January 27th - Rodeo Beach to Bonita Point (#10)

My second day's class was "advanced rock garden play" and we launched into some surf off Rodeo Beach under the leadership of Paul Kuthie with David Santanello and Roger Smith. We had a great day exploring under and around Bird Island as well as amongst the rocks and reefs out to Bonita Point Light. We went through tunnels, and slots as well as over various pour-overs and had a blast! I need to do more of this! :)

The main symposium site

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8 km, YTD 105 km

June 14, 2015 - Angel Island (#56)

I met up with two very nice Bay Area paddlers, Jackie and Diane, for a paddle from Sausalito around Angel Island. I rented a kayak and gear from Sea Trek Kayak and SUP which was a very well organized and equipped outfitter. We had what seems to be typical SFBay cloud and wind which was generating about a 1 ft chop. The current was generally in our favour for the outbound trip and similarly for the return (thanks to good planning by Jackie!). The wind was really only against us for the after lunch return trip - bit of a slog from Belvedere back to Sausalito. There was plenty of boat traffic, views of Alcatraz, cormorants, scoters and grebes. The shoreline of Angel Island also had good geology! I was fortunate that Jackie also likes Greenland paddles and was able to lend me one of hers. It was great to get out for a paddle in the Bay area before my Galapagos symposium. Thanks so much to Jackie and Diane!
After my paddle, I took a tour around the "Bay Model" which is a 2 acre scale model of the waters of the SF Bay area made by the Corps of Engineers to study water movement in the bay.

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17 km, YTD 503 km