Feasibility of Davenport Landing to SC harbor

I'm a big fan of 1-way trips, but rarely get the opportunity, mostly due to the logistics. I've done 4-mile beach to the Santa Cruz harbor in my Hobie Revo 16, and that was one of my favorites.

I'm now thinking that Davenport Landing to the Santa Cruz harbor in my AI should be doable. It looks like the distance is about 15 miles (at a minimum), and I routinely do 10-13 miles, even on days where the wind does not cooperate. So, it looks like if I select the right day (low surf for easy launch, and favorable winds), it would be pretty easily do-able. But, I've never launched from Davenport Landing and have not been that far up the coast on my AI either. So, I'm wondering if I might be missing something, as far as the degree of difficulty.

PISCEAN and I have done Davenport to 4 mile, and 4 mile to harbor using non AI kayaks. For non sailing yaks, its all about drift direction and speed. There have been times that the drift was perfect and moved us easily along our way. However there has also been times the current was running to the north and the "shuttle trip" (as we call it) had to be canceled and we just stayed near the point of origin. I assume with an AI you could make it regardless of drift, but Im no sailor.  Sounds like a good plan to me.

oh yeah, the distances you log NWM, it's totally doable.
beware of some weird current, for one time Matt & I paddled for like an hour and were still just off the cement plant. Only once though. There is some interesting structure in the 5 mile areas and some neat sea caves.
And all that sand off of Wilder...

I remember the pac hali reports off Davenport, or was it BFT, or both?

That sounds like fun   

Like others have said, sometimes the uphill current is rather strong
And hugging the shore, one can experience a lot of wave refraction if there’s swell too
With good/typical conditions, and the wind at your back, should be a “BREEZE”

Like others have said, sometimes the uphill current is rather strong
And hugging the shore, one can experience a lot of wave refraction if there’s swell too
With good/typical conditions, and the wind at your back, should be a “BREEZE”

Thanks for all the feedback. Is there any way to predict/guesstimate the current? I was in Santa Cruz yesterday, and there was a stronger current (flowing generally east-ish) than I'd ever seen before (very noticeable when trolling). I was guessing that it might have something to do with a big tide swing that was underway (from -1.7 at 5:45am, on it's way to 4.0)...

Like others have said, sometimes the uphill current is rather strong
And hugging the shore, one can experience a lot of wave refraction if there’s swell too
With good/typical conditions, and the wind at your back, should be a “BREEZE”

Thanks for all the feedback. Is there any way to predict/guesstimate the current? I was in Santa Cruz yesterday, and there was a stronger current (flowing generally east-ish) than I'd ever seen before (very noticeable when trolling). I was guessing that it might have something to do with a big tide swing that was underway (from -1.7 at 5:45am, on it's way to 4.0)...

I'm trying to use my Navionics Boating App to find the current speed and it's based on a buoy.  I love the arrows it shows and interprets around the bay then shows the real time speed at the time of the tide.  I'm obsessed with current speed at the moment...there is a buoy in SC that might be of similar speed to Davenport...

Sounds Like a great outing. I’ve wanted to do Pacifica to Half Moon Bay.

I wish the logistics of a one-way trip were easier.

I have a car with crossbars and a 2-level trailer and I would be down for either of the above mentioned trips. Another cool one would be SF to OP after picking up some live bait. Hit me up if y’all want to plan something.
Cheers


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I took my 16' skiff up to Wilder this morning and trolling back into the south swell I felt like was sitting still and I keep checking my fish finder to make sure I wasn't go backwards.   

...there is a buoy in SC that might be of similar speed to Davenport...

Great idea!

This CDIP buoy is between Steamer Land and Mitchell's Cove, and it has real-time swell info, and predictions

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/themes/cdip/?d2=p70:s:254

I didn't realize that it also has current info

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/themes/cdip/?pb=1&d2=p70&u2=s:254:st:1:v:current_plot:max_frq:0.33:dt:202207

Now, I'll check the current info before each outing and see how it relates to what's happening on the water...

...there is a buoy in SC that might be of similar speed to Davenport...

Great idea!

This CDIP buoy is between Steamer Land and Mitchell's Cove, and it has real-time swell info, and predictions

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/themes/cdip/?d2=p70:s:254

I didn't realize that it also has current info

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/themes/cdip/?pb=1&d2=p70&u2=s:254:st:1:v:current_plot:max_frq:0.33:dt:202207

Now, I'll check the current info before each outing and see how it relates to what's happening on the water...

Just looking at the chart I figured it never got over .5mph, how wrong was that...m/sec is meters per second, yikes...not a math guy but seems like it can rip for sure...

Just looking at the chart I figured it never got over .5mph, how wrong was that...m/sec is meters per second, yikes...not a math guy but seems like it can rip for sure...

That's a good catch--I had read it as mph. So, it looks like the max is a bit over 0.4 M/sec, which means a max of about 1 mph. On a kayak where my easy-going trolling speed is often 1.5 mph, 1 mph looms large.

I've also noticed what Super Dave mentions, namely, that when heading back towards the harbor from the west side, it sometimes seems like you're barely making progress. I've had days where the wind was out of the east, and when sailing east, I'd tack back and forth and lose ground. I always figured that was lack of sailing skill, but current probably was also a factor. This complicates things a bit...

I realized this weekend I don't have a good sense of how long it takes to go anywhere by sail.  How long do you think the run would take overall?  Does Uber allow people in drysuits in their cars?