A Day on the Water
I don’t know if you can call this traveling, since we’re not out overnight – but we’re away from home and having fun, doesn’t that count?
We have an inflatable kayak that we carry around in Howie for whenever the opportunity presents itself. Today, we hauled it (in the Volvo, not Howie) down to Elkhorn Slough. This is an estuary off Monterey Bay which is loaded with many sorts of shore life, including sea birds, seals and otters, and lots of smaller plants and animals. It’s a popular kayaking destination, and there are many local shops that will rent one-seat or two-seat kayaks for an hour or a day, with or without guides.
The Slough is connected to the main Bay under the Highway 1 bridge; there’s a tiny marina on the north and a larger one on the south. All the kayaking enters the Slough from the north, or from a small parking lot way up-stream. Many locals know this place simply as Moss Landing, characterized by the giant twin smokestacks of the local power plant.
Karin took the lead on this trip; here is a shot as we start up the Slough from just east of the Highway 1 bridge.
Much, much later (about 4.5 miles upstream), there’s a small boat ramp and dock which provides the only other kayak access to the Slough.
This view is looking roughly southwest back toward the Bay.
Along the way in both directions, by far the most charming experience is the various concentrations of sea otters. They’re very tame and not disturbed at all by the frequent kayak and tour-boat visitors.
If anything, they’re quite curious about these odd sights.
And of course, they have no problem lunching on the local clams while we snap photos.
A ways up the Slough, we stared and stared at a bird that just was the most stock-still creature we’d ever seen. Looked like a big stocky heron, but we couldn’t be sure, even with the telephoto lens. We watched closely as we paddled closer and closer — figured it was just waiting for a fish to swim by.
Then we became suspicious. Finally, we realized what we were actually looking at.
Overall, a great day on the water. We spent 5 hours paddling 9 miles round trip. Tired, salt-encrusted, and happy, we treated ourselves to a Thai dinner on the way home.
Life is good.
You picked a great day for the trip! I love that area and have been trying to talk Teresa into going on a kayak with me for the past year. Your rig looks a lot more comfy. Did you buy it locally? I heard the whales were feeding at the mouth of the slew last week. Maybe again soon…
We heard about the whales after we were all the way up the Slough, about 5 miles east. By the time we got back to the bridge, we were toast and decided not to brave the swells and chop at the estuary mouth.
We bought the kayak online; there are no vendors locally that I know of. I did a lot of research and picked the FastTrack for its sea-worthiness, stability, tracking and overall quality (it’s built from the same materials as river rafts). It also is one of the lighter weights, only about 35 pounds or so (plus PFD’s and paddles).