A day after Clear Lake, I paddled in Humboldt Bay, which was cold and foggy on this day. I left from the public ramp in Eureka located beneath the Rt. 255 bridge. The tide was up, so I paddled NE into the large estuary part, but soon reversed direction to paddle between Woodley and Indian Islands. As luck would have it, I met up with some local kayakers, who turned out to be a couple on a tour with local guide Ed Murray of Humboats. Ed informed me that they were on a paid tour, but the couple invited me to join, which I did for only a brief time. Ed filled us in on some important bay layout knowledge, and pointed out the aerial activity around a group of trees, where an eagle was raiding an egret rookery. Eagle wins. I left the group as they turned up a channel, and paddled up past the end of the islands and over to the city of Eureka side, where I paddled up along the waterfront for a half mile or so, stopping to chat with the Captain(?) of the commercial fishing vessel Aurora, out of Morro Bay, who was waiting for decent weather to head up to Coos Bay, Oregon fishing for albacore. I turned back and paddled back to the put-in, this time between Woodley Island and the Eureka waterfront. It was a windy day with rough water. Perfect. This is also a large body of water, and would take days to see it properly. My two hour paddle was just a taste. Hiring a good guide like Ed Murray would be a great idea.
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