An afternoon on the water

After taking care of some chores in the morning and having a lovely lunch with my wife, I decided to head down to Shelter Island and go paddling. I still have Jane's camera, so I was hoping to get some nice shots.



There was a light breeze and the tide was rising. The water was a bit complex, nothing too bad, but I knew that I was going to have to be attentive. I was also glad I dropped my rudder, because I was feeling the effects of both the tide and the wind. The sailboats were loving the day.



I paddled on over to Anthony's to take a break at the dock. The dock is mostly gone at moment, but there was enough to paddle up to and grab a break. With the wind and tide, I figured I would head back toward Shelter Island and maybe slip into the channel by Liberty Station.



Now that I have turned into the wind and against the incoming tide, paddling began much easier. I was now spotting an occasional whitecap. As I cruised along Harbor Island, I decided to turn in to the channel behind Liberty Station.



Here is some of the old NTC buildings from the water. I was mostly sheltered from the wind in the channel, so I was able to take a little break. I tried to make sure I took breaks to rest. It is so easy to keep motoring along and running out of 'gas'.

I landed at the beach on Shelter Island about 3 hours later with just over 9 miles traveled. All in all it was a good hard paddle.

On the waters of Newport harbor

Well I continued trying to make the most of my time before I join Qualcomm. Yesterday I loaded up my kayak and headed north to the waters of Newport. After an easy drive up the freeway, I pulled into the parking lot of the Newport Aquatic Center. The weather was perfect, a light breeze under sunny skies. I am glad I packed my other spray skirt, I would have melted if I used the neoprene one.



I pushed away from the beach and headed into the back bay.



The waterfowl was everywhere along the shoreline. Jane kindly let me borrow her waterproof digital camera, so I was actually able to capture some pictures of my own.



Eventually, I reached this sign as they were dredging the back bay about 1/2 mile from the aquatic center. I'm glad I printed a map of the harbor as well. I turned the boat around and paddle along the other side of the shore.



I headed past NAC, and spotted more birds.



As I headed toward the harbor, I quickly started to see some of the houses that surround Newport. This on caught my eye with the colorful ground cover.



Along the way I did run into a fellow kayaker and he kindly offered me the 5 cent tour of the harbor, pointing out John Wayne's old house, Nicholas Cage's, and others... We swapped some paddling stories. Turns out he and some friends also do some river kayaking, so told him to try some Basque food next time they head to the Kern.

He rejoined his missing friends, and I continued around Balboa Island.



I opted to paddle up the canal the splits Balboa Island.



Boat traffic in the harbor was very light. This was one of the few boats on the water except for some hull cleaners.



As I headed back to NAC, I had to snap a shot of a few more grand houses.



Just south of the PCH bridge, the paddle wheeler is docked. It used to be a museum and restuarant, but they are both closed, and the future of the boat is in question.



Atop the rear of the paddle wheeler was a beautiful osprey. My 'tour' guide told me that they had just started coming to the bay last year.



One last house. All in all, I had a great time paddling up here. I do need to remember to take a few more breaks when I paddle alone. Anita is away this weekend, so no paddling until Tuesday...

Monday Night in the Marina

I decided to kick off my two weeks off by joining the new Monday evening paddling group that launches out of Shelter Island. Neil was already at the launch point, and Jay joined us shortly thereafter. We decided to cruise around the Shelter Island Marina.



As we turned into the marina, we were greeted by a HUGE boat parked at the docks.



That is the Apoise. For reference, my Chilco is 18 1/2 feet long (the red one).

We paddled through the rest of the marina, taking a break in front of the yacht club.



We left the smell of onion rings behind as the sun began to set behind Point Loma. We paddled gently back toward the beach at Shelter Island, enjoying the beauty that is living in San Diego.



The photos are courtesy of Jay Murdock. Thanks!