Kayaking on the American River

I told Larkin in late May that there were two things that I wanted to accomplish this summer: kayaking from Hazel to Ancil Hoffman Park and going to Winters for lunch and a visit to Boone's Patio29. We kayaked from Hazel to Ancil Hoffman on Tuesday. I am going to try and organize a trip to Patio29 in October after we are back from the Balkans.

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to float about 6.5 miles. [Note to self], I tried to use Alltrails to make a map, but it didn't work. Use runkeeper next time...

It was a great day. There was almost no one on the river. We passed one drift boat fishing near Hazel and caught up with one raft with two people near the San Juan rapids.

Kayaking at Stumpy Meadows

For Father's Day, Sharon bought me a double inflatable kayak.  In early July, I dragged both of our hard shell kayaks out of the storage shed.  We sold them both in less than 18 hours.  I am going to use the funds to buy one or two inflatable single kayaks to go with the double.

Monday morning, Sharon and I headed up to the Larkins.  From there, we drove to Stumpy Meadows.  The Larkins have two Advanced Element single inflatable kayaks.  The four of us ended up kayaking for two hours from the boat ramp to the old Pilot Creek Bridge at the end of the lake and back.  I enjoyed the kayaking and the Larkins' company.

I am very pleased with the new kayak.  It is so much easier to load, unload and store than the 13' double gunboat that we sold.

The four of us finished the day with a late leisurely lunch on the patio at the Georgetown Hotel and Saloon.  Everyone had a burger.

Kayaking on Lake Folsom

Sunday afternoon while Sharon was in Washington DC, I kayaked from Rattlesnake Bar to the end of the lake and back. A number of years ago, Sharon, Jack and I put the kayaks in at Rattlesnake Bar. I have always wanted to go back and get all the way to the end of the lake!

2018 - Big Island - Hawaii - Day 5

Up early, we had a very light breakfast [toast] at the condo. The plan for the day was kayaking and snorkeling in Keylakekua Bay. Leaving the condo before 7 am, we drove to the Kona Boys main store on Highway 11. Checking in, we found out that we were the only people on the morning tour!

After getting our snorkeling gear, we drove down to the bay to meet the guide at the pier. The guide [Joe] had everything laid out. We were in the water and kayaking quickly. It is about a mile across the bay to the Captain Cook Monument. We came upon a group of dolphins on the way.

Once we got to the monument, we pulled the kayaks out of the water. Only a couple of tour companies have permits to land there. Once we got everything organized, Sharon and I spent about an hour in the water snorkeling the reef. There was a lot of sea life. Just as we were getting out, someone in the water said that there was a turtle. We put our stuff back on and dropped back in the water. We ended up following the turtle along the reef for quite a distance.

We had an early box lunch provided by the tour company.  I was amazed at how many boats started to show up at the reef. There was a large catamaran, several zodiacs and a couple of other boats dropping people off.

We started back across the bay. I noticed that there were a number of boats clustered off to one side. We ended up heading over there. There were a lot of dolphins, including a couple that were jumping out of the water.

On the way back to the condo, we stopped and bought a few more groceries. Shortly after we got back to the condo, we bumped into Jill. We wandered down to her condo. I ended up spending part of the afternoon visiting with Wallen.

Getting cleaned up, we walked to the Kona Canoe Club. The Wallens were hosting a welcome reception for everyone attending the wedding.

Eventually leaving the gathering, Sharon and I got a little sideways trying to figure out where to get some late dinner. We ended up having some fish and chips at a place that shall not be named...

Kayaking on Lake Natoma

2014 Lake Almanor Day 3

Sharon, Jack, Tiber and I spent the morning on kayaks. We took kayaks south along the shore of the lake to the Dorado Inn. We caught up with the Tomasins who ware out on the ski boat. We continued south until about half way between the Dorado Inn and Chabriers before turning around. When we got back to the cabin. Jack and Tiber stopped, while Sharon and I explored to the north along the shore.

We wandered up to the Chabriers house. It is quickly becoming apparent that it is going to be difficult to coordinate groups at three different locations. We ended up playing cribbage and having sandwiches at the Chabriers.

After lunch, Sharon, Jack, Tiber and I went out on Hunter's boat. We cruised the lake and swam, including tossing Tiber in the lake a couple of times.

Eventually, a large group took the patio boat, Hunter's boat and one of the wave runners to Big Cove. There were more than twenty people, including a friend of Chabrier's from the bay area and their two small girls.

On the way there, Jack and I took the wave runner to Knotty Pines to fill it with gas. Thinking that the group was going to Hamilton Branch, it took us a little while to catch back up with the group.

We anchored the houseboat and tied the boats together. Chabrier threw a number of fishing lines in the water. We visited and had hors d'oeuvres. With the wind coming up, we shifted the group to spot off the Peninsula and drifted.

After heading back to the cabin to get cleaned up, we went back to the Chabriers. With thunderstorms moving in, we spent some time visiting on the front porch and watching the weather. We had a very late dinner at the Chabriers. Chabrier and Kay made a great dinner of flank steak.

Kayaking in Milford Sound

2011 Lake Shasta Day 3

The plan for the morning was for Sharon and Janie to go kayaking. We brought the large two person kayak with us. Jack and I unload the kayak from the car and loaded it on to the patio boat. When the girls were ready, we took the patio boat up the Sacramento River Arm past Anthers. I dropped them and they headed up river.

At the same time, Jack took off with Tomasin to go wakeboarding. The group included Craig, Keith, Mike and Chris. Both Tomasin and Chris told me afterwards that Jack was looking stronger and stronger.

While Sharon and Janie were kayaking, I headed back to the resort, had an early lunch and spent some time visiting with Wallen and the Snipes. Sharon sent me a text message saying that they were going to go a little longer than they originally scheduled. By the time I picked them up and got back to the Tsasdi, it was after 1:30 p.m.

The rest of the afternoon was very slow. Hunter took this boat out of the water and got the starter replaced. Unfortunately, when he put it back in the water, the new starter immediately broke.

Sharon and Janie decided to make dinner for the group. They headed into Redding to buy groceries. After making dinner for the group by myself for years, I was very glad that they made the commitment.

We made mango margaritas as a before dinner drink. Dinner was tacos and burritos.

After dinner, I washed all of the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. By then, it was after 10:30 p.m. and I headed to the Basshole Grill. There was a big group playing pool; we were the only patrons. Kurt and I played a couple of games as a team. I played horrible. it was probably the worst pool I have ever played. By the time I got home and to bed, it was after midnight.

Kayaking from Rattlesnake Bar

Sharon, Jack and I took the kayaks to Folsom Lake and launched from Rattlesnake Bar. Although I shouldn't have been, I was surprised by how high the water was. We headed up the lake towards the North Fork of the American River. The 5 MPH buoys were about 3/4's of a mile from the boat ramp. After about 2 miles, we stopped and had lunch on the eastern shore.

After lunch, I cajoled Jack and Sharon to do about another 1/2 mile up the lake. I was thinking we would be able to get close to where the lake turns into the river; we didn't. Based on aerial photos, it looks like we would have had to go another mile to get to that point.

In total, we covered a little more than 5 miles.

Kayaking

After the TOC ceremony on Saturday morning, Sharon, Jack and I took the kayaks to the Consume River Preserve. We covered about 2.5 miles on the Conusmes and Mokelumne Rivers. The western most spot where we turned around is the site of Benson's Ferry. Using data from my Garmin 305, I generated a view in Google Earth, a topo map and a google map.