With the internet giving us a good weather prediction and being able to get a Southern CA weather forecast of The Santa Ana's last night saying the winds have lessened, we are encouraged. We may be able to do a longer paddle. Out of the last 10 days we could only paddle three of them and when we did we paddled less than 3 hours each time. Being winded in is a good opportunity to slow your pace and head back into the land environment, but I am ready to be on the water and head down the coat. This morning when we did the weather check, it was a green light. We are going to be on the water! We had gotten up at 4 and were on the water by 5:45. A slight breeze, small swells and the tide going out made for us increasing our paddle speed. Due to the weather conditions we were able to head across Animas bay instead of hugging the shore. The colorful cliffs of Animas point came into our view. Last time we were here the cliffs were covered in fog. They are quite impressive and we could see that it is good to go around this point in good conditions. Once we got to the point there was a great campsite, but with the winds being down, we moved on. The wind picked up some and the waves starting hitting us broadside which makes for harder paddling. We were impressed by an arch that we did not see on the way North. We really enjoy reversing our paths whether we are hiking or kayaking. Seems like one sees so many new things when one approaches with different angles. Finally we were able to pull into shore and take a shore break, the wasps however were quite numerous and the break became quite shortened. With all the rain that occurred this fall the insect population has exploded, especially the bees and wasps. When we made it to San Rafael it had been a long day so we decided that we would take the first good camping spot. Unfortunately that was not to be in our near future. The shore line had become rocky bluffs with no opportunity to pull in. Then when we saw a break in the rocks the beach was occupied by several Mexican fishing boats. Not wanting to join them we continued on. We were rewarded with several wildlife sightings. The first being a coyote fishing on the shore and then there was a rock outcropping covered with young curious sea lions. Finally saw a place to call home. It had been a long day from first light to dusk. From our estimates we had paddled over 35 miles. Out in front of us were 6 large fishing boats similar to the ones in Alaska called purse seiners. Later we found that they were fishing for sardines. Looking forward to sleeping well and anticipating another day of good paddling conditions.
