Roger was available for a Tuesday evening paddle again so we met at Doran Park. Actually, Roger got there first and expected me to launch from Campbell Cove, so he got in the water and paddled away just as I arrived. I drove to his favorite launch spot because I came from Sebastopol and it was closer to go to Doran Park. I also figured I could catch him before he launched but was a little late for that. He didn't hear me shout over the sounds of motor boats going by. I rushed to get into my wetsuit and on the water. Then I sprinted out to catch up with Roger waiting between the arms of the jetty. All this rushing got me overheated and I had to hang upside down for a long time and practice a roll. Not to be out-done Roger did a roll to "catch up" with me. No-one else was able to join us this day so we started off towards Bodega Head.
The swell was a reasonable 6 feet with 15 knot wind. We went closer to shore than I have ever been to Bodega Head, but still didn't get to go into the rock gardens. Bodega Head has all the waves from the surrounding area concentrated on the point and the six foot swell rose up to break between most of the rocks. Roger loves dealing with waves and says that he has never been bored paddling around Bodega.
As we paddled past the popular whale look-out spot on the point I saw a bunch of people standing up there. Roger did a roll to give them a thrill, but I wondered why they were there. The gray whales only migrate past here twice a year and it wasn't the correct season for them. As we headed north towards Horseshoe cove, however, a gray whale spouted in front of us! Apparently this one decided to stay behind after the migration and was trying to make a living scraping food off the bottom in front of Bodega Head. Although we had not heard of this, apparently it was well known and people regularly come out to the point to stand on the cliff-top and catch sight of this whale.
We went far enough north to play in the waves wrapping around Mussel Point, the northern end of Bodega Head. Then we turned back looking for the whale again but failing to see it. As we went past the whale watching area, Roger found a reasonably mild place to work our way into a rock garden under the cliff. This area was protected and we were able to go behind the rocks and through some cracks while whale watchers looked down on us from above. We paddled back into Bodega Bay looking for another place to get into the rocks, but did not see another protected spot.