We got up yesterday, inflated the dinghy (Eli) and headed for Elkhorn Slough, accessible from the Moss Landing Marina. Elkhorn Slough was a salt pond until recent years, and is now restored as a wildlife sanctuary. Today, it's where marine mammals and birds go to be on vacation. Loaded with pelicans (we saw some white pelicans too), cormorants, harbor seals, egrets....all of them lined along the edges of the water.
We towed the boards about one mile inland, then paddled further, surfing on the wind waves. Elkhorn Slough is a low spot along Monterey Bay, and it was like being in the "slot" off the Golden Gate. Wind gets pulled through, and we were glad to have the dinghy to take us back upwind. We left at slack tide, and the ebb had started when we headed back to the marine, so we were treated to small standing waves right at the entrance. Very much a mini version of SF Bay, with much more wildlife.
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| Paddy puts the fin on her board at the dock. |
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| Towing the paddle board and the paddy board. |
We had some wrangling to do to get the boards out of the slough. Lots of it is quite shallow, and the wind pushed against a shore, outboard prop in the mud. Took some tries to figure a way to back the outboard (prop tilted) with the boards up close to the dinghy. Two big paddle boards, weighing less than 60 total pounds, make a thoroughly unwieldy load to maneuver with only 4 hp and a tiny flat bottomed dinghy.
This is a girls only trip, so next stop was lunch at the Haut Enchilada again, still wonderful! And Paddy and Leigh went shopping, of course, before heading back to the boat.
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A "French Kiss" guillotine sculpture at a Moss Landing gallery.
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| Dousing sails at the end of beer can race, spinnakers up in the distance in the fog and sunlight. |
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| Paddy's boat bite and margarita medicine. |
We loaded Pearl up with the boards on the bow again, this time with the dinghy inverted over them. Somehow the heavy fog seemed appropriate, because using radar was the only way to see ahead with the loaded foredeck. Next stop was Santa Cruz, where we arrived just in time to see the finish of their Wednesday night beer can race, and have dinner in the harbor, near our slip. And sleep.
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