If you have been reading these, you know that I tried several times to get together with a friend from work, Steve Britain, to go canoeing by moonlight. This was the day after a full moon, so the light would still be great. The weather was supposed to be unseasonably warm and clear for a few days, so we hoped that tonight would be a good time for it. The plan was for Steve to come over around 7:00 PM, we would spend an hour or so on the water, and then Marty would have a late dinner ready for us. Unfortunately, I forgot that my bus was parked in Guerneville, and I asked Steve to drive me out to pick it up. We needed the bus to carry the canoe to the river. By the time we got back, got organized, and got to the Jenner boat ramp, it was probably 9:00 PM. When we drove through Guerneville, the town was socked in with fog, but out near the ocean the sky was still clear and we had perfect weather. Well, it was a little cold, but we were dressed warm. Steve even had this black hood to keep his head warm, although it looked like a ninja mask.
In the dark, we didn't expect to see many animals, but we did see a bright white goose swimming across to Penny Island, and when we got close to the mouth of the river we could see the seals hauled out for the evening. Actually, we couldn't see the seals very well, but I assumed that the spots we could see from a few hundred meters away were seals, so we stayed away to prevent bothering them. We tried turning and going close to the south bank of the river which was running along the old breakwater. There was a little bit of choppy water coming in from the ocean, and a strong current going out from the rains a week ago. We decided this was close enough in the middle of the night and headed back up the south side of Penny island.
The moon lit up the water and after we were adapted, it seemed as bright as day. We had to go far east around the tip of the island to keep out of the shallow water at low tide. Then we headed back to the boat ramp and back to a warm house and a late dinner.