Car free kayak trip

We have a heat wave coming through right now, with high temperatures over 90 degrees in SF. When this happens, they often announce that the day will be a spare the air day, where they want you to not drive and take other steps to keep pollution down. So I did my part by going kayaking without driving to the water with my boat.

I am lucky to live reasonably close to the water, where I can kayak. But, we have little storage space where we live, so I keep the kayaks down near the bike shop. We are going away this weekend for some kayaking and camping, and with the expected spare the air days where it would be better not to drive, I decided to get the boats yesterday and store them on the roof of the car.

But the heat is also when I would want to be on the water, so I went for a paddle anyway. I loaded the boat up on the kayak cart I have, placed my gear in to the cockpit, and walked the 8 blocks from where I was parked to the water. I am sure a few people did double takes, as seeing someone towing a 15 foot long kayak down the sidewalk isn't something that one sees often.

I did a quick lap around Alcatraz, and then poked around the various wharfs. Out at Alcatraz, it appears the cormorants can not read the sign telling them to stay off the island, as quite a few have set up house there.

There has been a lot of talk recently about not scaring nesting sea birds, so I did my part and gave them space. But, annoyingly, a sailboat went by right after me and spooked most of the birds.

Also did my good deed for the day by picking up various pieces of floating trash, like plastic bags and foam. Some folks on a docked sailboat at Pier 39 and some fisherman at Fisherman's Wharf were both nice enough to allow me to leave the garbage with them to be disposed of (so I didn't have to carry it all with me).

Tomorrow is also supposed to be hot, and if I can free up some time, I may go for another paddle.