What better way to savor my last paddle before entering CAR T-cell cancer therapy and the ensuing 6 months of non-paddling recovery. Two rounds of chemotherapy had not dampened my energy much and my enthusiasm at all, so I posted a last-minute BASK club paddle for Saturday, June 29. 13 showed up for what turned out to be an adventure. The vivid memories are still fun to relive 2 weeks later from my hospital bed and I’ll share them with you. (I wrote this a few weeks ago just as the fevers were starting and never got around to posting.) What follows is the announcement of the trip that went to the club email list and calendar, and the trip report I sent to the email list after. Comments in brackets added to help my non-kayaking friends.

Horseshoe Cove to Angel Island Saturday

Join Ellen, Xavier, Margot, Jim, and me on this classic summer paddle around Angel Island.  This will be my last paddle before Ellen and I move to Palo Alto for 5 weeks of treatments at Stanford.  It will be about 6 months before I am allowed on the water again.   Am hoping for whales breeching, mermaids towing my boat, and salmon jumping into my cockpit – it could happen, right?
OTW [On the water]:  10:00 at Horseshoe Cove ramp by the Coast Guard
Paddle counterclockwise around Angel Island, checking out whales at Pallet Beach, landing at Immigration Station for lunch. Ebb will help us a little on the return through Raccoon Strait and across to Point Cavallo, but expect to buck strong headwind.  Not enough current for Yellow Bluff to entertain us:-( Return about 3:00
Skills:  open bay skills, paddling against 15+ knot wind and chop – check the forecast before coming and make sure you are comfortable with likely conditions.
RSVP at (Google Sheet URL deleted) or email me.

Here’s what I posted to the club email list the next day:

Trip Report: Angel Island Paddle

Short version: 13 set out from Horseshoe Cove, 13 returned, with some help from Lyft. Our limits were tested.
Long version; The NOAA point forecast was for 8 knots on launch, building to a max of 15 knots in the afternoon. I expected an easy ride over with the nice flood current and a bit of a slog coming back with only a knot or so of assistance from the ebb. 12 of the 13 were seasoned paddlers. Number 13 was a new member with no open bay experience and an Oru kayak with float bags bow and stern. [An Oru Kayak is basically an origami sculpture of lightweight plastic. It unfolds from a rectangular case in about 10 minutes. Great for someone in an apartment with no storage for a regular kayak, but not as seaworthy.] I normally would have used my initiator’s prerogative to insist this member wait for a paddle appropriate for his skill level, but he was determined and strong, I was not in a mood to play the heavy, and we had a strong team. It was not a wise decision on my part, but it made the paddle an adventure none of us will forget, provided some learning opportunities, and put no one in actual danger. [It is a common practice in trip reports not to mention the name of someone who had difficulties in case they might object. #13 later wrote in to the email list about his experience and was very grateful for the assistance and learning opportunity. It seemed to only whet his appetite for building his skills. That’s a great attitude!]

We headed out into the shipping channel to catch the main current and then rode it and the building SW wind down towards Angel Island at 4.5-5.5 knots. What a delight. We soon had whitecaps and building chop, and some of us caught nice rides on waves. We hung together well as a pod and avoided ferries and yachts. Fog spilling over the Marin Headlands made a spectacular backdrop.
All went well until we neared the middle of the south side of Angel Island, when #13 was unexpectedly upset by a steep wave. He was quickly surrounded by rescuers, who accomplished a challenging X-rescue in rough conditions. At that time, about 11:00, according to iWindsurf wind data provided by Steve Goldfinger, the wind at nearby Point Blunt was 18 knots gusting to 20. The Oru kayak, with water in the ends and no watertight bulkheads, is challenging to empty. You have to lift the lower end full of water. Pushing down on the upper end just causes the hull to bend without raising the lower end. It took 4 rescuers to do the job and lasted way too long. Others were nudging the raft away from some downwind rocks. #13 was in the water quite awhile but stayed warm thanks to a wet suit and paddle jacket. Once settled, a short rafted tow kept #13 upright and brought us to Pallet Beach to regroup. Along the way, there was some confusion about the whereabouts of #13’s paddle. It seemed that it had been lost in the confusion, so several of us went back to search. Margot, who was towing, asked Ellen, who was rafted, where everyone had gone. Ellen explained we were searching for the paddle, which it turned out Margot had under her bungies all along. Margot had radioed that she had the paddle, but none of us heard it at the time. Another radio call soon had that straightened out.

On Pallet Beach, the rotting grey whale carcasses got little attention except from our noses. Rich Luibrand contributed an extra large float bag to more fully fill the stern of the Oru kayak. The wind was building, now 20 knots gusting to 24 and steep whitecaps everywhere. We soon relaunched and the mermaids took over.

Franca and Margot did an inline tow of the raft of Ellen and #13 around Point Blunt. Paddling parallel to the breaking waves, the raft was tossed around violently but worked very well.

I had to laugh as Franca, ever the rock gardener, began to lead the parade inside the big rocks at Point Blunt before Ellen persuaded her to take the safer and more boring route outside. And then we found ourselves in the quiet water east of Angel Island, a whole different world. We had a leisurely paddle, all under our own steam, around to the Immigration Station beach.

Then the feast began. Lisa had baked a strawberry rhubarb pie, and Larry brought a spectacular fruit tart from La Farine. Fresh cherries and strawberries and fine chocolate rounded out the dessert table. In the warm sun we stuffed ourselves and watched the tourist trains come by.

Relaunching, we headed for Ayala Cove to see about a ferry ride for #13, as it did not seem likely he could navigate the Oru back to Horseshoe Cove in the rougher than expected conditions. We confirmed that he could take a ferry to Tiburon with his kayak, but as Raccoon Strait was not that rough, we elected to paddle across with him. He took out at the Sam’s Restaurant dock in Tiburon and carried his kayak through the busy restaurant to a large Lyft vehicle and soon was back at Horseshoe Cove with his kayak. Xavier and Franca meanwhile had headed back before the rest of the group as she had an engagement later that afternoon.
Raccoon Strait was remarkably calm, and I wondered if we should have brought #13 back with us. But rounding Belvedere Point all doubts were erased. It was a wild paddle back, the wind building as we went. At first we were averaging about 2.1 knots bashing into the chop and taking advantage of occasional lulls. But our progress slowed to more like 1 knot as paddlers tired and the wind built. We took a break at Glass beach just south of the Sausalito sewage treatment plant.

Lisa’s Delphin was lee-cocking [bow didn’t want to point into the wind] terribly. (Lisa’s full-throated curses at her kayak were fortunately blown away by the wind.) So on the beach we rounded up some large rocks to bring her bow down and balance the boat. We paddled close along the shore by Yellow Bluff, where the wind was curving around the point. As we rounded Point Cavallo, we hit the full force of gusts coming over the Marin Headlands by the bridge, and inched our way back to Horseshoe Cove. Around the time of our crossing, iWindsurf showed 23 knots gusting to 28 at Point Blunt and 20 gusting to 23 at Crissy Field. We think that conditions were worse at the end near Point Cavallo, probably around 30 knots. Everyone made it under their own power, though for some it was very close. For some in the group it was the windiest conditions they had experienced, and a good test of what they are capable of. I have done this paddle under similar or slightly stronger winds a few times, but only when we had a strong ebb helping us to our destination. We had to work for every foot.

Thanks to Larry, Lisa, John, Shunran, Margot, Jim, Rich, Debra, Xavier, Franca, Ellen, and Steve for a delightful day on the water and a great sendoff for me on my next journey. I’ve been savoring many rich experiences the last several weeks in paddles, dances, and wildflower hikes before I undergo these challenging medical treatments that will knock me down for awhile. I had a blast yesterday, enjoying the wind, waves, adventures, scrumptious desserts, and company of good friends. I look forward to paddling with you all again early in the new year.

I’ve posted my photos to a Lightroom album. Also, check out Lisa’s beautiful photos, including some nice ones of the whale bones on Angel Island.