SF Bay Area Paddlers,
Can you shed some light on paddling opportunities in the winter? Specifically, does anyone take their OC1 out in the darkness on the SF Bay? Or other bodies of water? Input on the best place to get OC1 training in the early morning or evenings (before and after normal work hours) once the days get short? I don't want to only train OC1 on the weekends... but am trying to think about my fall and winter training plan if I relocate. Your input on locations, safety, etc. would be most welcome...
V
Submitted by valerie on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 2:00pm
I paddle in the Bay at night/dark all the time. I live on the San Rafael canal and use a head light on the canal when alone. When I paddle with others, we all wear headlights and go out in the Bay either from Larkspur or in San Rafael by the Marin Islands. Where do you live? Let paddle! Josh
#1 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 2:44pm
Man, I'm glad someone else brought this up. I have been wanting to go out for a full moon paddle for some time now. I don't want to go alone, but can't talk anybody into doing it. Here in Hawaii on a full moon it's like daylight out on the water. Nothing too crazy just a leisurely paddle in the moonlight. I know, I know, what about the risks? Well, as the saying goes... You only live once.
#2 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 2:50pm
I've paddled at night on the ala wai and in front of the beach in Kailua and it was perfectly fine, so then i tried to paddle really really early in the morning on the Hule'ia river in Nawiliwili and was scared shitless. I was out for like an hour and a half and never made it passed the S turn in the river.. i would turn around mid sprint because i was too scared to go further. And i swear that i saw a ghost kayaker next to me. I saw this kayak/boat or something with a light go flying by me, and it was completely silent. That was the final straw for me and i went straight in. I've never paddled in the dark since.
San Francisco would be even more scary--- freezing cold... killer seals... ghosts.... aye
#3 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 3:08pm
Yeah, one morning in Larkspur I was out by myself and hit a sleeping sealion with my paddle...the thing popped his head up between the hull and the ama and roared...I swear I almost s*&t myself...I was about 500 yards from where I started...turned around ...session over!
#4 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 3:46pm
Buy your self a pair of ex army night goggles, no more Ghosts and perfect vision.
Rambo
#5 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 4:01pm
Early in the morning when the fog layer is hovering just on the water surface, all those abandoned boats on the Hule’ia river's stagnant waters? Forget that! Too much like a horror movie.
But a full moon on a relatively cloudless night out in Hanalei Bay with calm waters. How awesome would that be?
#6 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 4:24pm
We used to windsurf in Kailua Bay on full moon nights. We'd stick Cyalume sticks (chemical light sticks) on the tip of our masts or boom ends to keep an eye on each other. A total blast.
#7 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 4:24pm
I used to paddle in the Ala Wai at night all the time. I usually got in the water at about 8pm and would get out around 11 pm. I never went out into the ocean but would go paddle up and down the rows of the yacht harbor by all the boats and then up to the library. Lots of strange people walking around in Waikiki at 11pm but no ghosts. I never attached any lights because I didn't want to be a target for all the drunks/crazies.
#8 Wed, 09/05/2007 - 5:02pm
I paddle in the dark most of the winter. I enjoyed it a lot at first but the novelty eventually wore off. It's still much better than not paddling at all.
Warm clothes and lights are key, especially in the bay area. I usually stay in the harbor and stay close to shore when I do go out. Most boats have their running lights so you'll see and can avoid them. You'd be surprised how many don't and those are the ones to watch out for. I don't listen to any music so I can hear any boats around me.
Get a partner to go with you if you can. You're definitely safer and you'll find the experience much better with company.
#9 Thu, 09/06/2007 - 7:38am
I have paddled at night for the past 2 winters.... I paddle out of Redwood City (biac) and try to stay just outside the channel markers. I also velcro strap the bicycle red flashing lights to my iakos (front and back). I also recommend paddling with a friend for safety.
lndbrusr
#10 Thu, 09/06/2007 - 8:03am
Never paddled in SF at night, but on Maui I've paddled in the dark quite a bit and done many full-moon paddles with friends. My wife and I used to do full-moon paddles every full moon, then we started inviting friends. Always a good time and never a bad experience.
As for dark-time paddling... be careful. I ran over a juvenile whale once and neither of us liked it much. I was less than 50 yards from shore, in less than 20 feet of water, just barely outside the breakline. Thought I was perfectly safe. Not so. I never saw it or heard it until I hit it like a car wreck. From full sprint to dead stop, instantly. It lifted me and my canoe out of the water about 8 inches, totally shattered 2/3 of my hull... and it was just a little one. How do I know it was young? I got a very good look at the tail flukes (up close and personal) as it was thrashing the water and my canoe. In a moment like that, every horror story you've ever heard, and every movie like JAWS or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea immediately run through your mind. Panic is hard to hold back. Fortunately, it all happened very fast and was over in a couple of hours, I mean seconds (just seemed like hours). When I got back to the beach, I checked my HR monitor... I AVERAGED 191 bpm for the entire 1 hour workout. Think I spent some considerable time in the 210-215 range? Why yes, yes I did. Then, I had to spend the next 2 years listening to my friends relentlessly make Captain Ahab and Moby Dick jokes. Looking back, it was a cool close encounter and makes a great story... as long as I leave out the part about me screaming like a little girl!
#11 Thu, 09/06/2007 - 8:30am
There is a group of girls that paddle out of the kilohana site during the winter.if you are looking for a partner,just goto
www.kilohanaocc.org and post that you are interested in paddling with the group
#12 Thu, 09/06/2007 - 2:49pm
Night paddling is spectacular.
I paddle (sea kayak) and as I also have to work and that happens when the sun is up now; night paddling has become more a nessesity.
The places I paddle are rarely shared with power boats but whales and various sea birds do turn up.
There are few things as startling as paddling in near pitch black and a frightened goose exploding into flight meters away.
Bioluminesance is magic: Each stroke creates tiny galaxies of stars. old ship wrecks become ghostly apparitions. Fog creates a new sphere of existance but that can be dangerous.
We use light sticks on our back decks when we paddle as a group and we always carry a flashlight. The flashlight is more to warn approaching traffic of our presance than find the way.
I night paddle only in waters I am VERY familiar with.
An evening paddle is normally done once each week or two except in winter when I do it twice a week but that is in a pool and does not count.
Alex McGruer
#13 Thu, 09/06/2007 - 3:20pm