We returned to Drake’s Estero for a fall paddle. The last time was in January before the estero is closed for seal pupping season. Part way down Schooner Bay the cable to the rudder broke. Yes, the cable that broke before. Now we know that the cable lasts about a year before the corrosion of Pacifica fog and saltwater voyages eats through it. The rudder isn’t critical, but it is more difficult to keep a tight course so we decided to head to the closest part of the estuary, Home Bay.
We didn’t see any seals last time and we didn’t see any this time, just the odd rocks that masquerade as basking seals. We did get a closer look at the rocks on the shore as well as one still embedded in the cliffside. Apparently they are suspended in the land and as the cliff erodes they tumble to the beach.
This time there were many fewer birds. We saw a few small flocks in the distance or overhead, but not the numerous groups of January. There was a large group of white pelicans in Home Bay.
Coming back was against some wind and would have been better if we could have steered tightly enough to stay close to shore to use the bluffs as wind breakers, but we powered through. Maybe next time we’ll get down to Limantour or go to the picnic haul out near the mouth.
January 31, finally a good day for a paddle! Weather forecast was good; wind models were good. We chose to go to Drake’s Estero, an estuary which lies in the Point Reyes Peninsula (our last paddle was on the other side of the peninsula in Tomales Bay). The Estero is closed from March to June for seal pupping so this was just within the window of availability. The put-in beach is next to the Drake’s Bay Oyster Farm (formerly Johnson’s Oyster Farm where we went with Chris on our fabulous edible journey a few years back). The guidebook indicated that there were no bathroom facilities, but you could use the Farm’s toilet with purchase, a sacrifice John was ready to make. However, the park service has made some improvements and there was a very nice pit toilet available right at the parking lot where we got an excellent space for easy unloading of the kayak.
We headed out past the land-based part of the oyster farm, down Schooner Bay, around Bull Point, and up Creamery Bay. There were flocks of buffleheads and other ducks everywhere and much as we kept our distance when we could see them floating there on the water, they were skittish and would fly up and around and back to pretty much where they had been. We also saw egrets, great blue herons, grebes, and a handsome osprey hanging out on a post in Creamery Bay. We did not see any seals though there were many rocks that looked like fat seals hauled out on the shore. Guess they are still out to sea preparing for the season ahead.
Throughout the estero we encountered the oyster farming areas. In some areas it was bags of shells distributed along the shallow bottom. Though much of our paddle was over very shallow water, our draft allows us to get pretty close in without scraping. In other areas it was racks. Our first encounter was an area of unused racks which are simply posts and crossbeam. We were unaware that there was more than the tall upright posts until we scraped over one, they were difficult to see. We beat it out of there. Across Schooner Bay on our return we passed by racks in use. Strings with oysters growing along them hang from the crossbeams.
Any other wildlife you ask? Yes, happy California cows taking in a sea breeze on January 31! My favorites were the two pairs (one white, one black) of calves gamboling in a game of tag. John did end up sampling the wares at the farm shop.
We’ll definitely visit the Estero again, hitting up the other bays and maybe when we are more confident and wind/weather cooperate we’ll try heading out along Drake’s Beach.
