Baldwin Beach to DL Bliss

This was my first time back to Baldwin Beach since paddling from Baldwin to Tahoe Keys in September 2012.  What a beautiful spot, golden marshy, not at all like the west shore. The water is turquoise and you can see that the beaches toward South Lake are beautiful too. But not recommended for a weekend.

When we drove past Emerald Bay at 8:00 am there was one car in the parking lot. Baldwin was fairly empty, so we put our boards in and paddled back toward Emerald Bay. A few houses on the left, then wild land. There was not a lot of boat traffic so we crossed the opening to Emerald Bay easily. Everything is a lot more shallow this year!  We paddled up DL Bliss for a couple of miles. There were a few water skiers, but all in all not bad. Saw a couple of paddlers, a couple of kayakers, and a couple of osprey. There was very little wind and waves. I don't really like to paddle here, though. The water is so very deep and dark and CREEPY.

The way back was a little scary. The channel to Emerald Bay is narrow and of course four different boats were going through as we were trying to cross, including one asshole who darted quickly in front of us and gave us huge waves.

When we drove back toward Emerald Bay there were thousands of cars and an officer was ticketing everyone parked on the street. Avoid this on the weekends!

Julia paddling back to Baldwin after the opening to Emerald Bay.

Baldwin looking toward South Lake.

Sand Harbor to Secret Harbor

This was one of the most beautiful paddles ever. Mike and I started from the south end of Sand Harbor (the farthest from the boat beach). Not too bad of a walk from the car to the water, easy bathroom access, but no grass for drying my board.

We headed out and paddled south. After a mile or so you pass the Thunderbird Lodge, and then paddle along a rocky point that felt very exposed and lots of waves, until you hit Chimney Beach. The water was really calm and turquoise within the bay from Chimney Beach to Secret Beach, Secret Harbor, and Whale Beach. The water is really shallow this year, though, and we saw several rocks with fresh propeller marks on them - really far out.

It is four miles down to the point beyond Whale Beach. Some really interesting homes along there, I'd love to own one! Or figure out how to rent one at least. It looks like they might be accessible only by boat.

 

Secret Beach from the land.

 

Secret Harbor from the land, looking south toward whale beach. Skunk Harbor is around the point.

 

Mike had to take a call at Chimney Beach.

Zephyr Cove to Round Hill Pines

Today I returned to Zephyr Cove by myself, but this time I went toward South Lake. The next bay down in Round Hill Pines, which has another lovely public beach. You can see Heavenly the whole time. I rounded the point right below Round Hill, just enough to see the casinos, and turned around just before Nevada Beach. Once again it was pretty windy.

 

Those teensy black spots to the left of the ski run are the casinos. Not so impressive from the water....

Zephyr Cove, Cave Rock

Jenn and I took an early morning drive down to Zephyr Cove. When I looked on the map it didn't matter which way we drove around the lake - it was the same difference either way from Tahoe City (about an hour).

Zephyr Cove is a privately run beach resort - like Meeks Bay - with a beach, cabins. etc. At 8am it was very easy to park and only a short walk to the beach with the paddleboards. Bathrooms easily accessible. It was cold and a little breezy, but definitely warmer than our paddle last Memorial Day!

It was a lovely paddle north, pretty homes, some neat rocks, but probably not pretty enough to warrant the long drive from Alpine.

We made it almost all the way to Cave Rock but the wind was picking up and we decided to turn around.

 

Looking south - still snow!

 

Rocks along the way.

 

Cave Rock - we turned around at that pavilion.

San Francisco Yacht Club Race

 

This race, sponsored by Bluerush Board Sports, started at the San Francisco Yacht Club, which is located in Belvedere. It started inside the protected harbor, but at least half of the race was - frighteningly - in Raccoon Straights. It was choppy and there were lots of boats. Even the racing veterans said it was a really challenging day. People were falling in all over the place!  There was a man who did the paddle all the way around Angel Island who fell in eight times. Good thing it was sunny.

I stopped after the last buoy to take some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and Belvedere.

Not the best pace ever but pretty good considering how hairy the water was!  The over fifties ladies crushed us but Hilary and I came up with first and second in our age group. (Yes, we were the only ones!)

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.