Out-the-Gate, Finally!

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

"Wringing" the New Year with the King Tides

[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]

1. 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.
2. The party don't stop #2: Another good reason to drink at the Embarcadero 
3. Play; Splashing in puddles an getting hit by waves in normally dry places.
4. Excitement: Fleeing men in golf carts
5. See the future: See what the world will look like every day with sea level rise. 
6. 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.

To learn more, and see much more dramatic photos, check out the California King Tides Initiative!

Circumnavigating Angel Island, San Francisco Bay

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. In 1954 the park was transferred to the California State Park system for everyone's enjoyment! Today you can camp, hike, bike, and do many other fun things on the island.

This was another BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) paddle, and apparently this was one of the biggest groups they'd ever organized - I guess there were 52 boats at one point! It didn't feel so big because we broke up into pods of ~10 boats each, based on speed. 

My pod was pretty pumped to get to Angel Island speedily, so I really had to focus on sitting up straight and paddling like a true Greenlander to keep up! We paddled out of the cove and around the point and north along the coast, at which point we re-grouped and paddled straight across the 2-mile channel as a group. There was almost no wind, and the sun was shining - pretty spectacular conditions for the Bay. 

Everyone convened for lunch on Quarry Beach, which is on the east side of the island. We shared a potluck lunch with an obscene amount of delicious desserts. 

We continued our counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the island on the return trip. The tides had picked up some speed, and the wind was blowing (more typical for a Bay afternoon). These things made the trip back a bit more adventurous, but still nothing too intense. On the way back I met a couple other young paddlers, and we did some impromptu rolling practice when we got back to the harbor. 

Line of little sailboats being towed by a motor boat.

Date: Sunday, October 28, 2012

Time: 5 hours
Distance: ~11 miles

Fighting the Tide at Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay

[blog post interrupted by random clippings from Marika's trip summary!]

In June. Marika, Julia, Whitney, and I decided to go for a paddle in Elkhorn Slough. This was shortly after I found out my company was applying to work on a restoration project for the slough. In 1947 a harbor was built at the mouth of the slough to provide a safe haven for boats coming in and out of the slough. Unfortunately, constructing a permanent structure like a harbor limits the slough's ability to naturally manage itself by opening, closing, and moving north to south, depending on factors like inflows and sediment supply. Since 1947 the slough has experienced massive erosion - even when we were there we could see big chunks of the marsh falling into the channel. Keeping the mouth of the slough wide open makes it so that the water moves in and out with the tide more quickly than it otherwise would. This makes sand and mud move back and forth more quickly. On the ocean side of the slough is a huge submarine canyon: 

Source: NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries

This canyon is like a big sink - much of the sediment that comes out of Elkhorn Slough falls into the canyon and doesn't come back. I found out recently that my company will be working on the restoration project (that I'll be helping to manage!), which will look at different options to try to fix this problem. Getting rid of the harbor isn't really an option, so the main focus will be on importing sediment from other sources (to be determined) and placing it upstream in the slough to try and counteract erosion. The project is just starting, so more info on that later! 

Guy-with-cool-moustache telling us the rules. He later showed us pictures of a baby otter that had jumped into his kayak... There were some very cute kayakers working at this shop... "Also, the cute kayak shop guy lent us his watch because we forgot ours. He was cute I remember that part." - Marika

Pickleweed! One of the main marsh plants native to California. It turns bright red in the fall, so it almost makes it feel like there are seasons here. I tried chewing on it... it tastes like grass, which was a huge relief considering my disagreements with pickles.

Some sea lions chilling out in the marsh. In the background are the cooling towers from the Moss Landing Power Plant, a natural gas-driven electricity generation plant. The plant takes cool water from the slough or ocean and uses it to cool the gas turbines. The warm water gets dumped back in the ocean.

Cormorants and sea lions hanging out on the mud flat.

Happy Julia! Here you can see how quickly the marsh edge is eroding. 

Seagull hanging out above the pickleweed. Everyone in CA hates seagulls because they're invasive, but they're still fun to take pictures of because they're not very scared of people... :)

The slough is full of jelly fish. We tried to pick them up with our paddles and toss them at each, but gravity is not their friend, so they ended up being 2D instead of 3D. It was a little gross, so we stopped. "We passed by a cow farm with manure sliding down a hill into the water...nasty smell." - Marika

While the slough is known for it's excellent sea kayaking, it's also known for intense winds and fast moving tides, that can combine in the afternoons to make for tricky returns to the harbor. The wind was pretty strong on this day, so it took us at least two times longer on the way back to the kayak shop.

Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012

Time: 2 hours
Distance: ~5 miles

Solar eclipse, salt marsh, and a few sea lions.

May 20th 2012 was the date of the first solar eclipse since May 10th 1994, and what better way to enjoy it than to sun-gaze from a kayak on SF Bay? Doug (oceanographer and kayaker) and I left Oakland after picking up his boat at the Kayak Hotel, which is a glorified garage for communal boat storage by the Oakland Estuary. After a quick stop at a roadside fruit stand (yum! cherries!) we met up with Eddie (coastal engineer and kayaker) on the other side of the bay. The launch site was along Chesapeake Drive in Redwood City, close to the Stanford Boathouse. We parked in the shade of some trees (free parking! and launching!) and discovered that we were joined by some unusual birds making very loud squawking/groaning noises above. The sound was so ridiculous that I found myself giggling every time they started up. I would try to spell it if I could...

We set out with no ambitions other than to outlast the eclipse and test Doug's eclipse-viewing contraption. It was a breezy day so we stayed in the narrow channels that meander through the salt marsh. Power lines cross the south bay marshes in a number of places:

Eddie and the power lines.

We explored some side channels as we continued along the main channel, moving deeper into the marsh. A group of sea lions was sunning on the channel banks. When the eclipse finally started, Doug was  excited to discover that his contraption actually worked. We watched the little dark circle move across the sunspot passing through one page onto the other:

Doug using his snazzy eclipse viewer.

I like to take a more direct approach...  (proving that my camera would not explode). This clearly did not succeed at capturing the eclipse...

As we moved deeper into the marsh, the channel began to shallow and we played around in the mud now easily accessible. I gave Big Purple a nice facial (deck-cial?). Eddie's boat also got a secret facial (Shhhhh).

Amused by the amazingly smooth bay mud. Photo by Doug.

We pulled over to the edge of the channel to snack on fresh cherries and salty peanuts and periodically check out the eclipse. 20 minutes later we looked down to realize that we were now high and dry on the muddy bank. The tide had subsided significantly and the marsh was quickly emptying around us. We dragged our boats back into the shallow channel and quickly pushed our way out to the deeper areas. Not sure exactly how far we still had to venture to loop back to the dock, we decided to turn around and head back the way we came. As you can see in the map below, this was probably the right decision.

Upon arriving at the docks Eddie discovered the lovely mud facial on the back of his boat (now dried and solidly caked). After letting him wonder how he'd managed to make this mess I confessed and spend 5 minutes scrubbing it off. Cleaning off Bay Mud is like rinsing soap off with soft water.

Back at the parking lot we were greeted by the groaning birds, as well as my car, which they had turned into a Dalmatian in the 3 hours we were gone. No wonder these convenient parking spots were available! Time for a car wash.

Date: Sunday, May 20, 2012
Time: 2 hours
Distance: ~ 8 miles

Now that I'll be doing a lot of paddling in San Francisco Bay (and other large bodies of water), I think I'll start including a regional map in addition to the route map:

"A" marks the spot!

P.S. I'm pretty stoked about the new way blogger lets you view pictures in high-res when you click on them!

Somes Sound (Mt. Desert Island Day #2)

Just a quick post for the second paddle Ben and I did in Mt. Desert Island a couple weekends ago!

Date: July 16th, 2010
Distance: 16.3 miles

We paddled north from Southwest Harbor into Somes Sound, riding the tide on the way in, and paddling a little bit against it on the way back. We stopped for lunch in Sargent Cove on the east side of the sound.

Starfish at the launch in Southwest Harbor

 Yum, mussels! Sadly we only found empty shells.

 This is paradise!

On the way back, a thick fog seemed to be rolling in from the ocean, so rather than paddling around the island at the end of the sound, we headed back into the harbor.

Seal Cove and around Bartlett Island (Mt. Desert Island Day #3)

Here is part 3 of 3 (Yes, the days are out of order, but I guess that's just going to be a trend in this blog), a guest post by Mary Kate Wheeler summarizing our third and final paddle on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. 

After a last minute decision to join Nena and Ben's MDI Expedition, I headed east from Warren, Vermont on Friday, arriving at the campsite just minutes after dinner ended. Fortunately my ever prepared companions dug up some leftovers and even an extra tent to make me feel well at home.

 Fisherman dinghies at the put-in.

Mist hovered along the coastline as we drove to our launching point on Saturday morning. After hearing a rumor of exceptionally friendly marine life off the western side of the island we chose to paddle out of Seal Cove. Although it seemed to be a popular spot for fishermen and motor boats, the cove provided a nicely sheltered place to launch kayaks.

 

 At the put-in, with Mary-Kate's self-made skin-on-frame kayak in the background.

Our goal of having close and personal encounters with marine mammals was quickly and unexpectedly met. Paddling among lobster buoys on our way out of the cove we spotted dark dorsal fins of several porpoise (at least we think they were porpoise – probably harbor porpoise) swimming in our general direction. We paddled towards the pod and waited, scanning the surface, until a pair came up almost underneath Nena's boat. Not too interested in paddlers, the porpoise continued on their course and we observed for a while before continuing on ours.

After leaving Seal Cove we turned north and paddled along the western shore of MDI, passing Hardwood Island to our west. We continued north past Folly Island and Pretty Marsh Harbor. By the time we entered Bartlett Narrows - the waterway separating Bartlett Island from the main island - the flood tide had created a strong current that carried us quickly to the northern end of Bartlett Island.

Knowing that we would be paddling against wind and current on our return trip, we still chose to paddle around the northern point of Bartlett Island and return on its more exposed western side. Although the paddling became more difficult our work paid off as we saw two harbor seal - one on the northern side of the island, and a second one near the island's southern point. 

 Mary Kate and Ben paddling next to Bartlett Island.

About half way down Bartlett Island we stopped for lunch at a gravely beach with a beautiful view of Blue Hill Bay. We timed our rest so we would be off the water while the flood tide current was at its peak. Still, the final part of our trip was a good challenging paddle, with wind, current, and some small but exciting waves off the island's points

We made one crossing, from the south point of Bartlett Island back to the western shore of MDI, and then retraced our path from the morning. On the way back into Seal Cove we sighted guillemots, small diving birds with amazingly red feet, close relatives of the puffin.

Date: July 18th, 2010
Distance: 17.6 miles

Our long day of paddling along the incredible Maine coastline was completely satisfying. Yet we somehow managed to fit in more adventures that evening, climbing the highest peak on the Atlantic Coast, Cadillac Mountain (by car) before indulging in a fresh seafood dinner at Head of the Harbor restaurant in Southwest Harbor. 

Not bad for a summer Saturday in Maine.

- Mary Kate

Southport Island in Boothbay, Maine

(This day actually happened before the previous post)

Now that you're all (the 3 of you who actually read this) probably getting bored of my posts, I've invited a guest blogger!!! I now present you with Jeff Buchman, kayaking partner for the weekend of 7/9-7/11 on our visit to Boothbay Harbor in Maine...

(Plotting our course on Friday night by candle lantern light)

Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of what we though were rain drops on the tent but it turns out it was only large amounts of fog dripping off of the trees. Since it was predicted to thunderstorm I was more than willing to deal with heavy fog since last time I checked no one was ever electrocuted by fog. When we arrived at the beach at Gray Homestead Oceanfront Camping where we were staying we couldn’t see Squirrel Island which is only about 1 mile off the coast of Southport Island where we were due to the thick fog. As we were launching, the fog began to lift and a little bit of sun began to shine from behind the clouds. The first part of the trip was against the tide toward the open Atlantic. While paddling against the tide is a bit more challenging, it is somewhat reassuring to know that if something goes wrong you won’t be getting swept out into the North Atlantic. The wave height was probably 3-4 feet but unlike the Lake Ontario waves we are used to where 3-4 feet means breakers these were all swells with a long wavelength so it was very gentle.

(Nena paddling east towards the open ocean)

As we approached the Cuckold Island Lighthouse, the waves began to get a little bit bigger and we could see fairly large breakers in the distance so we made the decision to cut through Cape Harbor on the south end of Southport Island. We had been debating crossing Sheepscot Bay to the Five Islands area but since there was thick fog moving in and out we decided it would be best to stick to shore and paddle the circumference of Southport instead. While paddling along the western coast of the island we found a number of pleasantly named coves (Christmas Cove, Cozy Cove, etc...) to explore which ensured us that our decision to forgo the crossing would not be regretted.

(Jeff paddling past the Cuckold Island lighthouse)

While in Cozy Cove we saw an area that had a gate built across it and an opening just big enough for a kayaker to squeeze through so naturally we had to investigate (Note from Nena: I managed to run head-on into the edge of the gate and nearly flip myself, but Jeff is being nice and not mentioning it). Inside we found a large salt water pond with a few unused docks that were covered with the remains of seabird meals. Nena found a nice sea urchin skeleton and cleaned it up to take with her but sadly it was later crushed. We stopped for lunch on what we first thought was an uninhabited island but after getting out of the boats we found there we a number of cabins near our landing point. Upon closer inspection no one was in the cabins so we decided to stay and eat lunch while the sun was shining. After lunch some threatening clouds appeared in the west so we decided to up the pace and try to get into the shelter of Townsend Gut (a gut is a small body of water connecting two larger bodies of water) on the north end of the island before any sort of storm appeared. In what became a theme for the weekend, the threatening clouds produced only a slight drizzle. The bridge on Route 27 crossing over Townsend Gut onto Southport Island is a swing bridge so taller boats can get through. Rather than splitting in the middle the whole bridge pivots on a center point and rotates 90 degrees, moving itself out of the way.

(A pile of lobster traps in Christmas Cove)

The paddle back to the campground at low tide was rather uneventful until we reached the take-out and decided to get out on the small floating dock they had there. The combination of two sea kayaks, a steeply angled ramp, and a moving platform made getting the boat up to the beach a bit tricky so after maneuvering Nena’s boat up the ramp we decided it would be best if I paddled back to the beach. Our first day of paddling covered 13 miles and about 100 feet of swimming off the dock once we got back to the campground.

Date: Saturday, July 10th 2010
Distance: 13 miles
Time: ~4.5 hours (incl. lunch)

After paddling we decided to head to the lovely little town of Boothbay Harbor where to cure her headache most likely caused by dehydration Nena had some espresso and double chocolate gelato. I decided to go local and try the sea salt gelato, it was surprisingly good. We spent a few hours exploring the town before going back to camp to get ready for Sunday’s paddle. (see previous post)

~ Jeff