Partington Cove
MVP
windfinder.com—this website allowed me to find the date and time that Partington Cove would have the least amount of wind and wave height, in hopes that I could find a decent time to attempt to launch my kayak from there. Without windfinder.com, I would not have known when to go.
Cove Review:
Partington Cove entrance sits about 1/2 mile from the ocean with about 300 ft of descent. That 300 ft doesn’t sound like much, but with 50 lbs on your back, it feels like double that.
This park has a main trail that forks as it goes to the shore. The north one leads to a rocky beach that others seem to use as a launch point. The south one is really pretty with a short tunnel and leads to a calm inlet, but with no way to get down to the water safely.
The parking at Partington Cove is just along the highway, and there’s enough space for about 10 cars. It was empty when I got there at 8am.
What I Learned:
Even with tons of research, and examples from others, I think I know what I’m capable of, and I wasn’t capable of launching my kayak in that cove. The example above is when the waves were pretty bad (I saw worse), but there were times the waves were much calmer. The trouble is that there was no pattern to the waves. I thought I had a good shot at making it out of the cove, but I was not confident at all at coming in once I was done. Some of the waves that were coming in were 3-4 feet tall, and I think if I guessed wrong and came close to the rocks during one of those waves, I would have been in lots of trouble.
Media Consumed:
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Friends Made:
Noah—We chatted about the lack of advertised dispersed camping options at Big Sur. I told him I only knew of places near Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd, but they were all closed due to a forest fire from last year. He said he planned to just find a spot next to Hwy 1.
What Happened?
McWay Falls is only 2 miles from Partington Cove, and people have documented kayak and SUP trips. I thought I could do the same thing, and given how calm the sea was, it would have been an easy ride to the waterfall. I have seen that waterfall for decades and it would have been sweet to stand under it.
For weeks, I had been looking for a date and time that the wave height would be below 4ft and the winds would be lower than 5 mph at Partington Cove. I thought that would give me the best chance of launching my kayak safely According to the forecast, there would be zero wind and the wave height would be 4.3 ft, which is much lower than the norm of 5-6ft.
As I drove down, I saw that the ocean was as calm as I had seen it, and I was giddy with joy. I parked the car and carried my kayak in its backpack case, which was hefty at 50lbs.
Once I made it down to the northern rocky beach, I was disheartened to see how high and fierce the waves would get. I took a walk down to the southern path to see if there was a way I could walk down to the water along the rocks, but I didn’t see a safe way to do so (at least not while carrying my Kayak). I went back to the northern path, picked up my stuff and hiked up to my car.
It just wasn’t worth the risk given my expertise level. Again, I think I could have gotten out of the cove, but I have zero confidence that I could have gotten back in safely.