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The trip was organized by Outdoor Adventures of UC Davis. I really like these guys. They provide you with all the equipment (kayaks, wet suits, tents, sleeping bags, the works). And for a pretty reasonable rate (the two day trip cost me about 100 bucks!!!). This included two guides who go with you on the trip and manage every thing. Given the labor costs in the US of A, he he...you get the idea.
Preparing for the trip
One day before the trip, me and Rushi made a list of things we would need for the trip. The trip involved camping too, so we had to be ready for that. 12 o' clock in the night we drove to our friendly neighborhood safeway and filled our trolley with snack bars, instant coffee mix (since we were told hot water would be available), bread rolls, cheese for making sandwiches, and above all, the most important thing, GATORADE!!!! (believe me, its the best!!!). Some of the other things recommended by the trip guide were a torch light, gloves for kayaking, sun screen (lots of it) and sun glasses.
Getting there
The whole group (eight people including the 2 guides) met the the OA office at 6:30 AM in the morning. We loaded the kayaks onto a trailer and all the gear in the back of a van. The rest of the group consisted of a couple (a law student who supported Ron Paul and his girl friend from Irvine, and two more girls, one of which was from Israel and had served in the army there for 2 yrs). So moving on, we headed out towards Tomales bay, with me sleeping in the back seat, and Rushi getting to know the two girls better ;-).
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Once we arrived there, we unloaded all the stuff and started getting our kayaks ready. The kayaks have these small compartments built in in which you can stuff the required things. Our guides had brought these water-proof bags for us in which we stuffed our clothes, food etc. These bags went into the compartments, along with the tents and sleeping bags. There's a surprising amount of space in the kayaks!!!!! Though you need to remember not to make either the front compartment heavier than the back, or vice-versa. We were also equipped with sponges and a water-pump, to bail out any water that might get into the kayak (in case the kayak rolled over!!!! UH-OH!!!). Bottles of water (or gatorade in my case) were fitted under the strings on the kayak. These strings serve as excellent anchors for water-bottles, water-proof cameras (stroke of brilliance!!!!!) and even our sleeping pad!!!
We were also given wet suits, life jackets and some thing called a "frock". The frock fits into the seating space of the kayak and prevents water from getting into the kayak. I can be seen here, all dressed up, with my kayak ready to go!!!!! After this, our guide took us through a brief OA 101 "Introduction to Kayaking" course. We were taught how to paddle and how to turn the kayak left and right (the kayaks have rudders, but in calm waters its as easy with the paddles). Then after a brief round of stretching and getting our muscles warmed up, we were all set to go!!!
Take Off!!!
So we pushed off our kayaks into the water and started paddling. The guides kept us close to the coast initially and made us practice the strokes that we had learnt. It also helped the first-timers (like me!!!) to get a feel of the kayak and get used to the slight rocking motion (and the fact that you practically feel like you are sitting on the water surface!!!!). Once done with that, we headed out into the bay. The map below has the route we took.
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The first point of interest we came to was Hog Island. We met a whole bunch of sea lions and harbor seals. Though we had to be careful to maintain distance from them, and let them approach us. We then moved on across the bay and started hunting for a beach to camp for the night. Our guide John finally found a nice secluded spot, big enough for putting up tents for our group. It felt nice to get out of the wet suit and stretch my legs!!!! We unloaded our kayaks and had some lunch. After this, the guides asked the interested candidates if they wanted to go through some "Rescue Steps". This basically involves teaching you how to rescue other people if they roll over. I took a rain check, but Rushi and the 2 girls went ahead (as the Israeli girl put, "I wanna get my 100 bucks worth!!!"). So the rest of us just drifted around, while Rushi played the "knight in wet kayak" and rescued the damsel in distress!!!! After this we went back to our beach and pulled up the kayaks, so that they don't drift away at high tide (the guides had a whole time table of high and low tides, and it's some thing very important to consider on trips like these). We put up ur tents, changed into dry clothes, and started a bon-fire. John and Greg (our guides) had brought the dinner, which they cooked for us. So we had dinner, played some games, listened to songs on Rushi's Nokia N 91 and warmed our selves in front of the fire. Every body gave was pretty tired by 10 PM, after the exciting day. So we decided to call it a day. Plus we had more action to look forward to the next day. The next day we all got up pretty early. After having breakfast, we slowly packed and waited for the tide to ebb out. John explained a whole lotta stuff about water currents and tide movements, none of which I remember now!!! So me and Rushi decided to utilize the time taking some pictures. And we got some pretty nice ones.
Finally, we loaded back all our stuff (considerably lighter with most of the food gone!!!) and started off again. We first moved on to a part of the coast called the White Gulch. It gets it name from the wall of white rocks on the mountain side.
At this point, the wind started picking up. John informed us that it was supposed to get very windy later in the day, but seemed like the wind gods were jealous of all the fun we were having. So we decided to head back from where we had started, a little earlier than planned. Barring some trouble that the first-time kayakers had, going against the strong wind and every thing, and making sure not to hit the rocks or drift too much, we managed to reach the shore. Here's Rushi doing his victory hurray!!!
So that was it!! We were back!!! Loaded back every thing into the vans. Made our way back to Davis. Helped out John and Greg to clean out the kayaks and other stuff. And finally, came to our home sweet home. A hot water bath to get rid of all the salt in my hair, and to soothe my aching shoulders, was all I needed before succumbing to a deep sleep. So that was my kayaking trip!!! If you decide to go, you are welcome to contact me for any information!!!! Here's a little video I took there, to close this post!!
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