Not Kayaking the Storm, February 24th 2008.

Huge 25 foot waves were forecast to hit our shoreline this weekend, so I didn’t make plans to paddle. Instead Kate DesLauriers and I went for a hike on Bodega Head to look down at the waves from above. I was not all that impressed; I think I have seen bigger waves than this. What we saw looked only around 15 feet high and I think Roger Lamb and I have been out in swell this large. It would have been possible to paddle out the jetty and out to sea, but we certainly would not have wanted to get too close to Bodega Head where the waves were breaking far from shore and crashing into the cliffs.

The wind would have been the worst feature of paddling this day, but it was blowing from the west and would have helped blow us back. Kate and I leaned out from the top of the cliff and felt the wind pushing us back. On the drive back we saw foam being blown across Highway One by the wind and big waves breaking over Hogback Rock. All in all, a good day NOT to go kayaking.