Keller Beach 'round Point San Pablo to the Chevron Refinery

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

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

Maine: Foggy Knubble Bay & Robinhood Cove (Not Peter Pan or Huckleberry Finn!)

On day 2 (the days are out of order because Jeff is guest-writing the day 1 entry!) Jeff and I made the *calculated* decision to be impulsive and stop at a flea market on the ride between our campground and Reid State Park (where we planned to launch). Amongst the piles of overpriced rusty items we discovered a box of Man Stuff. Although I encouraged him to prove himself by purchasing one of the incredibly useful things in the box, Jeff chickened out and chose to remain un-manly.

When we finally arrived at Reid State Park, we were informed that it would cost $12 to park there, so we turned around and launched (somewhat illegally) at the south end of Robinhood Cove. I hid my car in the woods so it wouldn't get towed. Another great reason to have a forest green car!


Date: Sunday July 11th, 2010
Distance: 18 miles! longest paddle yet!
Time: ~ 5.5 hours

The overall route for the day included paddling up the length of Robinhood cove, heading up to the top of Knubble Bay, popping our heads out into Hockomock Bay, surviving the infamous 'Lower Hell Gate' on the way back into Knubble Bay, circumnavigating Macmanhan Island out in the Sheepscot River, and returning to the south end of Robinhood Cove.

When we first set out, an ominously dark cloud had us worried, but we continued on and eventually it passed without incident. Throughout the day we experienced a number of Maine's signature paddling elements:

1. A persistent, slow, steady drizzle that kept us damp but cool for the majority of the day

2. Intermittent bouts of fog that roll in unexpectedly, in a matter of minutes. These are caused by warm continental air flowing over the colder water, causing the moisture in the warm air to condense. When they roll in you can feel strong alternating breezes of hot, humid air and chilly, ocean air. At one point we watched a sailboat become engulfed in a thick layer of fog infront of us. We could only see the top of the mast sticking out of the layer. While we were watching we could hear a motorboat getting closer and closer to the sailboat, which was sounding its fog horn every minute or so. At the last minute the motorboat finally slowed down and veered off to the side of the sailboat. Throughout this whole business we stuck very close to the cliffs on our left to avoid any close encounters in the fog.

Here's a picture of Jeff next to someone's enormous 'joyride':


This one was taken exactly 5 minutes later (according to my camera) after a thinner fog rolled in.


3. Strong tides that had us doing (scary according to me, fun according to Jeff) scary eddy turns and paddling against the current to get back. 'Lower Hell Gate' was supposed to have very fast moving water since it's relatively narrow and shallow, but we hit it just after high tide, so it wasn't too troublesome. In case you don't already know about the rule of twelfths, here's a basic rule of thumb that comes in useful when planning trips in tidal regions:

- Tides are spaced by 6 hours (ex. low tide at 11am, high tide at 5pm, low tide at 11pm)
- In the 1st and 6th hours, 1/12 of the water moves (between 11am and noon)
- In the 2nd and 5th hours, 2/12 (1/6) of the water moves
- In the 3rd and 4th hours, 3/12 (1/4) of the water moves

Ok, enough fractions. Overall lesson: The closer you are to slack tide (the moment when water stops moving in and starts moving out, or vice versa), the slower the water is moving.

Other fun fact: The higher north you are along the coast, the more the tides change (in Boothbay it was about 9 ft, in Acadia National Park next weekend it will be more like 11 ft).

4. Saltwater armpit chaffing. Enough said. Ow.

We stopped for lunch on Macmahan Island in the Sheepscot River.

Beautiful contrast of misty Sheepscot River and bright green salt water grasses:


Although our landing was nice and clean on the rocks, by the time we'd finished lunch the water level had dropped enough to make our launch quite messy. We got stuck in the slippery seaweed...



On the way back we discovered a shipwreck in Robinhood Cove that we hadn't seen at high tide when we started:


How to end a weekend of paddling in Maine? $13 lobster roll. Absolutely delicious!

Loons, Bugs, and Bears on Lake Winnipesaukee

Winnipesaukee is a BIG lake (approximately the same surface area as Cayuga Lake) located just south of the White Mountains in NH. It's a little over an hour from Manchester when the traffic is cooperating. We (Tina, Brian, and I) stayed over at Chris's condo on Long Island (not the famous one), which stick out into the middle of the lake.

The kayaking portion:


Date: Saturday, July 3rd

Distance: 15 miles

Time: 4.5 hours including breaks

On Saturday morning I got up at the ungodly hour of 5am (ok, it was 5:30 when I was done snoozing) for a 6am launch. Due to a lack of sea kayaks (or more likely morale at 6am), I embarked on this journey alone.

The lake felt very different from the Finger Lakes for a number of reasons:

1. It's not long and skinny, so you never know what's just around the corner!
   
2. Island hopping!!
   
3. More motor boats... more chop (hence the 6am launch)
   
4. Beautiful mountains on every horizon

Around 8am I met up with a loon family (two adults and two chicks). Here's a picture & movie of them!

I made it back feeling pretty tuckered out (slightly sore in the shoulders/abs), but I'm starting to have hope that I can paddle the length of Cayuga -- if we kept up the same rate (and the weather was perfect, etc...) it would take about 12 hours, which is an hour less than the hours of daylight in Ithaca in September...

The non-kayaking portion:
On Sunday morning the four of us got up "early" (9am, ha!) for a hike (Tina's first!) to the top of Red Hill, which sits between Squam and Winnipesaukee. On the dirt road to the trail head, a tiny black bear cub jumped into the road and scrambled across right in front of my car. We watched it run into the woods and join its mother and sibling 100 yards away!

It was a little under 2 miles to the peak (2,030 ft). The views from the fire tower at the top were incredible. We had a 360 degree view of both lakes, the Whites, and a number of other mountain ranges nearby.


We spent the rest of the weekend swimming, hanging out on the boat, basking in the sun (but not getting burned!), enjoying good food, and reading.

Expedition to Taughannock

One morning Ben and I decided to make the voyage (is that the aqueous version of ‘trek’?) to Taughannock Park, starting at East Shore Park. We were on the foggy water by about 7:30AM.

We got to Taughannock Park in time to have a very early lunch. Shortly after lunch I managed to not-so-gracefully fall into the water upon trying to get back into my boat.

When we finally got back to East Shore Park, we found this not-so-little brown water snake:

Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2010


Distance: 15 miles

Slope Day on Seneca

Yep, that’s right… I’m super lame and went kayaking on Slope Day instead of seeing… Drake? Who is that?

We (Ben, Rob, Anna, and I) met at the southern tip of Seneca Lake and launched from Lakeside Park in Watkins Glen around 7:30AM. This means my alarm was set for 5:30AM… it was painful.

We decided (by “we” I mean Anna, because she is the official decision maker) that since the lake was glassy-calm we would first paddle out in the open and think about exploring the inlet later. So off we went!

Along the way we discovered lots of little waterfalls and creeks that drain into the lake. About 2 miles up the east side of the lake we discovered Hector Falls, which you get to by paddling into a little stream and under a bridge:

We couldn’t find any good beaches along the east side to have lunch so we decided to cross the lake and check out the west side, where we found a thin strip of beach next to some cliffs. It’s kind of tricky to find spots to get out of your boats and stretch your legs in the Finger Lakes since they’re pretty heavily developed…
Rob & Anna chilling by the lake during lunch.

After lunch we paddled back to the cars, stretched, and decided to explore the inlet, which could be classified as urban kayaking. We paddled as far as we could go, which involved ducking under some pretty low bridges. At the end we discovered that the river was running in both directions! This is still a mystery…

Date: Friday May 7th, 2010


Distance: 15 miles

p.s. I paddled the whole way with my greenland paddle. woohoo!