There was a 5 foot tide today that peaked just past noon, so I paddled out from the Tidelands Marina in Morro Bay and headed into the estuary, which was completely covered with water due to the height of the tide. Of course, some of that water was only inches deep, but I followed the channel as best I could by watching the water color. With a slight wind at my back, I paddled under the bridge at Turri Creek and followed the creek until it become impassable due to fallen trees. I got up past the sign along Turri Creek road that warns of possible flooding, which struck me as slightly humorous from my view in the water. It's a picturesque paddle past the groves of Pygmy Oaks. I assumed that the wind would pick up in the afternoon, and boy did it! I paddled out of the creek, across the estuary and west to the sand spit, stopping along the way to put on my spray skirt to try to warm up a bit and keep the whitecaps out of my lap. It was a cold, hard, wet paddle across, but grunting seemed to help! I had seen some hunters on the paddle toward the creek, but they were all gone with the strong wind and waves. More than a dozen seals checked me out in both directions (the wind doesn't seem to bother them..).
I took a break on the sand spit and stretched my legs before digging out my gloves and continuing north along the spit toward Morro Bay. On the paddle back, I watched a sea otter preening for a while, and counted nine great blue herons standing guard. With the tide so high, there was a clear line of trash along the tide line, and I grabbed as much as I could carry, including a bag filled with crushed Tecate cans that had evidently been destined for recycling but never made it (at least not the first try).
On my return, there was considerable activity at the marina, where boats and boaters were arriving for the Christmas Boat Parade.
No comments:
Post a Comment