San Pablo Sturgeon: The Perfect Storm

Met up with Dustin this AM at around 0830 to nice, but cloudy conditions at Bullhead Flats.  We paddled out to the zone.  About 5 minutes after we got anchored up the wind and the chop start going nuts.  Dustin's little Caper was getting wet decked and he paddled off to the blinds in search of better water.

Me and Jelly decided to see what it would do...it got way worse.  About 10 minutes later 3-4 foot white caps were slamming us and the wind was blowing from the SE 15-25.  Yikes.  We got everything in and headed for the launch.  After about 15 minutes of hard paddling, we were in the same place or farther away.  Jelly just didn't have the physical strength to overcome the chop, the wind, and the current.  We set a course to quarter the chop towards the blinds and we began to make headway.  Unfortunately by the time we got to the first blind Jelly was exhausted...I could tell by the look in his face he was tired and worried, but he was sucking it up big time.

I pulled my paddle leash and hooked it to my stern and we clipped Jelly's bow to my yak.  Jelly continued to help, but it was now time for business, as I wanted us both off the bay ASAP.  I paddled as hard as I possibly could, and we were barely making headway, but we were gaining ground.  The more ridge shadow we got from the wind, the easier it got, but it never got easy.  As we left the blinds, I began looking for Dustin.

Off in the distance I could see Dustin pounding into the same wind along the shore.  After what seemed like hours of maximum effort paddling we finally coasted into the launch, where it seemed as calm and as flat as when we left.  We were all tired and chilly.  Dusting took on quite a bit of water, our hulls were dry, but we were SOAKED.

After feeding Jelly a massive burrito at our favorite Mex place, he passed out in about 2 minutes.  We'll both sleep good tonight, I am beat.   

I started out at Brickyard and the same S winds hit me like a Brick Wall . . . not quite ready to give up, I drove around near Rat Rock and launched.  You didn't have to get too far out from the point to feel like you were in the Adriatic -- deep troughed whitecaps, and many of them deeply confused.  Not dull paddling!  Rather dull fising though. 

Scwafish are you the guy that I met out there with the Malibu kayaks?  If so, nice work getting back.  You got your workout for the day!

I wondered if you all launched this morning, saw the cars at Bullhead flats, ran some errands, and on the drive back thought "whoa- crazy winds". I drove around the corner about 11 or so, just to take a look to make sure that there weren't cars at the launch- didn't see anyone so figured you made it back.  glad to hear you all made it back ok.

Santiago-That was us.  Nice meeting you today.

Steve-Thanks for watching our butts. 

Sean way to go.  Jelly will remember that experience for a long time. If he every gives you lip about barrowing the car when he is 16 you can remind him of that day.    Props to Jelly for fighting all the way home!!!

Jason

Yup. That was tough. Quite a work-out. Maximum effort produced very minimal results, and if you stopped paddling you went backwards. No stopping and resting. I actually paddled due west in search of fishable waters. I found a decent area in a little cove after what seemed like forever, anchored up, pumped about a gallon of water from my cockpit, started shivering, pulled anchor, and left. I didn't even wet a line!

Oh well, these experiences make you better people. If nothing else they'll definitely make your arms a little bigger. Speaking of which...

My reward for coming home early was to pretty much rearrange my whole garage for my old lady.

My arms are tired.

Glad you guys are safe. SP Bay can get rough quick, I've been out there in a PB and didn't know if I was going to make it back to the lanch..

Good job Sean towing your son back.
I had a similar experience about 3 years ago with my son at Tahoe. We paddled from DL Bliss to Emerald Bay. He was good up to about 1/4 of the way to the bay and I pretty much had to tow him the whole way back. No winds to speak of until I rounded Rubicon Point. I don't remember EVER having to paddle so hard to make it to the beach as I did that day.
Definitely helps to know what you are capable of doing in a pinch.
Good job getting back dafe.

good story, I guess worse came to worse you'd blow ashore somewhere?

if you couldn't overpower the wind, what would happen?

Man... you guys are hard core. Glad to hear that all are well.

Freddie

good story, I guess worse came to worse you'd blow ashore somewhere?

Indeed.  I was definitely scouting the shoreline to the north west trying to see where is anywhere we could land.  Actually heading to Bucks would have been a decent compromise...somewhat easier but longer but the direction of the chop would have made the first leg of that journey dead parallel. I would have had to hitch back to the car, but thats no biggie.  I was definitely considering all my options as we paddled.  I am SORE this morning!

Sean way to go.  Jelly will remember that experience for a long time.

As a parent its amazing the mojo you get from what Leah refers to as "the momma bear factor".  Jelly was definitley jabbering about it all night long.  Chris has been on a ridiculous variety of adventures.  I started dragging him everwhere even when he was tiny, its been a while since I saw him look worried, especially since its been worse.  Maybe he's finally getting old enough to put it in context.

Sorry to hear about your stormy outing.  I'm just glad to hear everyone made it back okay.  No PTSD for Jelly... I hope.

That last time Stuart, Eugene "Paddlefish", and launched at Bullhead Flats... we got pounded by huge wind waves.  Some of my stuff got washed off the  deck.  Luckly my stuff either floated or was tethered.

After getting chased out of the Honey Hole I paddled due west towards the duck blinds, trying to cut little angles toward the landing at Bullhead Flats, but I actually ended up closer to Buck's than our landing spot. I ended up paddling just over five miles for what should've been a three mile round trip.

The paddle out took about twenty or so minutes - the paddle back must've taken close to an hour.

I need to bring my waders next time. I would've stopped off and fished the Petalume River, but there was no way I was going to squeeze myself back into my freezing cold wetsuit. 

Sean, I'm glad you and Chris are safe.
Juan

Wow... way to dig in deep and get 'er done!  I'll bet Jelly now has a better appreciation for why Dad hasn't allowed him go along for sturgeon outings in the past. 

Thinking about it, you guys saw the bay at it's ugliest.  Tide moving strongly opposite a strong wind... that's bad Ju-Ju.  Really glad everyone got back unscathed.