Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Dolphins in Morro Bay-10/23/11

This paddle was fantastic! Late morning I put in at Tidelands Marina, which was as crowded as I have ever seen it. Lots and lots of fishing boats. The tide was heading out, but was near low tide, so I paddled south into the tide and past the museum and State Park Marina before turning around and heading back. I took a picture of the floating triangle and puzzled over its placement...??? On the way back toward Tidelands Marina I noticed dolphin fishing in the bay and took lots of still shots with my iphone (actually got a few with dolphin in them) before switching to video and shooting the short video posted here. Pretty unusual to see them in the bay. I continued my paddle up toward the rock and noticed a beach full of activity with (mostly) paddle boarders at Coleman Beach. I had read that there was a memorial race over the weekend. I also noticed the twin of the floating triangle, and am supposing that each was a race point marker. The tide was nearing lull, but there were tight, angular swells coming in between the jetties. I paddled out along the north jetty and just hung out for a while, watching boats coming and going. I noticed three dolphin heading out to sea. There is often whacky water in the channel here, but today produced white caps and very steep, tight swells. I stayed to the edge of them on my way back toward (the town of) Morro Bay, getting some good rides and nearly hitting a seal in the trough between swells. There were times when it took some effort to keep my bow from pearling, and several times when waves washed over, particularly when a big fishing boat produced wake that crossed the swells. I enjoyed the paddle back to the marina, with a slight breeze at my back that was bringing in the fog.