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Kayak Camping the California Coast
updated: Jul 23, 2011, 8:45 AM
By David Powdrell
The more I think about it, the more I accept the fact that we were not real kayakers. Yes, we've kayaked. In fact, we kayaked the 1,109 miles of the California coast; from the Oregon border to the bull ring in Tijuana, Mexico. But there are a vast number of people with significantly greater kayaking skills and with substantially more efficient kayaking equipment. They're passionate about the sport. We were simply surfers that stumbled upon the sport of kayaking camping as a means to surf some isolated places with surfboards in tow after reading a 1994 Surfer's Journal article by Jeff Chamberlain and Dave Parmenter.
We paddled the California coastline over the span of 14 years, paddling for several days each August or September. So when you think about it, it's not all that monumental; just common men doing an uncommon feat.
The fact that we used plastic sit-on-top Scupper Pro kayaks was challenged by the kayak elite, but we were comfortable with our "Tupperware" in the sea caves and in pounding surf.
It took us 54 days of cover the full California coast. We chose not to beeline from point to point but rather to sip the wine slowly, checking out every sea cave, watching the elephant seals do battle on the beach and paddle next to blue sharks. Head-on gale force winds required us to turn around at times. A pounding south swell at Imperial Beach folded three of our kayaks in half. We paddled in dense fog along the Big Sur coast and along side massive freighters in the Los Angeles Harbor.
We'd camp on secluded, inaccessible beaches whenever we could and in coastal hotels when no other options were available.
My top 4 California kayaking camping legs were:
1. Humboldt to Westport-The Lost Coast-6 days
2. Juan Creek to Fort Ross-Point Arena-5 days
3. Gaviota to Santa Barbara-The Gaviota Coast-3 days
4. Monterey to Morro Bay-The Big Sur Coast-5 days
I enjoy kayaking, but I've never been passionate about it. What I am absolutely thankful for is where my yellow plastic kayak has taken me. I will be forever grateful having seen so much of the California coastline from the unique perspective of a tiny kayak with the smell of the ocean, the sights of the wildlife, and all that comes with the adventure of kayak camping on remote secluded beaches.
22 of my closest friends joined me on various legs of the journey but John Beardsmore, Derek Levy, Phil Morreale, Mark Levy, Rob Mohle and my brother Doug covered all or most of the coast.
I recommend you consider giving kayak camping a try but please do your homework and know that it's not without great risk. Stories of kayaking tragedies, unfortunately, come up regularly.
Ours, however, was the adventure of a lifetime.
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