This was a trip where I had my Dad along with me so I only had to paddle one way. In this case, going from north (Gleasons Beach) to south (Bodega Bay) made more sense: If bad weather came up it would be blowing in the direction I was going (if it followed the usual pattern), and would help me finish the trip. We started very early, meeting at the beach at 6:30 am.
Gleasons Beach is a small beach that does not have a parking lot or even a sign, but it is shaded on the Thomas Bros. map as if it was a state beach. There are houses on both sides, and a wide edge to the road where people park their cars. The waves are often mild here, and it is an easy place to get a kayak into the water. Going south from here, I went past Portugese Beach, which is very rocky at low tide and a place I've gone tide pooling. Past that is a beach named Arched Rock, but it's not the same arch near Goat Rock that I have been through many times. This arch is very close to shore, and the waves were breaking around it this morning, so I was not tempted to try and go through it. In fact, the waves were very rough, and I had to stay away from the shore and away from most of the interesting rocks.
Dad apparently had a great time driving along the coast and stopping at all the beaches to watch me go by and wave. The next beach is Salmon Creek Beach, where I have been afraid to stop. It has very large waves, and the water is apparently so shallow that they break way out from the shoreline. They break so far out, that before they hit the beach, the next three waves have already started breaking behind them. I once tried to get out to sea past these breakers in my FolBot canoe, but gave up before getting all the way out. This trip, I skirted way out past where the surfers were hanging out in the water. Sandy beaches are boring to kayak past, because you have to stay far out to sea like this to avoid the breakers, they often have long expanses with no rocks to paddle past, and as a result it is difficult to tell how much progress you are making. But eventually, the Salmon Creek beach ends abruptly where Mussel Point sticks way out to sea. This is the first point that makes up Bodega Head, which shelters Bodega Harbor.
When I came around the point, Dad was waving from up on the cliff. Apparently, the nearby University of California Marine Laboratory was having some construction done, and the gates were open for the contractors to come in. Dad just drove into their parking lot and walked out to the point. From there, I passed Horseshoe Cove, the Marine Laboratory's personal cove and beach. I considered going into this cove for a bit, it looked a little exciting getting through the entrance, but calmer inside. However, Dad had pointed at his watch from the cliff, indicating that he was pressed for time, so I went on. I went around the bottom corner of Bodega Head and turned towards the artificial breakwater channel into Bodega Harbor. This is two long rows of rocks piled up about 100 meters apart. I was a little worried about being in this long channel with boats going out, but none came while I was in there. From my TideLog, I knew that the tide was going to be going in, and I was hoping for a big boost on the way in. By watching which way the kelp on the sides was pointing, I could tell that the tide was in fact going in, but it didn't seem to be especially pulling me. Just inside the channel, there's a muddy beach with a parking lot near the hole where PG&E was once planning to put a nuclear power plant. Dad came down and helped me carry the kayak up to the parking lot, and we went home. If you are ever in the area, I recommend looking at the PG&E hole, it's now a cat-tail ringed pond that has a wooden walkway overlooking it from which you can watch birds.
