Port of Oakland Tour

After a long week in Southern California and a full day of travel on Saturday, I woke on Sunday with the intentions of a rest day. But, the sun was shining warm & bright and I figured some paddling was in order. A quick text conversation led to a 11:45 meet in Oakland for a paddle out to Yerba Buena Island. We were both late and by the time we actually launched it was after 12:30. As the tide started to flood and the wind gained strength we paddled out the Oakland estuary.

Paddling "the maze"

Today I was looking for mellow and that's what I got. I paddled out of Emeryville and along the normally shallow, marshy shoreline from the 80/880/580 interchange to the Oakland Bay Bridge toll booths, affectionately referred to as "the maze". Like most residents of the greater Bay Area, I've passed this cove in a vehicle hundreds of times and never once paddled it.

2012Matt PalmarielloNovember 13, 2012Oakland, SUP, The Maze, bay bridge, san francisco, standup paddleboarding, standupComment

Treasure Island Paddle

Yesterday morning I made the paddle from Berkeley out to Treasure Island, around it and back. The planning was perfect, as was the weather. What I was looking for, however, was the 15-25 kt wind from the west that was forecasted but never materialized. The idea was to get out to the far side of TI as the winds picked up and then ride the wind swell back home with some surfing excitement. Unbelievably, the wind was stronger at 9am when I launched than it was at noon on my return.

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