Pelican North Beach
MVP
Sea Eagle 393RL—This was my first time taking out my new inflatable kayak and I loved it. It cuts through the water so much better than all my previous kayaks. It’s performance is much like the SUP I used to use as a kayak, except it has walls, which allowed me on this trip to carry everything I needed to camp.
Camp Review:
This was a unique camping experience that I’ll never forget.
There are half a dozen beaches that are available for boat-in camping that are not accessible by any other means.
There are no facilities, but my kayak had no issues carrying water and everything I needed.
I got to pitch my tent right above the high tide line on the beach! So cool!
What I Learned:
I thought I had the beach all to myself until about 6pm when two other groups joined my beach. I wish I had picked a beach that was further away so that it would’ve been quieter.
The kayak did an awesome job of carrying everything. I stowed the backpacking pack behind me, and everything else in front of the boat. The boat was a little bit more unstable, but nothing I couldn’t handle, even when the tides were at its worst.
This kayak is the fastest kayak I’ve ever paddled. It does come with a downside of feeling less stable, but I never got close to flipping or taking on water, so well worth the trade-off, IMHO.
I bought a few of UGQ’s ultralight pad straps and it worked wonderfully with the inflatable mattress. I finally feel that my sleep system is ready for a cold winter.
I talked to a couple who slept at White Gulch Beach, and they told me that at high tide (which happened to be 11pm, the water came up and lapped at their tent. They said that dragging the tent in complete darkness was not fun. On top of that, there were a herd of mating elk near them that kept them awake during the night. They said they barely got 3 hours of sleep.
I wish I bought wood to burn. It’d been nice to have a campfire after sunset.
There were tons of clams during the low tide. So much so that my neighbors caught a bunch of clams.
People Met:
I met “Uber Dude” on the beach when I found a Bat Ray and wanted to see if my neighbors wanted it. I found out that“Uber Dude” had hiked the PCT, CDT, and the Appalachian Trail. It was really fun talking to him about various things, but he seemed to really like the Gossamer Gear Umbrella. He also told me that if I don’t want to do the PCT or the CDT, that he’d recommend that I hit the High Sierra Trail and the Wind River Range to get the best bits of those trails.
~2.4 miles, 38 mins, 11 mph NE (wind)
What Happened?
I took off Friday so that I could get to Miller Boat Launch right at noon. I figured that given this was the first time I was at this place, it’d be nice to get the campsite I wanted by being one of the first to launch, then explore the bay on my kayak.
The plan worked out decently well, except that I crossed Tomales Bay against peak wind which meant strong waves and a difficult paddle. It was only a mile, so I made it across with no issues. I setup my tent, then went back on the kayak to explore some more.
After I came back, I cooked myself dinner and went to bed early. I woke up the next morning not feeling hungry, so I just paddled back across Tomales Bay to my car.
