Circle the Bay: April 2019

Day 34: Seaport Blvd to Inner Bair Island
(Redwood City to San Carlos)

Circle The Bay Part 3

January 23rd 2019

11.6 miles in 2 hrs 38 mins

(Total: 372 miles in 82 hrs 20 mins)

This day wraps up my second human-powered circumnavigation of the San Francisco Bay on the Bay Trail. To finish off this bicycle trip I brought along a kayak to paddle into San Carlos otherwise known as Bair Island east of 101. I did a bike excursion of all of Seaport Boulevard and the Westpoint Harbor, then cross Redwood Creek to get to one of the two new public access boat ramps in the developments next to Bair Island. Where I switched to kayak to paddle onto and off Inner Bair Island at high tide.

Since then I've been thinking of following the Bay Water Trail around on my next circling, to kayak from boat access to boat access around the entire bay. I'm going to want a guide for crossing the Golden Gate, but paddling with the high tide into Inner Bair Island (and out after high tide) has given me some feel for the currents to expect. At least not near the mouth of the bay which is the deepest part of the bay and known for strong tides.

There is logistics to this kayaking thing. How do you get back to the car where the paddling began , or how do you get the car to the end of the paddling and get back to the start? I'm thinking of dropping off the kayak at the launch dock, driving to the pull-out dock, then running back to my boat. Seems like a good idea since I am training for some trail relays this year.

And there are stretches in North and South Bay where the distance between boat landings is greater than I want to attempt as a single kayaker. Hopefully more docks will open up in future years. But where the stretches are too long (I'm looking at you Menlo Park), I guess I'll just run as well.