Liquid Fusion Kayaking

August is an exciting and busy month for us on the Mendocino Coast and beyond. We have lots of adventures planned to share our passion for kayaking and the natural world. In Fort Bragg, we are continuing to make improvements to our Dolphin Isle Location. Check out my wildlife fact photo cards on the deck.

And Eric’s gate.

We have some exciting custom adventures planned this month. Saturday, we had an all day coastal exploration of the Fort Bragg Coastline. The group explored sea caves in tandem sea kayaks and meandered among the rocky channels leading up to Glass Beach. Of course a lunch break at Glass Beach was in store with beachcombing for shells and sea glass.

We are also excited about guiding a special wet and wild kayaking birthday celebration for some friends in Caspar.

Beyond the Mendocino Coast, we are preparing to present at the Bay Area Sea Kayakers’ August general meeting, and Jeff is preparing for a week of kayaking instruction and fun at the Lower Columbia Kayak Round-up.

As we get our ducks in a row for a busy month, our mother ducks on the Noyo River continue to line up their little ones. The number of ducklings on the Noyo River has been amazing this year with many late hatchlings. Today we saw another brand new set of mallard ducklings. They are sooo fuzzy and cute. It is neat to see them in all stages of their development. This is the proud new mamma getting all of her little ducks in a row.

In my last blog, I mentioned the shyness of our river otters. Ha! – they beg to differ with that comment and have been quite present lately. The kits have been playing around quite a bit – but definitely not in a row. I actually got a few photos of them.

Our Wednesday evening social paddles around the Noyo Bay continue to be a lot of fun. Paddle craft varies as does the cast and crew. Some like it on the MILD side and others on the WILD side.

Heather and Craig enjoying the setting sun and calm waters.

Here’s Dave and Yoshi. Yoshi went with Jeff for a few minutes so that Dave could take a couple of rides on Brindle’s Bash.

Craig explores the Sinkhole Cave.
Reid in “The PIT” waiting for the swell to lift him up over and out of it.
John watching as Chuck takes the wave straight on.

Jeff rounding Nick’s Nightmare.
Chuck charging Brindle’s Bash.
Me taking a ride on Brindle’s.
And another beautiful Noyo Sunset.

Today, I was at our local chapter meeting of Delta Kappa Gamma International, (an organization of women educators). This year I have been blessed with so many opportunities including a leadership role in our Iota Zeta chapter.

When asked today to reflect upon my doings outside the realm of public education, a smile spread across my face and Mendocino Coast WILD LIFE came to mind . . .

A fawn nursing on the coastal rocks near Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.
A pigeon guillemot escaping turbulent water.

A starfish doing pull-ups in a sea cave.

And me going a little wild – rock gardening in Fort Bragg’s Noyo Bay.

Here’s one of my favorite photos. I took it while sea kayaking on the Mendocino Coast just outside of Fort Bragg’s Noyo Bay.

This photo is in our new photo gallery which includes photos and videos of our kayaking, Mendocino Coast, wildlife, and other adventures.

I hope that you will enjoy my labor of love.

I recently joined the kayaking.com community and was reminiscing on my most memorable paddle. Numerous kayaking trips came to mind but 2 in particular have been on my mind lately – both included my mom.

My mom is not an athlete or paddler but an enthusiast of life. She has kayaked a couple of times while on vacation in the Caribbean, but the first time that we kayaked together was on the Noyo River in Fort Bragg, CA. She was visiting me from Pennsylvania and flaunting and enjoying the perks of her new “Senior” status. Having gone to the Botanical Gardens and visited the Skunk Train, she was ready for a new adventure. We met up with some friends and enjoyed a sunny afternoon kayaking on the Noyo River. It was on this paddle that her enthusiasm and excitement over the birds that we saw sparked my interested in birding. In particular it was a green heron that perked my interest. The next day while I was at work, she bought me my first bird book. I have been fascinated by birds ever since and now call her to report my latest sitings.

The other memorable trip that came to mind was sea kayaking from Russian Gulch to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. This is one of our favorite spots on the Mendocino Coast for rock gardening and exploring sea caves. My mom and Jeff shared a tandem sea kayak while my girlfriend and I paddled single boats. The ocean conditions were calm and glassy. It was so exciting for me to be able to share this special stretch of coastline with my mom. We were able to paddle into all of the sea caves and were dazzled by the vibrant colors of the caves and intertidal life. Mom still talks about the spectacular colors and the excitement of the trip. She even let Jeff take her over a couple of pour-overs (when an ocean wave washes over a rock – similar to whitewater on the river).

Happy Mother’s Day Mom, I love you!!!

We knew it was going to be a good day when we met to determine our paddling plans for the day and were treated to a better than Sea World show of a baby gray whale breeching and spyhopping on his northerly migration.

The day got even better as we paddled Mendocino sea caves that are rarely accessible and surfed long smooth waves in our sea kayaks.

We are having a stretch of amazing weather on the Mendocino Coast and lots of exciting things going on. Jeff and I just completed our first sea kayaking instructional week on the Mendocino Coast. Actually, I did the organizing for this one and Jeff did the teaching as I was taking a lifeguarding class at the Fort Bragg Recreation Center (yes, I am now a certified Red Cross Lifeguard).

We are building our sea kayaking instructional program here on the Mendocino Coast and are encouraged by the progress and positive responses of our clients. We feel so lucky to have the flat, calm waters of the Noyo River to teach basic skills and then an exciting coastline to teach coastal skills, sea kayaks in the surf, and our favorite – rock gardening.

We are continuing to run our flatwater sea kayaking classes and tours from Dolphin Isle. It is protected from the wind and there is so much wildlife activity that we sometimes have to pause during our instruction to view the birds or river otters and their antics. On Tuesday, we saw both an Osprey and a KingFisher dive for fish in the river just in front of us.

Our location for coastal instruction varies, but the Noyo Bay and the Fort Bragg stretch of the Mendocino Coastline continues to be our favorite. The bay is easily accessible, rich with wildlife, and offers a progression of paddling challenges which are great for teaching and learning.

Speaking of training, Jeff just completed a wilderness first aide class so we both have the most current and up to date first aide and cpr training and certifications. Between our classes and tours and other business happenings, we are training to further develop our own kayaking and guiding skills. The coastal fog yesterday morning gave us practice navigating in the fog. Today a swell increase will send us to the surf zone. Wahoo!!! Sunshine and surf are two of my favorite things!

Ah . . . the maiden voyage of Big Red. Today we launched Big Red from the Noyo Beach. She is a Wilderness Systems Northstar – tandem sea kayak. This is the 6th of our brand new, specially made for us kayaks and she is a shiny beauty. So how did she do? GREAT!!!

The Mendocino Coast is an amazing place to sea kayak with exposed rocky reefs, sea caves, rock gardens, beautiful intertidal life, interesting marine mammals, and pelagic birds; however, it is not always the most kayaker friendly area. We paddle the Mendocino Coast all the time and use our local knowledge and paddling expertise to guide others. We have found the Wilderness Systems Northstar to be one of the most stable yet maneuverable tandem sea kayaks available for kayaking the Mendocino Coast. It is user friendly for beginners and performs well for experienced paddlers and the outfitting is very comfortable.

Here are a few photos of Big Red’s maiden voyage. The top one is her at sea with the lost coast in the back ground. The next is Big Red exiting the Sinkhole sea cave followed by Big Red in the maze. Finally Big Red lands on Naked Beach followed by her older sister the Mango Tango.

Yes, I am officially guilty of pedaling this week more than paddling. Oh, but mountain biking in the Mendocino Coast redwoods is so much fun, the traction is great, I love my new bike, and the whole gang is doing it. Besides, I am not really keen on paddling in the 20 to 30 kt winds that we have been having.

We are getting some new boats tomorrow so I am sure that given high winds or high water – we will be paddling this weekend.

The wind has been howling on the Mendocino Coast but we’ve found a peaceful paddling refuge on the Noyo River. At times we bemoan the wind for interfering with our plans of whale watching, surfing, and coastal paddling; but we also appreciate it in the bigger scheme of things. The winds are essential this time of the year for upwelling nutrients in the ocean and are great for drying out our favorite mountain biking trails. They also have given us reason to kayak on the Noyo River more.

The Noyo River is beautiful in spring. It’s beauty extends beyond greenery and blooms to the sounds of song birds and the ethereal feeling of spring. A perfectly timed paddle with the tide and the efficiency of our sea kayaks make the experience effortless and dream-like.

Of course we enjoy being entertained by the wildlife. Curious harbor seals follow us about and we are still regularly seeing “Cate’s Odd Duck” (a lone harlequin duck). The osprey have returned and have discovered that a large white goose has taken up residence in one of their prominent nests. We are curious to see how long this situation remains.

While I have not been successful in my goal this spring of videoing whales from my kayak, I happened to catch a river otter scampering on the bank with my camera. As the winds continue, I hope to capture some more footage of our wildlife on the Noyo River. Wow, I can’t help but think how lucky I am to have all of this in my backyard and to be able to share it with others.