Maryly Snow and I joined Roger Lamb for his weekly exercise paddle out of Bodega Harbor. The wind has been very strong all spring and it was especially strong from the north on this day as well. Maryly was not sure if she wanted to go out in these conditions, but started out with us. Part way down the jetty I told her to turn around and see if she could paddle back against the wind. I wanted to make sure she could make progress upwind for the return trip. She turned around, worked her way sideways to the wind and landed on the end of the Campbell Cove beach. This was apparently enough work and trouble that she decided to quit and let “the boys” go out without her.
Instead, we turned back into the harbor so Maryly could come along. Going down the harbor channel involved traveling across the wind and working hard to keep the boats moving in the right direction. Maryly got tired after a while and landed on the exposed mud flat to rest. Roger and I continued on for a time, pushed to go around one more channel marker, then turned back to pick up Maryly.
Roger had launched from the Dillon Beach side of the harbor and he left us as we passed his car on our way back to ours in Campbell Cove. The wind was even stronger by then and made paddling across it almost impossible. We heard later that the wind offshore was gusting to 40 knots. The windsurfers were roaring up and down the channel carving circles around us. Maryly could not make headway and was pushed sideways towards the beach. She started talking about me giving her a tow, but I convinced her to turn directly into the wind and cross over to the Campbell side of the channel. Once there it was easier to work our way back to our launching spot, so Maryly made it under her own power.