Water Rabbit

Back in October we paddled central Tomales Bay, when we left we knew we’d be back. This time we put in on the opposite side of the bay and somewhat north of where we paddled last time. At Nick’s Cove we got the last parking spot, most of the vehicles were trucks with boat trailers. But we wanted to launch from the kayakers’ beach rather than the boat ramp. It was a roundabout way from the lot to the usable part of the beach (i.e. the part that wasn’t good sized rocks set among the deep mud). We noticed that there was a large group on the beach taking up the launchable stretch, but figured that by the time we got geared up and our boat and stuff down there they would have set off. We were wrong. It was a gaggle of Aggies from UC Davis and they were getting instruction from a guy who loved the sound of his voice though practically no one was listening or responding to his question “So where are we going to go?” We took the opportunity to hike off to the porta-potty, look off across the water at Hog Island, and explore the rocky part of the beach. John spotted a sea hare that had been stranded, evidence of how high the tide would get. Finally the gaggle launched, even that was a long drawn out procedure. Once on the water they sped off. Yay, no more nattering Aggies.

The Aggies and some other kayakers who had launched from the ramp headed straight across to the other side, we headed up the shore on the west side. The water was pretty shallow so we were pretty far off the shore, but we still saw the usual complement of herons and egrets stalking their prey. We also shared the water with quite a few cormorants and later the perennial grebes and seals keeping an eye on us. At one point we heard the Aggies get excited about something pretty far off. A bit later we saw the tips of the wings of a bat ray, maybe that was what the Aggies got excited about, but they were finally far enough off that we couldn’t hear even a whisper of their constant chatter. A bit later we saw more bat ray wingtips, but we weren’t sure if it was another one or the same one. Off in the distance, near the entrance to Walker Creek we could see a large group of white things. At first we weren’t sure whether they were natural or man made, living or inert, but as we got close enough for the binoculars to help we could see that they were white pelicans. White pelicans are surface feeders and they were bob-bob-bobbing along, scooping up water and presumably food. We drifted along observing them for a while, occasionally distracted by the flipping of another pair of bat ray wings, settling the question of whether those first two were flukes. Eventually we picked up our paddles and continued on our way.

Now we turned our back to the shore and looked out across the water. We continued to see bat ray wingtips all around, but we were distracted by a cormorant splashing the water with its rear. We wondered whether it was being a dutiful parent and trying to lure us away from something, but we were a long way from anywhere there could be a nest or young. We went back to paddling and looking for bat rays. Then we noticed a commotion off to the left. It was a flock of cormorants all splashing the water with their rears, occasionally diving. Hmm, not a luring technique. Then we looked up and saw three ospreys circling. One dove, then another. The behavior of both types of birds continued. One of the osprey caught a fish and flew off. We realized that the cormorants must have been herding fish and the osprey were benefiting. So once again we stopped and drifted, observing. A brown pelican flew into the group, right at an osprey who had just caught something. The osprey lost its catch and flew off. The pelican splashed down, and the cormorant flock broke up. Party pooper pelican!

We continued paddling up the shore until we reached Tom’s Point where we had decided we would loop back. All along we had observed that the water was fairly shallow, but now, as we paddled away from shore, it seemed to get shallower. Suddenly we heard a loud boom. It was a motorboat running aground. The guys in the boat had to get out and push the boat for quite a ways, but eventually they were able to re-board and speed off. We congratulated ourselves that we had a shallow draft and paddled on, keeping one eye on the bottom and one on the channel marker off near the far shore. The water kept getting shallower so after scraping bottom, we turned up the bay and tried to get across at another location. Scraped bottom again. Finally we gave up and paddled back toward the shore we had come from until we reached a deep area. We paddled up this area for a while, well past the channel marker, studied the wave patterns to determine where there was a current and made a final attempt to get over to the other shore where the water was deeper.  Success. 

We turned and headed down the coast, hugging the shore, using the incoming tide to push along. This was the side that we had paddled on last fall though not the same stretch. Once again we saw a lot of jellies drifting in the tide though this time there were both moon jellies and larger brown jellies (possibly sea nettles). Once we drew near even with Hog Island, we found a current that looked to be going in the right direction and used it to get to the island. We made a quick stop on the west side of the island (the rest is not open for landing) and looked at the huge cormorant colony that has practically killed all the trees with their poop.

After the island we headed back to to Nick’s Cove. An overcast, misty day, but all in all a very successful paddle. We thought it was starting out badly because of the delays caused by the gaggle of Aggies. But those delays put us on the water at a particular point in the tide change. We believe that the bat rays and the cormorant/osprey hunt were tied to that particular point in the tide, that their prey lived on the edge of the change and so they were there for us to see

Another beautiful day for a paddle. We’ve just finished a Santa Ana season; the winds have ended, but it is still warm. I even wore short sleeves (after slathering on the sunscreen of course). This time we headed north to Tomales Bay. Tomales Bay lies along the northeast boundary of Point Reyes; it also lies along the San Andreas Fault. If you look at a satellite image of the San Francisco Bay Area you can practically lay a ruler along Tomales Bay and the Crystal Springs Resevoirs down near us along 35 and 280.

The guide books break Tomales Bay up into several options. The lower part of the bay comes with several tidal mud warnings and the northern end of the bay has surf and shark warnings. We’re a little tired of worrying about getting stranded in the mud by a forgotten tide and though the shark warnings did not specify whether the shark attacks included attacks on kayaks, we wanted a simple, straightforward paddle this time out. We decided to put in at Heart’s Desire Beach which is part of Tomales Bay State Park. We paid our very reasonable day use fee* and were there early enough to get a parking space right by the beach.

The water was very calm and clear. Under the water we could see anemones and old oyster shells. Throughout the paddle we saw jellies drifting on the tide. We headed south-ish toward Inverness. We stayed on the south/west side of the bay, often in the shade of the cliffs. Around Pebble Beach we saw a creature swimming around, but as we neared it dove. We’re pretty sure it was a river otter. We saw another (or the same one) a little bit later near Shallow Beach, but again were spotted long before we could confirm.

When we reached Inverness we crossed over to the other side of the bay where we paddled over extensive patches of sea grass. About halfway back we crossed again and returned to Heart’s Desire which had become much more crowded while we were out. After packing up, we drove around the end of the bay and up to Marshall to dine at the Marshall Store. John had bbq oysters while I had a nice roast pork sandwich with carmelized onions and roasted red peppers. The Tomales Bay region is home to oyster farms and just about every dining option focuses on these critters. The Marshall Store is a great place to get ’em.

One thing that struck both of us is how different the land was on each side of the bay. One is gentle rolling hills covered with grass and only the occasional tree; the other is a craggy with many trees. Is this a geologic effect or is it evidence of the impact of human usage? Tomales Bay is part of the San Andreas fault so that would give credence to the geologic argument. However, it is said that California lanscapes have been heavily shaped by human usage particularly mining and cattle ranching. There’s been a study that shows that cattle inhibit tree reproduction by eating seedlings and compacting the ground. Historically the Tomales Bay area is home to many ranches with dairy being a big industry as well as oyster farms. But the side of the bay we started on is granite bedrock; you have to go 300 miles southeast to find its companion on the other side of the fault. That favors the geologic explanation. It is probably a combination of both, the geologic differences helping the human use to flourish.

* Folks whine about paying fees for using the parks. Even worse are the ones who park on the roadside and walk in so they don’t have to pay a fee. They’re happy to use the amenities though (toilets, garbage collection, general upkeep, etc.). It is cheaper than a single movie ticket, get a grip and do your part to help preserve these spaces!