Liquid Fusion Kayaking

Yes, I continue to have birds on the brain. Yesterday, I was admiring the cormorant chicks at the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse after helping with the Point Cabrillo Breeding Birds Survey then I went to write my woman on water blog which ended up being a banter about birds. Yesterday afternoon, I was bringing gear off of the line in our back yard, and Osprey flew over me at low altitude (about 25 feet) with a nice size salmon in her talons. I was hoping for a dropsy but no such luck. I hope that she enjoyed her salmon dinner.

Prior to meeting my guests for a Sunset Bird Paddle, I warmed up on the Noyo with my greenland paddle and found myself birding again. I was stoked to have a few moments with my camera and am excited to share my shots with you. Yes, I photographed the male harlequin again and got a couple of great shots of a handsome great blue heron in breeding plummage.My favorite photo though is of the merganser and her ducklings – in this photo one was riding on mom’s back.

The swallows have been very active feeding and chittering away along the river. I had several great viewings of 3 barn swallows – close enough to see the irridescence shimmer in their blue feathers. There are a bunch of violet green swallows swooping about but elluding my camera.

And of course the mamma mallards had to parade their little ones around the marina just before we launched on our sunset bird paddle. They brought them past us in the water and then for a walk on a log floating next to the dock.

Who knows what we will see next.

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.

Mendocino sea kayaking from Jared Noceti on Vimeo.

Yes, that is me in the orange sea kayak with a camera in my hands.

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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!!!

Glassy ocean conditions on Thursday enticed us explore the sea caves in Mendocino Bay in our sea kayaks. The predominant swell direction on the Mendocino Coast is northwest. It creates many sea caves in our rugged coastline, but also makes many of them inaccessible to kayaking in all but the calmest conditions. Every now and then Poseidon smiles upon us and gives us that window to explore. And smile we did in return as we sea kayaked into the Mendocino sea caves.

A few nice sets rolled through and made for some fun surfing and rock gardening. The tide conditions were perfect to stand up some green-faced waves at Smuggler’s Gulch that were perfect for surfing our sea kayaks. A couple of abalone divers whistled as I took a right to carve across one of the first slow spilling waves of the day. This was not my best videoing day because I was having too much fun surfing to focus on setting up in the right location for the shot. Most of my shots were quick grabs of the camera as I was paddling back out to line up for the next set.

Much to Jeff’s chagrin, I continue to maintain my status as the wave magnet and had a couple of exciting pour-over and surge channel rock garden rides that were probably as entertaining to watch as they were to ride. One of our paddlers had a helmet cam and I will save my verdict on that until I see the footage.

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.

Wild spring winds have us continuing to seek sheltered paddling conditions on the quiet waters of the Noyo River. We continue to be amazed how protected it is from the wind that seems to be whipping everywhere else on the Mendocino Coast.

The wildlife seem to be enjoying sunny, warm, spring days on the Noyo as well. Last weekend’s paddling started off with sitings of a river otter and then continued with mallard ducklings, osprey diving for fish (sometimes catching one), assorted ducks (Harlequin, bufflehead, and goldeneye), herons, egrets, cormorants, and woodpeckers. The green herons tend to be shy and elusive of our eyes on the Noyo River, but we saw 3 of them at once and then continued to see them at different points during the day. I shot a photo of my favorite harlequin duck with a bufflehead swimming behind it and behold a green heron managed to sneak into my shot as well.

Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I enjoyed a peaceful paddle on a high tide up the river to the tunnel where the Skunk Train comes through the hill and makes its first crossing of the Noyo River. The water was so clear that I was constantly scanning the bottom – no abalone to scout for here but I am intrigued by river and creek bottoms and was hoping to see some fish. I commented to Jeff that one of these days we would start seeing turtles and sure enough – he spotted one on a log. Unfortunately the turtle spotted us and slipped into the water before I could get a photo. We then saw another one who appeared to be snoozing on a log just below the river’s surface.

Being one who dislikes the wind, I have to consider this spring’s windy season a blessing because it has made us spend more time on the Noyo River and has given us more insight into the river and its wildlife. I am working on a new video of sea kayaking and the wildlife of the Noyo River that I hope to share soon.

Recently I picked up a dvd from the library called Paddle to the Sea. It is based on the children’s book Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. It was a delightful film, and I just discovered that it is posted on YouTube.

The phrase from the film “Please put me back in the water” has been resonating in my head over the last week as I have been displaced from the sea. I have been in the pool swimming and life guard training so not totally displaced from the water but my soul craves the sea.

Craving the ocean and paddling – is it an addiction? The psychologist William Glasser talks about positive addictions that we create for ourselves. So my spin is that paddling must be a positive addiction – a need that my body, mind, and soul seek for pleasure, release, and solace.

With that thought, I am off to paddle to the sea.

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!