Happy Birthday to me!

One hour left of my birthday. It was a memorable day. As is my tradition started a few years back, I wanted to do something that I hadn't done before to celebrate my 38th birthday. So Brian and I headed down to Moss Landing to kayak at Elkhorn Slough. I had been in a kayak a couple of times before (Tahoe and Shoreline) but this was my first "real" kayak trip where I had to deal with tides and such.


Ever fashionable, here I am modeling my spray skirt. I went inside the kayak, and the spray skirt covers the hole to keep the water out. Too bad I didn't get a picture of my new kayaking water shoes. I love a sport where you can wear cute shoes!

Resting in the harbor. I should have enjoyed the calm water while I had the chance.

The original plan was to rent the kayak and launch it at Kirby Park about 20 minutes away from the harbor. Reading the description of Elkhorn Slough (and the warnings about not ending up in the open ocean) Kirby Park just seemed like a safer bet. The rental place though had a different idea. Apparently Kirby Park is boring. They talked us into launching at Moss Landing, and they were right, it was definitley not boring. But I could have skipped their idea of excitement. I found it very stressful, first trying to avoid the speed boats in the boat lane, and then paddling under the highway, and not running into the pilings.

Finally heading out to the slough. Going out through Elkhorn was so easy. The tide was with us, and we just glided along with minimum amount of paddling. Conversation was impossible however. I could hear Brian but he couldn't hear me, and I felt silly shouting, so we just ended up doing a lot of pointing.

I thought the slough would be smaller and more narrow, but it was quite wide. I also thought we would be lucky if we saw a sea otter or two, but they were popping up all over!


These two guys stopped grooming long enough to stare at us as we passed.


Harbor seals too! No, Judith, that's not a dog!

It was such a surprise to be coasting along and have a seal pop up right along side the kayak. Before they would let us rent the kayak, we had to see an instructional video about not agitating the wildlife. There was nothing said about the wildlife agitating us! There were sea lions too, but lucky for us they were sunning along side the shore, and not out for a swim. That might be a little too much nature for me!


Lots of birds live on the slough also. Pelicans especially.

Bombs away! Pelican poop-gross! This guy was on a mission.

We turned around at Seal Point, which I think was only a mile and a half out, and headed back to the harbor. It would have been very easy to keep floating out with the tide, but the farther out we went the harder it would be to paddle back against the tide. As it was, as soon as we turned around, it felt like we were going nowhere fast. We paddled and paddled and paddled until our shoulders burned, and if I hadn't been looking at the shoreline to gauge our progress I would have sworn we were floating in place. It was a very unsettling feeling, like we could paddle all day and not get anywhere. We finally did make it back to the harbor and we spent some time taking a well deserved rest, and paddling around the sail boats before calling it a day.

I think I would like go kayaking again. I liked seeing the sea otters and the slough very much, but I never felt relaxed enough to really enjoy myself. I was worried about going too far out and not being able to make it back. It was very comforting to be in a double kayak, but a single kayak might be easier to manuever and faster. I think I need more practice though in calmer waters before I strike out on my own!

The rest of my birthday included a late lunch at the Crows Nest in Santa Cruz, a long nap at home to recover from my great kayaking adventure, and then to end the day; a scoop of Mississippi Mud ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Yum!

Next up:A double dose of advil and mountain biking!