Rebecca and I got a big treat last week - we headed up to Pt Reyes (25 miles north of SF) for a gettaway before the rainy season finally kicked in. We rented a great secluded cottage with a hot tub and fireplace in Inverness. In addition to some great r&r, we got out to enjoy gorgeous Pt Reyes National Seashore. We were lucky with the weather. It was sunny every day and the temps were in the mid 60s. We couldn't believe we got to enjoy summer like weather on our little December break!
Pt Reyes is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. There is gorgeous, diverse terrain, beautiful sea scapes, and wildlife everywhere. We brought the stand up paddle boards to take in the scenery from the water. I had just seen a Bay Area Backroads episode featuring paddling on Drakes Estero. Drakes is the 2nd largest body of inland water (2nd to Tomales Bay), and leads out to Drake's beach (where Sir Frances Drake was rumored to have landed in 1579 on his worldwind tour). 
We started our paddle at the Drake's Bay Oyster Company near the closed inland end of the estero.
We paddled out from there...taking a platypus backpack with water and food, ready to be out for hours and hoping to make it all the way to the mouth of the estero.
Rebecca paddled out on the Naish 10'6" and I was on my new Naish 11'4". These boards are so light - it makes it so easy to get them on and off the car!
The scenery was truly awesome. Soon after the start of our paddle, we were gliding over lots of eel grass, and I saw lots of sleek leopard sharks. They are about 2-3 feet long, and harmless. It's nice to see sharks knowing they won't hurt you.
The color of the water was a beautiful emerald green, and you could see to the bottom every where. The depth ranged from a few inches to a few feet for most of our paddle. 
We saw lots of clam shells, starfish, leopard sharks, birds, ducks, harbor seals, and.....
what appeared to be a great white shark...
It turned out to be just a buoy covered with eel grass...not a great white with a seaweed covered dorsal fin. Doesn't it look like it's swimming? That's the illusion of a strong tide...it fooled us!
I guess we watch too many movies and have active imaginations. Drakes beach is great white territory so we had to have some fear and optical illusions. I am guessing (and hoping) they don't come into the estero as it's too shallow.
Due to the nice strong tide, we made it out to the mouth of the estero in 1 1/2 hours.
We took a break out at the tidal flats at Drake's beach. We got to see lots of white pelicans basking in the sun.
After a brief break, we paddled against a strong tide to return to our starting point. The tide was so strong at one point, we had to go onto the flats and walk our boards for a while! The harbor seals that were napping on the sand bars joined us in the water and started to follow us. There were about 20 of them who joined our paddle journey back into the estero. Drake's estero is one of the main breeding grounds for harbor seals and paddling is forbidden there from March - June.
The highlight of our return paddle was checking out the oyster farming at low tide. Oysters take about 18 months to raise. First they grow the oyster from a seed to a "spat" that attaches onto something. Then they hang the oysters on racks for them to mature in the waters of Drake's Bay. We got back after the oyster company had closed...but if you make it back there before 4pm, you can buy oysters right at the beach and eat them fresh. We had to wait til that evening to order them at the local oyster bar.
All in all, it was easily the best paddling session we have enjoyed to date. Perfect weather, incredible scenery, and awesome flat water conditions for SUP touring. Zoe had to wait back at the oyster company for our return, so we took her to the beach to make sure she got her fix of the beauty of Pt Reyes too!
We'll be planning some more fun winter paddling escapades...stay tuned.
Jane & Rebecca
We started our paddle at the Drake's Bay Oyster Company near the closed inland end of the estero.
We paddled out from there...taking a platypus backpack with water and food, ready to be out for hours and hoping to make it all the way to the mouth of the estero.
Rebecca paddled out on the Naish 10'6" and I was on my new Naish 11'4". These boards are so light - it makes it so easy to get them on and off the car!
The color of the water was a beautiful emerald green, and you could see to the bottom every where. The depth ranged from a few inches to a few feet for most of our paddle. 
what appeared to be a great white shark...
It turned out to be just a buoy covered with eel grass...not a great white with a seaweed covered dorsal fin. Doesn't it look like it's swimming? That's the illusion of a strong tide...it fooled us!
We took a break out at the tidal flats at Drake's beach. We got to see lots of white pelicans basking in the sun.
After a brief break, we paddled against a strong tide to return to our starting point. The tide was so strong at one point, we had to go onto the flats and walk our boards for a while! The harbor seals that were napping on the sand bars joined us in the water and started to follow us. There were about 20 of them who joined our paddle journey back into the estero. Drake's estero is one of the main breeding grounds for harbor seals and paddling is forbidden there from March - June.
The highlight of our return paddle was checking out the oyster farming at low tide. Oysters take about 18 months to raise. First they grow the oyster from a seed to a "spat" that attaches onto something. Then they hang the oysters on racks for them to mature in the waters of Drake's Bay. We got back after the oyster company had closed...but if you make it back there before 4pm, you can buy oysters right at the beach and eat them fresh. We had to wait til that evening to order them at the local oyster bar.
All in all, it was easily the best paddling session we have enjoyed to date. Perfect weather, incredible scenery, and awesome flat water conditions for SUP touring. Zoe had to wait back at the oyster company for our return, so we took her to the beach to make sure she got her fix of the beauty of Pt Reyes too!
We'll be planning some more fun winter paddling escapades...stay tuned.