo behind the route. Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
Click the RSS Feed link, copy the URL, and paste it into your favorite feed reader.
|
RSS Feed
