Looking at the maps, I noticed that there was a 9 kilometer section of Tomales Bay that Marty and I had not explored on our camping trip there. I had been around the outside tip of Tomales Point, but had never explored the inside of the bay from the point to the boat ramp at Miller Park. I talked my Dad into picking me up on the other end so I wouldn't use up a whole day going this long straight trip both directions. The town of Dillon Beach was as weird as ever: At 7:30am, nothing was open, not even the beach to accept my $7.00 to use the beach for 5 minutes to launch from. I would gladly have paid it to use the rest rooms, which were separately locked up with iron gates. We drove up past the store and found a cafe that was open and used their rest-rooms after asking where the nearest gas station was (Petaluma, 45 minutes away). We parked in a no parking zone in front of the beach, long enough for me to change into the wetsuit and drag the kayak across the sand. Without any camping gear on it, the kayak felt nice and light to me. Dillon beach is vary shallow, and I walked way out through the breakers before getting on. But as I jumped in, I landed on the hatch cover and broke it again! This hatch between my legs seemed like a convenient place to store small items, but it is becoming a real bummer. I don't actually use it much, and wish I had never cut the hole in the kayak to install it. I expected Tomales Bay to be a mild, safe trip, so I continued on with the hatch broken.
First, I paddled across the southern tip of Bodega Bay, straight for the northern tip of Tomales Point, which I could just barely see in the fog. I had crossed this in thick fog once before, and now I marveled at how close the buoy was to the rocks near the point. On that trip, I could hear the breakers in the rocks, knew where they were to avoid them, but never saw them. I went out to the very tip of the point, then turned and went into Tomales Bay along the west shore. The 5 to 7 foot swells died down immediately inside the bay, and I was able to paddle between the rocks near shore. Just a little way into the bay, I paddled up to a group of Roosevelt's Elk down by a sandy beach. These elk were introduced (or re- introduced) to the northern end of Tomales Point. I have seen them way up on the ridge before, and didn't know they came this far down to the water.
I had hoped that this morning would have the tides going into the bay, and it would help me on my way. But when I looked at the TideLog in the morning, I saw that I would be fighting a mild tide the whole time I was in the water. As I went past Sand Point across the bay from me, the current going out got noticable, and I could see the drop in water level around the point. The next point had this visible drop in water level as well. I stayed on the west side of the bay, and hugged the shore, hoping to catch any backwaters in the current. I must have been sucessful, because I made excellent time. Before I knew it, I saw Hog Island come around a point through the mist. Hog island is actually two small tree covered islands right in the middle of the bay and near Miller Park where I would be landing. Before cutting across past the islands, I turned into a large cove on the west side. There were a few yachts parked here for the night, and on the innermost point of the cove, another large group of Elk. I paddled towards the closest ones, then tried to drift closer to them without disturbing them so I could take a picture. They spooked before I drifted to shore, and ran down, first closer to me until they were in the mud on the shore. Then they ran in the mud along the shore away from me. Their hooves in the mud made a loud sucking sound one at a time, but the whole herd of them in the mud made a roaring sound. After only a hundred meters or so, they calmed down and stopped, not much farther away from me than when they started.
I turned away and continued down the west side of the bay. Since I was early, I figured I could go another kilometer or so and make it all the way to Pelican Point, the northern most point Marty and I had paddled to on our camping trip here. Then I turned and went practically straight north to Hog Island. The wind had been picking up all morning, starting with a slight breeze when I had gotten in the water a few hours ago. So I had to work a little bit, but quickly got to the Islands. Even though there is a no trespassing sign on the island, I stopped to look around. It looks much more hospitable than I recall it looking the time Marty and I went around the island on a windy day. At low tide, there is a sand bar connecting the two islands together. It looks like there are sheltered places to camp between the trees on the big island. The no trespassing sign says that the island belongs to Autobon Canyon Ranch, and has a phone number. I have heard that you can get permission to camp on the island, and after looking around I think we should call the number and see if we can do just that on our next Tomales Bay trip. From Hog Island to the boat ramp at Millers Park was a short trip, and I was soon on the ramp, with Dad helping me carry the kayak to the car.
