There was a great turn out for the kayaking adventure in Tomales Bay above San Francisco with 17 scouts, two leaders and several parents. We set out from Santa Barbara on Saturday morning stopping for lunch at King City and driving over the Golden Gate bridge on a clear day. The government shutdown closed Muir Woods National Park but instead we stopped at an overlook where we could see the coast and inland to the city including Mount Tamalpais. The group camp just short of Tomales Bay was the stopping spot for the night, with good facilities and a large lawn where the scouts enjoyed playing frisbee and just goofing off. Back in the bushes we enjoyed viewing the deer wandering around and interesting, wild sheep. For supper our leaders cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and over the campfire we enjoyed roasting marshmallows.
With an early morning start, the camp taken down, the scouts headed to the bay, ready to launch the kayaks. It took us a while to go through the instructions and get our gear packed up, watertight and lashed to the kayaks. Not everything fit in the dry bags so we used heavy trash bags to seal up the tents and other gear. We set out around 10:00 with weather that was very cooperative with very little fog and warm sun. Paddling for about four miles, we saw several difference species of pelicans, cormorants and their nesting grounds, seals and a sighting of a river otter was noted. A few hours into the paddling we stopped at Tomales Beach, a nice isolated area on the peninsula to eat our lunch. Continuing on we stopped on Marshall Beach to set up camp for the night on the sand surrounded by ice plant. It took a while to get the campfire going as everything was damp but once lit, it was very enjoyable end to the day.
The night kayaking was lots of fun and pretty cold. The bioluminescence was bright but there was not much of it at this time of year. Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared tales with us about the native inhabitants of the area who built their own canoes and did a similar trip to ours, trading with other groups on the other side of the bay.
We launched our kayaks in the serene morning on glassy water for the return trip. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and with the boats returned we packed up to leave. Our stop for lunch was at Highway One Bakery where we enjoyed a good pizza and time to mess around. It was a good trip which we will all look forward to next year.
Jack G.
