Escape from San Quentin to Red Rock

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!

Alice excited for a night on the water

We met at 4pm but chatted away 30 minutes because we both had some big life updates. At 4:30 we brought my boat (Big Purple always goes first since she's quite heavy - it's all muscle) and set it on the wide, flat beach. The waves were calm, so we set her down and headed back up the stairs. We scampered back with Alice's little boat a few minutes later to a scene of confusion on the beach. Big purple was gleefully slipping down the beach, filling with wave after wave of water. Some dog walkers were frantically grabbing at deck lines and toggles, trying to drag the increasingly heavy boat up the beach.

Landed at Red Rock

For a moment I considered abandoning ship [kayak] and fleeing in embarrassment. Instead I ran up, claimed my novice mistake, and wrestled her to safety. I sheepishly put on my drenched, sandy sprayskirt and PFD. Never leave your boat on wet sand, even if only for 3 minutes!

Embarrassing situation complete, we spent the typical 10 minutes trying to seal Alice's cheap hatch cover and finally launched into the little waves - much to the amusement of our canine audience.

We paddled east along the south side of the Richmond Bridge. Never have I felt less confident about the bridge's ability to withstand an earthquake. It looks like something I would have built with tinker toys at age 10: as tall as possible without much regard for strength. According to Wikipedia, the bridge was built in 1956 and retrofitted between 2001 and 2005 to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on the Hayward Fault and 8.3 on the San Andreas Fault. [I also read that the third lane of the bridge was used to pump water to Marin in 1977, during one of its worst droughts in history!] Anyways, I haven't paddled along a major highway before so the possibility of a car flying off the road and land 200 feet below was new and exciting. The roar of the traffic made it hard to chat though.

We arrived at Red Rock about an hour later. Red Rock is a completely undeveloped island in the middle of the Bay - and the only privately owned one. Apparently it used to be mined for manganese. It was purchased in 1964 for $50K and is now for sale for $5M (no one wants to pay buy it). Based on this interview, the owner thinks it's a very ugly island. We spent some time exploring and taking pictures, and I disagree. Alice made it 90% around before she reached an impassible headland. The boundaries of 3 counties converge on this rock, so Alice was in Contra Costa, Marin, and San Francisco Counties in the span of a few minutes.

The shores of Red Rock

Red Rock in the background

On the way back we managed to avoid a ferry and monstrous shipping barge. I probably wouldn't choose this paddle again any time soon because it requires passing one of the two main shipping channels in SF Bay, and big boats have little regard for kayakers. Sunday was a good choice since there was very little boat traffic.

Returning to San Quentin at Sunset.

The wind had picked up on our return, and the current was still drawing us towards the bridge. I'm quite sore as I write this post, but excited to be using kayaking muscles again :). We aimed for San Quentin, arriving just as the sun was setting behind Mount Tam. When we realized the guards in the towers were watching us paddle along the prison seawall, we tried to look less sketchy by taking off our sunglasses.

I leave you with some fun facts about San Quentin that distracted me from finishing this post last night:

Fun facts about San Quentin:
- Oldest prison in CA (1852), all men
- California's only death row: 700+ men on death row. Largest in western hemisphere.
- Apparently it has hosted concerts for the prisoners (Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Metallica)
- It is currently at 137% of capacity

Sun hiding behind Mount Tam. Guard tower watching us closely

San Quentin State Prison

Just escaped from San Quentin! Paddle fast!

Date: Sunday March 23rd, 2014
Time: ~ 2.5 hours
Distance: ~ 7 miles

Had to go with the old USGS map because it labels San Quentin so prominently!

Kayak Polo: A Lesson in Clumsy

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, $5, 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 this sheltered area:

The playing field. The goals are the tall floating structures on either end.

Kayak Polo (also called Canoe Polo, which confuses me very much and can be blamed on the British) is a young sport, with the first world championship taking place in 2009. The game is like most polo sports: two opposing teams try to throw a ball into a net on either end of a swimming pool or open water area (in this case, the Berkeley Marina). It's most popular/competitive in Europe. Interestingly enough, the meet-ups have been attended by an international crowd: a French couple, a Belgian guy (see Stijn in previous Berkeley kayaking post), a British guy, a Ukrainian guy and his daughter, and other accents I didn't recognize.

The beginner practice starts at 8:30 am and ends around 10:30, when the advanced game begins. There's really no better way to wake up at 9am on a Sunday morning than to roll your kayak in the frigid Bay waters! It's better than coffee.

The meeting spot.

Since I already know how to paddle and roll, the hardest part is throwing the ball (soccer-ball-sized). Since your lower body is fixed in the boat, all momentum must come from torso rotation, arms, and wrists. My initial attempts have been pitiful. You also have to make sure your boat is pointed in the direction of the throw, or else it's almost impossible to throw it more than 4 feet.  If you want to turn your boat while in possession of the ball, you "chicken wing," which involves holding the ball under your elbow while attempting to turn the boat with your paddle. It's all very messy and awkward because you only have 5 seconds before losing possession. An alternative is to dribble the ball, which involves tossing it few feet ahead of the boat (out of arms reach), taking a few quick paddle strokes, picking it up, and tossing it ahead again (repeat...).  Once competition increases, tackling (pushing someone over) becomes permitted. I haven't mentioned this yet, but everyone wears a helmet with a metal face guard - a necessity with all the paddle flailing and collisions.

Anyways, I hope to keep attending when I can (practice only happens every other weekend), and accepting the fact that it's going to take some real work to get good at this kind of kayaking! My friend Jeff (see previous Colorado post) will be visiting during the next practice, and he's much better in a whitewater boat so I'm sure everyone will be impressed!