KFOG's Kaboom Fireworks
BASK Paddle
May 13, 2000
| Our put-in spot was the old boat ramp at Emeryville Marina Park. To get there, follow Powell Street all the way to its western end. The park is closed from 9pm to 7am. Since we wouldn't return until after 11 that night, I talked to the harbor master. He said that, technically, the park is closed, but parking was permitted as long as the parked car was not occupied. He also said it would not be illegal to load our boats during the closed hours. Having solved the usual parking hassle, Val Wann, Paul Tibbetts and I paddled out at 3:30 in the afternoon. | |
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The two poles framing Mt Tamalpais mark the main ship channel into Emeryville Marina. All the boats we saw in this area stayed in this deep water channel. |
| It was great to reach the pilings of the Bay Bridge where we could get a break from the constant NW wind. We paddled from piling to piling, and reached Yerba Buena Island about 5 o'clock. |  |
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Paul and Val pass Coast Guard inspection |
| We landed at the beautiful pocket beach on the west side of Yerba Buena Island to enjoy the typical BASK gourmet meal; Paul brought appetizers of guacamole with chips and peanuts, I brought Thai curry chicken on steaming rice (one of my favorites), and Val brought 2 whole rotisserie chickens from Andronicos. |  |
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We played a little Frisbee and watched boats speed by to join the mass of watercraft crowded together on the other side of the bay. We could see lots of flashing blue lights--the patrol boats. We decided to stay on our peaceful, white-sand beach. |
| Let the show begin! We had the best seats on the bay. Smiley faces, hearts, stars and planets--this was an *awesome* fireworks display. |  |
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The finale: a quick swim to see the fireworks from the water, and the show was over. Thanks to KFOG for a great show. |
| While we got ready to leave, all the boats that had streamed over began their voyage back. Since we took our time leaving the beach, most of the boats were ahead of us, and none came very near where we paddled close to the shores of Yerba Buena Island. We followed our paddle plan, which was to cross piling to piling looking both ways. Visibility was excellent, light from the near-full moon was strong. There were no close calls--the nearest boat came to within 500 feet, but we stayed together. We each had a light and we had two red flashing strobe lights. Val had a dive light which was very strong. Our return trip, aided by the South wind and the resultant current, only took an hour and fifteen minutes. | Conditions Air temp:
55-58 degrees |
Thank You to KFOG for an "Awesome" fireworks show
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