Ken Kelton suggested an open ocean paddle at the last BASK meeting, and I was eager to come along. He suggested paddling around the lighthouse at Point Reyes, and apparently a bunch of other people were also interested because five of us showed up at Drakes Beach on Sunday morning. Ken Kelton and his friend Marvin, Dave Dolberg, Roger Lamb and myself. We had originally discussed launching from the private pier near Chimney Rock, but everyone was worried about getting down the gated private road. Instead they wanted to launch from Limantour Beach which would add almost 8 kilometers each way to the paddle. Drakes beach is 4 kilometers closer to Chimney Rock, so it was a reasonable compromise.
We launched easily over the waves ad Drakes Beach and quickly paddled directly across Drakes Bay to Chimney Rock. We paddled up the rugged shore between the two ends of Point Reyes and went behind the rocks close to the cliff. Since we left around 11:00pm, it was after noon when we came to a mild sandy beach, so we landed for lunch. Our lunch beach had no seals on it, but as we started west we found an elephant seal lolling around in a gap between two rocks. It was a large adult male with the characteristic nose. The first time I had paddled around here I had seen some young males in the water. I changed my plans to go between those rocks and went way around to avoid the seal.
The next sandy beach we found between the rocks had an elephant seal sleeping on it, and a bunch of harbor seals that jumped in the water when they saw us from a distance. Then as we came around the next rocky point we found dozens of elephant seals hauled out on the sand. We kept seeing these large seals on the sand for a while, but the farther we traveled west the fewer elephant seals we saw and the more California sea lions we saw. We often saw elephant seals sharing a beach with harbor seals, but never with sea lions. At one point, Roger pointed to a brown sandy beach and said that he was going to stop here and wait for us to come back from the point. I pointed out to him that the beach he indicated was not covered with brown sand, that was wall-to-wall sea lions. So Roger kept paddling for a while. Later we saw entire rocks covered with sea lions.
Roger was in his long Mariner 2 touring kayak. This was the same kayak that he had smashed up on the fateful Bodega to Tomales trip with me. He had since learned how to repair his own fiberglass boat so all the seams and patches were his own proud work. However, there was a strong wind coming over the cliffs here and blowing back at an angle over us. Roger’s long boat without a rudder and without all his camping equipment in it was apparently difficult to control in the crosswind. He finally decided to pull into a small cove out of the wind and wait for us to complete the trip to the lighthouse and back.
Although it was a lot of work paddling across the wind, I had a pretty good time. It was a fun trip paddling with other dare-devil kayakers. Ken seemed to be the most adventurous kayaker, going behind rocks that I went around, paddling close to the elephant seals and close to the beaches. I found the wind to be the largest factor determining where I could or should not go. I would decide to go close to shore around a rock but then the wind would blow me sideways into troublebefore I realized what was happening. I expected there to be a wind- shadow or a rotor under the cliff, but there was none.
As we got closer to the lighthouse the wind got stronger and stronger and came around the point directly into our faces. I tried to find a wind-shadow directly under the lighthouse at the base of the cliff and could not get out of the wind even there. Past the end of the point, we could see larger swell rolling by on the open ocean. I asked Ken “Is this far enough boss? Can we turn back now?” Dave paddled out into the rough ocean and disappeared around the point. Ken started out around the point next as Dave started back. When Ken disappeared I gave up my semi-calm spot behind the point and paddled out into the rough water to keep Ken in sight. When he stopped and let me catch up, I asked him again if this was far enough and this time the answer was yes.
The whole trip out we battled the wind coming at us from an angle, in our faces from the right. Ken kept suggesting that it would help blow us home. I was suspicious because it was coming more from the side than in front of us. On the trip back I figured we would be battling it coming at us from the side and behind and it would not be any easier. When we first turned back the wind curled around the point and blew us directly where we wanted to go. Ken and Marvin opened up sails and tried to get the wind to help blow them home. This worked OK for Ken in a long boat with a rudder and he was able to tack down the coast. Marvin’s short boat, even though it had a rudder, just blew straight down the wind and his sail kept pushing him away from us. Then he would have to drop the sail and paddle to come back to shore and catch up with us. I found myself pointing my boat at a 45 degree angle towards he cliffs, paddling towards the rocks but never getting there as the wind bent my course parallel to the shore.
At this angle I had a ringside seat to the meteorology happening over the cliffs. Our sky was clear but there was a thick fog bank just up-wind of the Point Reyes Ridge. This thick white fog was pouring over the top of the cliff like a giant breaking wave. I would normally have expected the wind to launch over the top of a cliff and leave a calm area close to shore with a rotor of slower moving air underneath. (This calm area would have been easier to paddle in). But for some reason the wind was flowing over the edge, down to the water and straight out. This made the fog spill over the top and flow down the cliff in a thick white blanket. But as the air expanded on our side of the cliff it re-absorbed most of the moisture and the fog never made it to us on the water. Only a few tattered wisps of fog flew over our heads, and most of these rotated back up towards the cliff. There was an upside-down rotor of air above us turning backwards and the wisps of fog allowed us to see it happening. Sometimes thick patches of the fog would get pulled like taffy into this and we could see the shape of the rotor outlined by spinning white lines.
When we made it back to Chimney Rock at the east end of the ridge, we found a calm spot out of the wind to sit and wait for everyone to catch up and rest. Between Chimney Rock and the shore is a row of jagged rocks with a little water between them. I have often thought about surfing between these rocks, but always decided not to risk it. We discussed this together while we watched waves breaking through these rocks. The waves tend to be very steep going through the gaps. Waves actually refract around Chimney Rock and come through in the wrong direction sometimes. And every once in a while a really large wave arrives and starts breaking way before the row of rocks. I figured that this is what would happen if I set up to surf through there: A large wave would come and remove all my options by picking me up and throwing me through when I wasn’t ready. I went around.
Going around is not without exciting possibilities. The point continues under water and there is a shallow area where you can see waves rising up and thinking about breaking. Roger an I went over this area first and I stayed close to Chimney Rock, hoping that a medium sized wave would come through and give me a shove. Instead a REALLY LARGE wave came through and gave me a scare. Roger shouted out a warning, and then kept repeating that it was “Still coming! Still coming!”. Over my shoulder I saw the wave start to break close to Chimney Rock. Was I close enough to get caught in that? Or was I far enough out to avoid it? I chose to paddle straight down the wave and hope that it would surf me out past the shallow area where it could no longer break. This worked really well and I surfed down the wave so fast that water droplets sprayed up off the nose of my kayak an blew into my eyes, blinding me with the salt.
As things calmed down I saw Marvin between me and the shore. He had just surfed through the gap, and must have had exactly the exciting ride I had predicted for going between the rocks. Once in calm water, he started heading straight out across the bay towards Drakes Beach. He had apparently missed the discussion about stopping at the first beach to pee, and the discussion about going the long way around the inside of the bay. I had stated that I was going close to shore, even if it was longer, in the hopes of finding some shelter from the wind along the way. Ken agrees that paddling next to a shore where you can watch your progress beats slogging across the middle of nowhere with no references and no way to gauge your progress. Dave came around the rocks an followed Marvin out into the bay. Roger and I landed on the beach. I thought I saw Ken outside the rock, but he disappeared for a few minutes before suddenly re-appearing close to shore near the rocks. I suspect he also surfed through the gap between Chimney Rock and the cliff.
Those of us on the beach watched the two kayaks out in the bay make VERY SLOW PROGRESS. To us it appeared that they were making no progress at all towards their goal. Instead they were being blown sideways farther and farther from shore. We joked that we would have to pick them up in Bolinas after the paddle (30 kilometers south). As we got underway and started along the shore the two kayaks out in the bay disappeared behind us. We got worried and stopped to try to call them on my marine radio. Marvin has a marine radio but never turned it on to hear us trying to contact him. Ken decided to paddle out there and see if they needed help. I left my radio on so Ken could have Marvin call us if there was a change of landing spot. After a while I saw Ken’s sail up on the bay! This seemed like a bad idea to me, as it would blow his kayak downwind and he would have to paddle back every meter lost. But apparently Ken is able to sail pretty close to the wind and was able to find Marvin out in the middle of the bay.
Roger and I continued slogging directly into what felt like a 20 knot wind. Eventually we made it to some cliffs where we found wind shadows to paddle in. Every time we passed a break in the cliffs, the wind would whip up and make us work hard across it, but most of the time we had a reasonably easy paddle again. As we approached Drakes Beach we saw two yellow kayaks racing us to the shore. It was Ken and Marvin. Apparently Dave had made it across before anybody else. Ken landed, then Roger and I, and finally Marvin made his landing. Despite all the worrying everyone made it to the appointed spot. I felt vindicated, however, that even going around the long way Roger and I came in about the same time as the people on the direct route.