Photo: Roger Aguirre Smith We motor back to check in with the classes taking advantage of the calm waters within the harbour. Gordon Brown’s ‘Boat Control Master Class’ is underway along with Sean Morley’s ‘Forward Stroke Refinement’ class. In the Coast Guard cove is Helen Wilson’s ‘Simplifying the Roll’ course. We idle to watch the students move about the harbour, my photographer’s eye is mesmerized by gliding colour reflected on liquid blue and green. Heading out The Gate, the seas come alive and we find several rock gardening classes including Bill Vonnegut’s ‘Rock Garden Skills and Safety’ getting back on the water following a lunch break at Kirby Cove. We watch these classes as they continue developing a more intimate relationship with swell, current and rock.
Magical
I arrive to an empty parking lot at the Travis Marina, a spectacular San Francisco skyline and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge washed in the early morning violet hues of a photographer’s dream. Today is day one of Paddle Golden Gate (PGG), the premier North American sea kayak symposium. I’ve arrived early to make some tea and to organize camera and kayak gear. Within an hour all available empty space will be filled with cars, kayaks, gear and paddlers filled with stoke for three days of kayak instruction from the best coaches around the globe. At the 07.30 coaches’ breakfast I walk in and briefly stand by as many of the instructors as I can without feeling like a stalker, hoping that osmosis is a real thing. The room is filled with a who’s who of sea kayak coaches; Gordon Brown, John Carmody, Justine Curgenven, Paul Kuthe, JF Marleau, Sean Morley and Helen Wilson to name a few: 41 of the top local, regional, national and international coaches will participate, all with high-level ACA and BCU credentials. The combined expedition miles alone of this coaching staff would likely approach six digits. Simply put, these men and women are the real deal and I, as well as 120 eager students, get to learn from, and paddle with these folks for three days.
Spectacular
My assignment for opening day is to join Steve Hayward of Sea Trek, as he captains one of two safety boats. I’ll tag along to photograph the day’s event. I toss my camera gear in Steve’s boat and we motor out of the harbour as pods of kayakers begin paddling to their assigned training areas throughout San Francisco Bay. Low fog moves in and out The Gate as clouds float higher among patches of blue sky.The scene is spectacular and remains this way the entire day.
Steve receives notification that the visibility in Raccoon Strait is down significantly so we head back in The Gate towards Tiburon and Angel Island to see (or not see) if we can help Justine’s class as they navigate from Peninsula Point to Point Stuart. Not seeing her kayak pod where we would expect, we circumnavigate Angel Island looking for them. This ‘Island in Mist’ is magical. We glide on glass as we pass civil war era structures – light and temperature constantly changing with our position around the cardinal points. We meet up with Justine’s class at Keil Cove. Our boat floats by a sea bird mass waiting for the tide to drop in order to expose herring egg-covered eel grass. Justine’s class is not the only one about to have lunch. We head back to the harbour for the 16.00 check-in, to have a cold beer and enjoy our first meal together as a tribe. Chris Hipgrave, from P&H, shares stories of his time searching for five-million missing penguins while kayaking in Antarctica.
The room is filled with a who’s who of
sea kayak coaches; Gordon Brown, John Carmody, Justine Curgenven, Paul Kuthe, JF Marleau, Sean Morley and Helen Wilson to name a few Photos: Roger Aguirre Smith
Steve and I push north through an ebbing tide, passing Yellow Bluff and the ‘Tidal Race Paddling’ class and a ‘Rough Water Rescue Skills’ class. Further up the shoreline toward Sausalito, we see the ‘Proficient Coastal Paddler’ class. Our eyes look northeast hoping to catch the glimmer of a kayak or reflecting paddle from Justine Curgenven’s ‘Alcatraz and Angel Island Tour’ as they navigate the tidal race, wind and low visibility crossing Richardson Bay to Peninsula Point.
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