Since I did not want to brave the wind and waves in the bay for this week (or any week for that matter), I decided to paddle in protected waters, and Corte Madera Creek seemed like a good option for my purpose. Bon Air Landing is a public park in Greenbrae that allows for direct access to the creek with the option to head out to the bay, or stay in the creek and head upstream for as far as you can (it is tide dependent after all). For this week, I chose to do the upstream route, and the paddle was one of the most relaxing so far this season.
I woke up later than usual, at 8am, and did not get to the park until around 9:45am. There are many apartment complexes and/or condominiums in this area, and plenty of available street parking when I was there today. It took time to pump up my board and got myself ready, and it was not around 10:20am that I was on the water. By that time, I counted a total of 4 paddle boarders who had just finished with their paddles. A chat with a couple of them netted me this advice: to not paddle here at low tides. A lady told me that at low tides (e.g. around 0-foot or lower), mud is all that you’d see, and it’s unlikely that you’d be able to access the dock at those times. Luckily, a high tide of 4.19ft at 9:51am, and a low tide of 3ft at 2:05pm was predicted for today. Since the change in tide height was only a foot, my paddle should be relatively relaxing, not accounting for potential wind, of course. And there should be plenty of water depth for me to get back to the dock throughout the day.
Oops! It seems like this post isn't published yet. Stay tuned for updates!Here you can see the water level at ~4ft tide, which is plenty to launch your SUP from. From the dock, I headed west toward Kentfield. For the next 1/2 mile or so, you’d see condominiums on your right, and on your left, too. And in the far distance you can see Mount Tam and other high rolling hills. There were a few rowers and kayakers on the water as well, but they were not too crowded so as to take up all of your space. This is definitely nowhere near the crowd level at Elkhorn Slough.
After paddling for a little more than half a mile, you’ll reach the first bridge over Corte Madera Creek (Bon Air Rd). Beyond this bridge you’ll find more open spaces on both sides of the creek, which is a welcome sight. Since there are walking trails along the banks of the creek, you’ll find more than a few people out and about during your paddle, especially on the weekends or a holiday. Also along the banks of the creeks you’d also likely run into ducks, egrets, black-necked stilts and other water birds. At a particularly shallow stretch of the water, I also spotted a small (juvenile?) bat ray, which was the first I had seen since my trip to Tomales Bay in late June.
From the Bon Air Rd bridge, it’s another 0.7 miles to the beginning of the canal section of the creek. Here I met a rower who was about to turn back after reaching this point. I asked him if the water in the canal ahead was deep enough to paddle, to which he said he did not know, for he had never been beyond this point. He encouraged me to go ahead and explored, then he said:
You know, you’re holding your paddle incorrectly?
Rower on Corte Madera Creek
Excuse me?
Paddleboarder on Corte Madera Creek (e.g. me =D)
You should turn it around. The bend blade should face backward.
Rower on Corte Madera Creek
I swear I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos, and had been paddling for 4+ years now where I’ve seen other paddlers holding their paddles, and this was the first time I’ve heard someone suggested to flip it around. I thanked him for his suggestion and moved on, but the comment stuck in my mind for the remainder of the trip. As soon as I got home, I looked things up online, and hah, I was doing it right all along.
The canal section was very easy paddling, with possibly the only downside being the stagnant brownish water in certain stretches, which I don’t know if it was due to algae growth or not. There was a discussion on the BASK forum (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) recently, where people were drawing our attention to the growth of algae in the SF Bay Area due to warming weather. Luckily I did not fall into the water on this trip, so I didn’t have anything to worry about =)
Oops! It seems like this post isn't published yet. Stay tuned for updates!Since the creek is tide dependent, how far you can go will depend on how high the tide is for that day. On this day, I was able to get as far as Kentfield Hospital before the water level started to drop and I had to turn around. I was the only one on the water in the canal, but there were people cycling, running, and walking on the paths above, so I was never really alone in my paddle. Although only occasionally would some people took notice of me for the shrubs on both sides of the canal would keep me hidden along many stretches of the paddle. I did hear a few “Oh that is so cool, I want to try that too”, or “That looks so fun!” comments, to which I invited them to join me on the water. No one took up on my offers =D
On my way back to my launch dock, I stopped by and explored an inlet next to Piper Park. With this, my total distance covered for the day was a little over 5 miles. It was a very relaxing paddle, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to take it easy for a day.
