Sea Trek Regatta in Sausalito

This was my first-ever SUP race!  The race, which was a fundraiser for ETC (an awesome organization) was held by Sea Trek in Sausalito.

Most of the entrants were kayakers, but there was a decent-sized SUP contingent. Kayakers had the option of going around Alcatraz or a shorter-route around Angel Island. SUP options included a 2-mile within Richardson Bay or 5-mile to Angel Island and back. At the last minute they added a 9-mile around Alcatraz option for the really crazy. It was a great group of people, a lot of older ones but even a 13 year old boy who was going to do a solo kayak. I will get Mike and Miles out there next year for sure.

Hilary was sick and I was terrified to go to Angel Island by myself was the weather was so nice and didn't think I'd get the chance again any time soon, so I went for it.... The paddleboarders grouped together on the far side of the water start. I think they were afraid of getting rammed by kayakers. At least one fell in before the start. Here's a picture looking toward the San Francisco skyline.

Raccoon straights was terrifying.  The ferry came by - very close! - as I was on the way to the turn. I had to get down on all fours and hold on for dear life. I kept telling myself "you can do this, you can do this." I really can't imagine anything worse than falling on at Raccoon Straights. And of course the chase boat was nowhere in site.

I kicked ass. Sure, the hard core racers left me in the dust, but I left a lot of the recreational ones behind. I tried really hard to keep up with a guy with a Viking helmet on, but he was much faster than I am.

My time was 1:20, so five 16-minute miles.  I was truly dying for the last mile and a half. But now very excited for the next race.

Crystal Bay

This was it. The last day of the 2013 season in Tahoe. Finally completed the missing link and have now paddled from Sand Harbor all the way around the west shore to just one mile above Emerald Bay.

Although the beaches at Incline are for residents only, apparently they don't check in the fall.  I padded out of Incline Beach which is totally amazing (I can see why they don't let the rest of us use it) with sand and tons of tall shade trees. It's a very short walk from the car to the beach.

The water was like glass. It wasn't as cold as I expected, but I still didn't want to fall in. Crystal Bay is a great fall paddle, though, because you could always get out if you really needed to. Although you might have to land on the front steps of someone's mansion. 

I did four miles, and didn't see anyone else out until the last mile when I saw three kayakers and two other boarders.  And one hardy water skiier.

The details.

Chambers to Sugar Pine Point in the smoke

I did this paddle several times already this summer, and it is usually very beautiful. The big difference today was all the smoke that had blown in from the Yosemite fire. It looked like rain clouds. You couldn't even see the top of Heavenly. Apparently you couldn't see across the lake last week.

Although it was a holiday, there was only one hardy boat at Sugar Pine Point....

Speedboat to Crystal Bay (Burnt Cedar Beach)

I've paddled to Speedboat several times but this is the first time that I've paddled out of it. It's a long way to carry your board to the beach, including a few stairs, but totally worth it. This is definitely one of the most beautiful spots on the lake. Logistically there's not much of a place to load your board back into a bag at the end, but I did it on the walkway. There's a port-a-potty, but not much else.

We started around 9:45 and the water was so calm that we rounded the point by the wall and set off across Crystal Bay. Flat water, very few boats. It hardly felt like we were moving but we were doing 17 minute miles. We paddled to some houses in between the beaches at Incline and then made our way back along the shore. We paddled by Burnt Cedar Beach and the enormous and deserted beach next to it that must be private.

The wind kicked a little around 11 (as usual) and there were a bunch of water ski boats out so we had to work a little bit to get home. The shore is very rocky and deep. We passed Stillwater Cove community and a bunch of houses. Then back to Speedboat...

I had some trouble with the "Map My Run" app because an ad came up and I couldn't turn it off. But altogether it was 7-1/4 miles at an average of 20 minutes each.  Here's the map:

Emerald Bay

We couldn't figure out an easy way to paddle Emerald Bay (the nearest accessible beaches are Lester Beach at DL Bliss and Baldwin) so we decided to rent. It's a steep one-mile hike down to Emerald from the parking lot so carrying your board is not an option for me.

The rental shop opens at 10. It was busy the day that we went, but when I went back the week after to kayak there was tons of availability. The boards were beasts but it was still nice to be on the water there. The pictures really don't do it justice.

We got on the water at 11 and even in the bay it was very windy. I would suggest getting out right at 10. We had to beat it up the right side of the bay where it is quite wild. It is fairly rocky but we saw 6-7 osprey,  a belted kingfisher, and some creepy submerged dock.

Crossing the mouth of the bay is a little crazy. There are so many boats. Even some crazy people pulling tubes or water skiers right through the busiest part of the lake. We waited until there were no boats coming and then crossed quickly. The water is shallow and very turquoise.

On the north shore there are several lovely beaches that would be fun to take a boat to or walk in. (An easy walk from Vikingsholm).

As crowded as Emerald Bay is with boats, it isn't a bad paddle because they are all going slow.

South side..

The crossing. If you click on the picture to see the large version you can see the cliffs at DL Bliss that are three miles up.

Back at the island and the road.

Vikingsholm and the beach where you launch.

The details. Pretty good time with all the wind and the terrible boards.

Looking back down...

Kings Beach to Speedboat to Crystal Bay

This is another one of Lake Tahoe's best paddles. It's easy to park in the Kings Beach public lot (we got there at 10:15 and there were tons of spaces) and carry your board down to the water. There isn't a grassy place for packing the bag at the end, but its easy to do on the paved walkway.

If you enlarge the beach photo, you can see the rocks at Speedboat beach in the distance ~1-1/2 miles east. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Mike approaching the rocks at Speedboat...

And waiting there for me.

Here's a house on the Crystal Bay side. Lots of rocks!  I think there are some cabins that belong to Cal Neva that would be worth checking out for a vacation.

Coming back around the point from Crystal Bay. There's basically a wall here where the rocks go down hundreds of feet. I sometimes see divers here. Personally I find it very creepy!  You usually get crazy waves going every direction here, but today was pretty calm.

When we got back to Kings Beach I counted 50+ paddlers and kayakers who were tooling around the beach. It was so encouraging to see so many people getting exercise and enjoying the lake in a quiet, peaceful way. Imagine if they were all on jet skiis!

The details

Sand Harbor to Hidden Beach to Incline

Sand Harbor is one of the most beautiful places on Lake Tahoe and this is definitely one of the most beautiful paddles.

It's a little complicated, though. There are three "sections" of the beach. From north to south there's a boat cove, swimming cove, and beach. Hard shell boats (including kayaks and paddle boards) are only allowed in the boat cove or the southern end of the beach.  Also, the parking lot usually fills by 11:30 on a weekday and you need to catch a shuttle bus in from Incline.

I arrived at 9:45 and dropped the board at the kayak loading zone then drove around to park at the beach. I set up chairs at our chosen spot (the bluff between the swimming and boat coves, where we could see the kids playing but not be "in it" with the boats).  Then I paddled north toward Incline.

This is the view looking north as I crossed the boat cove.

This is Hidden Beach, a gorgeous beach about a mile or mile and a half north of Sand Harbor. It's beautiful but looks like a long walk down from the road so not a great place to launch. I paddled past it and into Incline before turning around. There were a few boats out tubing and some jet skis, but overall not too bad and although I was out on the later side the lake was pretty smooth.

This is the view looking south as I came back to the boat cove. Mia is in a blue shirt on the rocks in the lower picture.

 

And, the details...

Bristlecone around Dollar Point

We had plans to paddle out of Kings Beach but it was kind of windy this morning so we decided to launch from Dollar Point after drop off at Camp Skylandia. There's a rocky beach at the end of Bristlecone Street with easy parking and beach access and a port-a-potty (which was possibly the grossest thing I have ever seen, so I wouldn't advise unless it is an emergency). Dollar Point is a great lake spot because it is removed from the road, nice and quiet and not too busy. An easy paddle although not as scenic as other spots on the lake.

We paddled a mile out to the point then turned north and paddled another mile. Around the time we turned to come back the wind kicked up and by the time we made the point we were literally paddling through whitecaps. It was slow going and I thought at time that I would tip over even though I was on my knees. Don't want to paddle in that kind of wind again any time soon!

We finished up with lunch at the Mexican place next to Jake's (terrible!) and watched the whitecaps and some kayakers that went screaming by.

Some interesting rocks between Skylandia beach and Bristlecone.

The details...

Meeks Bay to DL Bliss

Today we paddled from Meeks Bay to DL Bliss state park. A beautiful paddledefinitely   and one of the best. We started at Meeks Bay a little before 9. We left from the Resort side of the bay because my son likes the snack bar. It is $10 to park, and it opens at 7am.

The first mile takes you out of the bay and south around a point. It was calm in the morning but it can get really choppy here so go early. This is looking south toward DL Bliss and Emerald Bay. We passed a seaplane that took off and landed a few times.

It's about 3 miles Lester Beach at DL Bliss. Inside Rubicon Bay the water is turquoise, except for two black "trenches" where it must be really deep. Only problem: lots of water skiers.  It's surprising how close they come to us, and how they all seem to fall right next to us. I feel sorry for the people that live in the beautiful houses on Rubicon Bay and have to listen to all the blaring music in the early morning.

Looking across the lake from Rubicon Bay.

The details (there's no cell reception at Meeks Bay, so our route map didn't get saved in my app...)

DL Bliss toward Emerald Bay

Absolutely gorgeous paddle today from DL Bliss State Park toward Emerald Bay. Lester Beach has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, ut the parking usually fills up by 10. There's a bathroom but no grass to dry your board on.

Unfortunately we did not get out on the water until 10:15. Julia and I headed south toward Emerald Bay. It was a little creepy (to me) at times, because the water is so deep so close to shore. We went south for 2 miles (with one mile left to get to Emerald Bay) but had to turn around with a mile left to Emerald Bay because the wind was picking up and there was a ton of boat traffic. We really had to fight it back in.

But in addition to the fabulous landscape, we saw an osprey nest and I'm pretty sure there were babies inside.

This would be the best paddle ever if you could get out around 8 on a weekday....

The beach (although it you can't see how beautifully turquoise it is)

The start of the Rubicon trail...

The osprey nest...

The last bit on the way in... very choppy!

And, the details...

Chambers Landing to Sugar Pine Point

Today I finished the last little bit of west shore that I needed to connect from Crystal Bay to Meeks. I started from Chambers Landing. At 9:45 am there was only one car in the parking lot, but if you have to pee beware, because the port-a-potties were still locked.

It turned out to be one of the best paddling spots. After paddling a mile or so past some beautiful Tahoma houses, you round the corner to the completely wild shore of Sugar Pine Point. I even saw baby Mergansers. There are a lot of big rocks close to the surface, though, so be careful not to run into one.  You catch the wind and all the boat traffic at Sugar Pine Point, so it seems like this paddle would be best to do early on a weekday. Definitely not on a weekend.

The view of Homewood on the way back.

And, a lovely Tahoma home with raised Chris-Craft that I would love to own!

The details....

Kayaking at Sugar Pine Point

This doesn't count for paddleboarding but the pictures were so lovely that I wanted to post. It's a long walk from the car to the beach at Sugar Pine Point so we rented kayaks and paddled around with the kids. I think this is the most beautiful spot on the lake. We went several times this summer when it was very calm, but sometimes - like today - it can get very wavy from all the boat traffic going by the point. The south side is almost always deserted...

Here's Phil, doing a flip off of the end of the pier. 

Commons Beach toward Sunnyside

Before I bought a paddleboard, I always rented at the Tahoe City marina. Once I had my own board I moved on to other locations, so it's been a long time since I paddled out of Commons Beach. I didn't have much time today, though, so I went back to my old haunt. I'd forgotten what a great place it is to paddle from.  Just ten feet from parking to the water. Nice, clean bathroom. Green lawn to dry your board on at the end (if you can avoid the goose poop).

If you make a right out of the beach, the water is very shallow so all the boats are anchored a long way from shore. It makes a great little alley that you can paddle in without any boats--which was great on the holiday. I paddled to where I could see Sunnyside and then turned around.

Here's looking back at Commons Beach. The Tahoe City kayaks kiosk is on the left. And a very long Chris Craft that I saw close to Sunnyside.

Chambers Landing south with bad weather

Even though it is a holiday week, I decided to drive down the west shore and see how easy it would be to launch from Chamber's Landing. Although there's a private beach club, there's also a little public beach (no grass, only port-a-potties) that its fairly easy to launch from. The water was very choppy and there were dark clouds but I found a great parking spot so I decided to give it a try.

Before I'd even gone a mile it started to look really dark so I turned around. The lake got smoother because all of the boats went in.

 

But for the last 1/4 mile it was raining.  (You can see some drops on the water.) I heard thunder just as I was pulling back into the beach.  Will have to check this out again.