Today marks the start of a 24-day cross-country road trip from San Francisco to Boston. I'll be heading up the west coast through Corvallis, Portland, Seattle, and the San Juan Islands before taking a turn and heading east through Bozeman, Bismarck, the Great Lakes, Rochester, NYC, and finally Boston. My hope is to post every couple days, which means my writing will be much more stream-of-consciousness. Apologies in advance for the typos and lack of research. I'm excited to share my experiences as they happen!
A quick recap: In March I found out I'd been awarded a Fulbright grant to study flood management in the Netherlands at the Technical University of Delft (TUDelft). I spent a few weeks hemming-and-hawing about whether or not to leave my great job as a coastal engineer in San Francisco and how to relay the news to my company. In April I broke the news, and the outcome was positive! They offered to let me continue working part time remotely during my year away.
Fast forward: much packing and selling and spreadsheeting later (I'll have to post my planning spreadsheet template at some point), I'm sitting in the Bed Bath and Beyond parking lot in Larkspur waiting for Alice to begin the first leg of this next adventure. Tonight we'll be staying at MacKerricher State Park on the coast in Mendocino County. We'll be kayaking on one of the nearby rivers today - location still to be determined.
The past couple weeks have been incredible. While saying goodbye every day is sad, it's been great to spend time with the amazing California friends I've gotten to know over the past 3 years. I'm already looking forward to my return to the west coast :)
This will be a brief one... Friday was (likely) my last day of fieldwork at my job - I have 5 weeks left now, so things are starting to wrap up (or at least that's what I'm pretending). We are working (with a few other agencies/companies) on an oyster/eelgrass pilot restoration project off the coast of San Rafael (project website, recent article in the SF Gate). ESA (my company) is monitoring the physical processes like changes in topography, waves, and also water quality. On Friday we conducted a site-wide bathymetric survey that we will be comparing with a pre-project survey to see how the oyster beds may be affecting regional sediment processes.
Damien preparing the kayak for the bathymetry survey
We used a GPS/depth sounder system strapped on our sylishly-camo field kayak to do the survey. I haven't had a chance to calculate exactly how far we kayaked, but we paddled east and west and north and south across the site for about 4 hours. It was exhausting, but we finished just in time to return the equipment to the rental place. It was also just in time to head to San Francisco and meet up with Doug and his friends to watch the Giant's game from outside the stadium.
Friends (Doug and Ken) playing
Happy Doug and Ken
I parked at Pier 52 and paddled over to AT&T Park (~1 mile). Doug and Ken arrived shortly after. Doug surprised me with two strings of purple lights to decorate my boat (you can kind of see them in the photo below) - they match perfectly! Big Purple now glows radiantly.
Big Purple watching the game with her snazzy new twinkly lights
We floated around and snacked on some sausage/cheese/crackers while waiting for the BBQ-canoe to arrive. I was pooped, so I only stuck around for ~1.5 hrs and missed the BBQ/capsizing/tequila-bottle-tossing/firework madness that ensued. Instead, I spent the next 36 hours in bed nursing my unusually sore back, blistered hands, sunburned face, migrained head, and bruised lip (I dropped the kayak on my face while lifting it onto the work van...). Apparently this is what it feels like to get old, but until further notice, I'll blame it on the un-quantified number of tough paddling we did during the workday. :) Such a wimp.
Date: Friday, June 13th, 2014 Time: 2 hours Distance: 2 miles (roundtrip)
The perfect kayaking trip should start something like this: a cool foggy morning, bundled in your favorite sweatshirt, with 30 minutes of meditative/caffeinated (do those cancel each other out?) beach sitting: bare toes hidden inside the boat for warmth.
Jackie (trip initiator), Doug, Liz, and Carrie arrived around 9am. Text from Alice, 9:10am: "I just woke up!" The rest of us launched off the sea-weedy low-tide beach around 10am.
The fog brings out the green.
The paddle south was reasonably calm, with the exception of Hurricane Gulch (so named because of its gusty tendencies). We paddled past the usual fleet of massive yachts at the Pelican and Sausalito Yacht Harbors investigated a couple fire boats. A large Buddha statue stood proudly at the helm of the freshly painted fire boat.
Visiting a decrepit and a newly renovated fire boat.
We tucked into shore and soon arrived at the Sausalito-Marin City Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. Based on this newsletter, the plant underwent an odor-reduction revamp in 2007, but our noses told us a different story!
Doug chilling in the eddy near the wastewater treatment plant.
Sea Glass Beach was just around the corner from the wastewater treatment plant. We dragged our boats up onto the beach and began an epic 1.5 hour picnic. Doug kindly offered me his pistachios and stale tortilla chips, which I devoured with gusto (I'd left my thai green curry in Tess's trunk). We discussed many important topics, such as the side of everyone's "Buttons." We determined that Liz's buttons are hidden but large, and Doug's buttons are numerous. Jackie gave me some great suggestions about visiting the San Juan Islands (one of my upcoming road trip destinations). Doug found a new way to use his kayak as a reclined chair. Liz and I discussed TV shows, for which Jackie judged us harshly. Jackie tells an epic story about a sketchy cat-Man who likes to hover outside her patio door. It went on... and then Alice arrived!
Alice finally arrives at Sea Glass Beach!
Foggy view of San Francisco from Sea Glass Beach
The return trip was uneventful and speedy. Alice and I quickly loaded our boats while the others rinsed and put away their borrowed ETC kayaks. Alice tried to recruit a fellow french-fry-eater, with no luck. After a quick goodbye I was off to try my hand at mountain biking with Bailey up at China Camp!
Date: Sunday, June 1st, 2014
Distance: ~ 5 miles
Time: ~4 hours (including a leisurely 1.5 hours on the beach!)
An Out-the-Gate paddle is a right of passage for sea kayakers in the Bay Area. Not just anyone can paddle out under the Golden Gate Bridge and see the unique view of San Francisco from the other side. Intense currents flow through the gate four times a day: twice into the bay (flood) and twice out of the bay (ebb). These tidally-driven currents can be incredibly fast (over 5 mph - 1 or 2 mph faster than a typical sea kayaker), but luckily they can be planned-for well in advance by looking at local tide tables (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/curr_pred.html). Here's a screenshot from the Bay Area Sea Kayakers' wonderful trip planner website (http://www.bask.org/trip_planner/).
Negative currents correspond to water flowing out the Gate. Alice, Johnny, and I met at Horseshoe Cove (just NE of the GG Bridge) at 2pm to catch the maximum ebb (2.8 kts, 3.3 mph) out the gate. This was my first Out-the-Gate paddle, and I was excited/nervous! Alice and Johnny have done this paddle many times, so I was in good company.
Wind and waves are harder to plan for, as these can only be predicted a few days in advance, and with less accuracy. The forecast called for high winds, and the previous day had been incredibly windy (gusts of 30 mph). William, who was planning to drive down from Redding (4 hours), cancelled because of the forecast. Alice and Johnny, who were both coming from San Francisco, noticed white caps as they drove across the GG Bridge. We made a plan: paddle out to the Gate, regroup, take a look around, and make a decision.
The view from Horseshoe Cove, the launch site.
We paddled by some rock spires (labeled on Google Maps as "Needles Rocks") on our way to the bridge. At Lime Point (does Google make these names up?) we looked left, right, at each other, and said GO! The conditions didn't look too intimidating. We turned a hard right and paddled directly out the Gate. The wind was howling, and the "max ebb" was barely noticeable, but we were able to maintain some momentum.
Approaching the decision point at Lime Point.
Some time later we found ourselves fully out-the-Gate and paddling past Kirby Cove - a common destination for sea kayakers and campers alike. We paused to take some cliche-yet-necessary photos while trying not to lose too much ground, as the waves and wind pushed us back under the bridge. The rare view of San Francisco below the GG Bridge was crisp and dramatic, thanks to incredibly clear conditions. It was fun to imagine the Gate without the Bridge in place -- what the European explorers must have seen when they stumbled upon San Francisco Bay in the 1700s.
This photo makes the wind and waves look small!
We checked in and agreed to continue past Point Diablo. The winds howled around the point, and although we paddled as hard as we could, we often found ourselves in a kayaking-treadmill. Ducking our heads, we pushed on and veered into the first land-able beach. Many years ago, Johnny and his friends dubbed this beach "Poison Oak Beach." It doesn't seem that Google has assigned a name yet, so Johnny's name persists in this post. We sprawled out on the sand like stranded sailors, exhausted from the sprint. Alice befriended a small diapered child who was interested in her boat. We identified 3 nude sunbathers dotting the beach and noticed that the beach was accessible by a rugged trail coming down the hill. Alice, inspired by the nude sunbathers and overwhelming heat/sweat in her wetsuit, stripped down to her bathing suit and basked in the sun.
After 45 minutes of chit-chatting and recovery we launched into the growing surf zone. I launched first with some help from Alice and Johnny. Alice launched next, receiving a smack in the face from a big breaking wave and losing her favorite water bottle in the tizzy. Johnny rescued the water bottle and launched without too much trouble.
Leaving Poison Oak Beach and heading back into San Francisco Bay. Alice on the left, Johnny on the right.
The paddle back was happily uneventful. With the wind and waves at our backs and slack tide approaching, we cruised back under the Gate.
Alice victoriously coasting under the GG Bridge. That's San Francisco underneath the water droplet.
We quickly loaded up our boats and went about our Sunday evening plans. Soreness ensued.
Date: May 11th, 2014 Time: ~3 hours (including long break on the beach) Distance: 5.5 miles
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?
Keller Beach, the launch site. Warning: you'll have to carry your boat up and down a huge hill if you decide to launch here...
Armored shoreline railroad running along the front of Miller Knox Regional Shoreline
We launched from the seaweed-covered beach and paddled north towards the Chevron Pier. In my mileage estimates the night before I assumed that we could paddle through/under the many piers extending from the Richmond shoreline. Alas, Chevron does not allow us to paddle underneath its 48" diameter oil pipeline, so we added a mile (and some stress) to our trip by detouring around the parked oil tankers at the end of the pier.
A barge passing a parked oil tanker. Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island in the background.
Multiple signs warned us to stay 300 yards away from the pier.
Some machinery at the end of the Chevron Pier.
Jeff checking out the oil tanker and miscellaneous equipment.
We eventually made it past the pier (which extends ~1 mile into the Bay) and under the Richmond Bridge. Since you can't paddle anywhere in California without seeing seals, we ran into (not literally) some seals propped up on Castro Rocks, underneath the bridge.
Under the Richmond Bridge. You can't see it here, but we were greeted by a number of ornery seals who were basking on Castro Rocks. To the left of the photo is Red Rock Island, where I paddled a week earlier.
We stuck fairly close to shore on our way north, exploring a number of historic sites along the way, the first of which was this castle between Point Molate and Point Orient:
Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot (decommissioned)
The castle was originally constructed as part of a winery - the largest winery in the U.S. prior to prohibition. During Prohibition the winery tried to survive on grape juice, but eventually had to shut down, along with a number of other industries along the Point Richmond shoreline. Subsequently, it opened as the Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot in 1941, and later closed in 1998. Point Molate Beach was opened to the public last October (2013) for the first time in 10 years. Currently there are major efforts to convert the castle into a casino, which would be very sad, indeed. Here's a sketch of it back in it's heyday as a winery:
Photo from http://www.pointrichmond.com/pointsanpablo/graphics/
Dilapidated buildings on the west shore of Point San Pablo.
More piers that have collapsed into the bay, leaving behind creosote piles that take ages to degrade.
Apologies for all the kayaking selfies recently. This is the easiest way to deal with having one camera in the group. Also note extensive salt stains on my arm...
As we rounded Point San Pablo, the main Chevron Oil Refinery came into sight.
The Chevron Oil Refinery: site of a major fire on August 6th 2012 that sent 15,000 people seeking treatment at local hospitals.
We had lunch nearby on a rebar-filled breakwater protecting a landfill (glamorous). This spot is pretty exposed, so strong winds kept us from a leisurely lunch. Lacking enough vegetables, we finished the hummus with a spoon and were on our way. The afternoon waves tend to pick up in SF Bay, and Sunday was no exception. We paddled hard into the wind until we again rounded Point San Pablo. Across from the Point are two islands (The Brothers), where a lighthouse constructed in 1853 still stands and is also managed as a bed and breakfast.
East Brother Light Station on Brothers Island: Built in 1853, the light house is still maintained and run as a Bed and Breakfast. Reservations start at $315/night!
The return trip was uneventful - I sang bad pop songs to keep up morale (or maybe kill it?). When we rounded the Chevron Pier, the waves had picked up and we tried to surf our way back into shore. We sadly loaded up our boats after the last paddle of our bingeyaking weekend and commenced post-kayaking-logistics-madness, which I won't bore you with but involves a couple hours of driving and washing and drying and showering.
Date: April 30, 2014 Time: ~ 4 hours? Distance: ~15 miles
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!
[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]
The party don't stop: They happen for 3 days, so you can "Cheers!" and wish everyone a HAPPY KING TIDE at least 3 times. And since they happen in different places at different times, you can chase the tide and have that exciting moment multiple times in a day.
The party don't stop #2: Another good reason to drink at the Embarcadero
Play; Splashing in puddles an getting hit by waves in normally dry places.
Excitement: Fleeing men in golf carts
See the future: See what the world will look like every day with sea level rise.
And, because this is a kayaking blog... Expanded kayaking territory. As the water rises, it moves into nearby low-lying areas that are not normally wet, creating new spaces for kayakers to explore.
** A wonderful expression coined by James Jackson What are King Tides?
King Tides are the most extreme astronomical* tides that occur every year. A couple times per year, the earth, moon, and sun align in a way that creates the largest tide range. These days it's common for people to compare King Tides to sea level rise. The high tides that we see during the 2013 King Tides will likely happen on a daily basis in ~50 years (and the future King Tides would be even higher!). This year I decided to visit the coast during the King Tides so I could get a sense of what sea level rise might look like (on a good day, without storms).
* Sometimes non-astronomical forces, like weather/waves/storm, can raise tide levels for short periods of time. These changes are less predictable, while King Tides are regular and predictable.
Lindsey, Doug, James, and Barry were my tide-buddies for this year's celebration.
King Tides at the San Francisco Embarcadero (12/31/2013)
On the morning of New Years Eve Lindsey and I snuck out of the office and walked a half mile to the Embarcadero waterfront in San Francisco. The king tide was scheduled for 9:48 am (a 7.07 foot tide). We went to Pier 14, between the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge, where the King Tides have flooded the Embarcadero in the past. Here are some photos:
Stairwell flooded, and waves breaking onto the sidewalk.
A video of waves lapping over the Embarcadero:
We (Lindsey, Barry, and I) also returned later at the very lowest tide of the day (during King Tides, the lowest tides get very low, so it's a great time to go tide-pooling!). We ran into one of Barry's friends who promptly offered me and Lindsey a ride on his bike-taxi to the Embarcadero. We celebrated the low tide with a six pack of beers, and cheers-ed! at 4:42 pm, when the tide hit -1.35 feet. Here's one of many low-high comparison photos we took:
Extreme low tide:
Extreme high tide:
And the view of San Francisco at sunset wasn't so bad either:
King Tides at Beach Boulevard in Pacifica, CA (1/1/2014)
The next day, Lindsey and I picked up James and Doug for our first King Tide tour of 2014. Our first stop was Beach Boulevard, CA. We also decided to form a band called the King Tide Kids. Cover album:
The crew: James, Doug, Lindsey, and Nena
No beach at high tide, with waves crashing on the massive revetment
We watched a group of kids standing at the edge of the railing daring each other to stay when big waves crashed over the seawall.
Big waves rolling under the Beach Boulevard Pier
King Tides in Redwood City (1/1/2014)
Our final stops were in Redwood City, where we discovered a dock completely bent out of shape by the extreme high tide:
We (ok, I) decided to jump this fence to get a better view of the Bay at the end of the levee. Minutes later a small golf cart came bumbling along, catching up with us when we finally reached the view point. Two very angry men questioned us: "What was going through your mind when you walked past the 'No Trespassing' sign?" Thankfully Lindsey and Doug fielded the questions while I carefully avoided eye contact.
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