Gaviota State Beach to Cojo Bay
Mike Bode and Patrick Martin met me Sunday morning at a cold and windy Gaviota State Beach. Gaviota is almost always windy and it looked better up the coast, so we decided to set out. As expected, the winds weren't too bad once we got out of the canyon. The day was clear, with water and air temperatures both about 60 degrees. We paddled along side numerous dolphin pods sharing bait fish with the pelicans and seagulls. Patrick was paddling along when he heard a loud thump on the side of his boat. Mike and I even heard it ourselves. Our first thought of course was "shark". Patrick looked down in time to see a large stunned fish swim away. Weird.

We paddled for about three hours until we got about a mile past a place called Gato. The winds picked up here blowing about 45 degrees from stern and out to sea. We made a group decision that this would have to be our lunch and turn around stop. This was about ten miles from Gaviota and we could see our intended destination in the distance. There was a large ship moored in the bay that would have been interesting to paddle near. I guess the paddle all the way to Cojo Bay will have to wait until summer when we have more sunlight in the day. The put-in was uneventful despite the large waves and we took about a half hour break. I made a change, instead of my usual peanut butter sandwich I went with an almond butter sandwich, very delicious (thanks for the tip Richard Henley).

We made it out through the waves after lunch OK, except for a really dumb mistake by yours truly. Evidently I did not fasten my front rubber hatch cover securely. After going through the first wave I noticed my cover on the side of the kayak with the hatch wide open. About the same time I saw the next large wave coming down on me. Luckily I made it out without taking on too much water. Mike Bode came along side and pumped out the front of my boat before we took off,

The rest of the trip was quite strenuous, fighting the off shore winds. They got stronger every time we passed a canyon. There were times it seemed like we were just paddling in place. To take breaks we would paddle into the kelp and stick our paddles in to hold fast. We plugged along despite the winds and it did get better about half way back. We made it back to Gaviota about 4:00 pm with daylight to spare. We were tired but had a wonderful feeling of accomplishment despite not making our goal. We had paddled approximately 20 statue miles in fairly adverse conditions. Thanks Mike and Patrick for sharing another great day of paddling with me.

    Mike Plummer

Click to see larger image
Mike P. and Patrick with Gaviota coast in background
Looking East towards Gato and the Gaviota coastline
Looking West toward Cojo Bay. Mike and Patrick claim those are NOT Tillay hats

Submitted on November 22, 2004