Saturday, September 17, 2011

Back Bay 9/17/11

This morning I paddled the back bay of Morro Bay in a clock-wise direction, starting at the Baywood Pier and paddling past Sweet Springs Preserve, Cuesta Inlet, Shark Inlet, then north along the sand spit. I took out on the spit and hiked up to see the 360 degree view of the bay and ocean.
It was fairly windy when I began around 10 am, with the tide just under 3 feet and rising.  The sky was sunny and blue, but on the ocean side of the sand spit was the fog bank, which I assumed would blow in and cover Baywood (as it has for a month), but the wind died down and the fog bank retreated out into the ocean. The rest of the day has been sunny and warm!
As I sat in shark inlet watching the feeder fish aerate the surface, a group on horse back passed by on the trail. I also saw a number of large egrets and several great blue herons, and was reminded why they call them great while watching them stretch to their full height while I passed. A lone pelican flew past right next to me and only a few feet off the water. Generally, they will give wide berth to paddlers, usually staying outside of a 20-30 foot cushion. Love those dinosaurs. On the return paddle, the wind picked up and the catamarans and wind surfers started to put in. Perfect timing and a perfect day.