Blog - The Naked Kayaker

Day 8: Ferry to San Juan Island, Paddle Griffin Bay

7/26/2014

Sunrise at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal

5am: it’s time to wake up for the earliest ferry! In classic Nena-style we (Nena/Sara/Bridget/Ale/Alex/Maria) took the first ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor at 6:25am. We were directed to Lane #4 where we parked, ate yogurt and cereal, and watched a gorgeous sunrise. We wandered into the waiting area and found a Seattle’s Best coffee machine, which delivered wonders for $1.50. “Now boarding the 6:25 ferry to Friday Harbor.” Oh crap, we return to the car just in time to board the ferry, parked behind another pair of kayakers and next to a massive flammable liquids truck. The ferry to Friday Harbor lasted ~1 hour.

Easter Sunday on Estero Americano

4/30/2014

At 8:20am on Easter morning, Alice and I simultaneously pulled into our favorite Park-N-Ride in San Rafael. We have a history of perfect timing - we're both 10 minutes early. We loaded White Lightning onto my car (next to Big Purple) and headed up the 101. Estero Americano flows into Bodega Bay, roughly 1.5 hrs north of the Bay Area. The launch site is at the end of a dirt road that spurs off the intersection of Marsh Road and Valley Ford Franklin School Road. Another kayaker arrived shortly after us, and spent 20 minutes urging Alice and I to join a kayak racing club in Berkeley.

Moon Snails, Loons, Seals, Sea Stars, and Fish Heads: Tomales Bay Never Disappoints.

4/5/2014

Starved of salt water and kayaks longer than 10 ft, Colorado Jeff flew to San Francisco for a weekend of bingeyaking (my second favorite verb, after sponyaking). The bingeyaking was certainly not spontaneous, as we spent two weeks planning our routes and finding ways to squeeze as many miles into one weekend as possible.

We had planned to paddle Estero Americano (i.e. Americano Creek) from Valley Ford Road to its confluence at Bodega Bay. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was looking pprreeettyyy miserable for Saturday, with heavy rains...

Berkeley Marina to Brooks Island (+ too much mexican food)

2/23/2014

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.

Dinoflagellate Discoveries, Sponsored by Bud Light Lime

12/9/2013

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.

Clear Lake: Boiling Water, Volcanoes, Bambi, and Gnats.

6/2/2013

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.

Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach and then some...

5/5/2013

Alice demonstrating the signal for "Go!"

I've been a bit scarce over the past six months thanks to a lovely series of exams to become a professional engineer (fingers crossed!). Even before the exams were over, Alice (new paddling friend in the Bay) and I were scheming to do a coastal paddle from Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach (just north of the Golden Gate). Even though we've both done a bit of coastal paddling, we were a bit nervous to head out by ourselves. Alice posted her first trip to the BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) list-serve, and five other expert BASK paddlers joined us (Gordon, Don, Joe, Bert, and Ross). Gordon offered to carpool with me since we were both coming from the East Bay, so I had the exciting experience of getting a ride in his old sand-yellow mercedes station wagon!

Circumnavigating Angel Island, San Francisco Bay

11/6/2012

10am - Pull into the parking lot at Horseshoe Cove. The view from the Cove is pretty great. This morning the Bay was covered in a thin layer of thick fog, up to the base of the GG Bridge. It cleared up as the day went on.

Thanks to its strategic location just inside the Golden Gate, Angel Island has quite a bit of history. It was the U.S. immigration station from 1910 to 1940 where hundreds of thousands of immigrants entered the country. In the 1950's and 60's it was a missile site.

An Ambitious First Paddle of 2011

5/13/2011

It's May, and this was sadly the first time Big Purple has touched H20 since... November? How sad. I guess that's what happens when you chose not to work on your Master's project for the majority of the year. Yesterday was my final presentation, so now there are many paddling trips in the works (in my mind...).

Anyways, Rob and I met up at East Shore Park at 8 am. We were on the water by 8:10 am, paddling North along the familiar east shore of Cayuga. Although my project had me out on the lake in a motor boat many times this spring, it's just so much better in a kayak!

Otisco: A Lake with a Split Personality

10/3/2010

Today couldn't have been more perfect: perfect weather on Otisco, magnificent fall colors surrounding us, no motor boats on the water, and great turnout! Eleven of us (Daniel & Amy, Ben, Laurie, Don, Mike, and I from Ithaca, and Jeff B., Jeff H., Heather, and Nick from Rochester!) showed up for this beautiful paddle. After a few wrong turns, an incredibly steep hill, and some pungent overheated brakes, we all managed to meet at the causeway at the southwest end of the lake...

Heather and Ben passing through a gap in the causeway to choppier waters.

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

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