Friday, July 19

North 28° 40.307’
West 112° 36.160’
Distance: 32.8 miles

We paddled 32.8 miles today. This has been quite a day. We started with breakfast at the camp again. Then we watered up and packed the boats. We rented covered parking. Twenty dollars for as long as we will be gone. Gernado paddled with us for a half mile or so, then went back. The weather was nice and the water was very nice – not at all cold, but slightly cooling when we jump in. A couple hours later we were near San Lorenzo and saw a wave to the left of us. I pointed it out to Mike and he said it was dolphins. Hundreds of them – maybe 400 or more. They were chasing a school of bait and pushed it right through us. They were on both sides of us moving the bait in a long line maybe a quarter mile wide. This is the best dolphin experience I have ever had. Last night Gernado showed us a video he had made on the beach in San Francisquito a few weeks ago. There were two orcas – a mother and a child – and they came within a few yards of the beach. Maybe 50 feet offshore at the most. There are great things to see everywhere around here. We made San Lorenzo and the wind was just starting to come up a little. We stayed an hour and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the potatoes Lauren gave us in Punta Chivato. Then we got back in the water and headed for San Estaban. It was rougher going but not too bad for a while. About half way over we started getting breaking waves hitting us from the side. It was pretty exciting till we discovered that they were local and in a line. We headed right into them and powered through them for a few minutes and then it got better. When we got to within a half mile of San Estaban the wind and tide were both hard in our faces. We worked hard for a half hour to get to a small beach with lots of sea lions. They were not at all pleased to see us there, but we were exhausted and needed to rest. I emptied at least five gallons of water out of my boat and that helped a lot. After about twenty minutes of rest we moved down the beach a half mile or so to a big gravel bar which had been our original goal. We had to displace a few more sea lions, but we were able to pull the boats 150 feet up the beach and got out of their way. Mike made the best pasta I have ever eaten, then it was time for bed. Great day! I hope tomorrow is as good. The sea lions are barking, the wind is blowing, the stars are all out. It should be a great night.