A Perfect Paddle - Saturday Splashings in the City
Greetings, blog watchers!  After one of those weeks at work where you long to be independently wealthy so you can just chuck it all in and go and run an olive oil and cheese shop somewhere (if there are any octagenarian billionaires out there with a dicky ticker who fancy sponsoring my little culinary fantasy, have at it), I was profoundly glad it was the weekend and very much looking forward to this morning's fun.

Yet again, my wonderful friends at Groupon supplied the discounted voucher (I'm trying to forget the op-ed article I read a couple of weeks ago about how Groupon is destroying small businesses and eroding customer service) - this time for a 2hr kayaking trip around McCovey Cove.   My regulars will recognize McCovey cove as the scene of last year's International Duck Day adventures with the Duck Boat and the Not Unattractive Cap'n John, where the P of Double D and Mr & Mrs Potato Head and I took the amphibious automobile for a spin.

http://sazzinthecity.blogspot.com/2012/09/quacks-off-to-1st-international-duck.html

Coast Guard ready to spring into action....

McCovey Cove is also, very handily, right behind AT&T Ballpark and so a mere skipping stone's throw from my apartment.  As you can imagine, during baseball season, the kayak tours behind the stadium are very popular, especially as there is always a chance, albeit very small, of someone hitting a home run quite literally out of the park, and into the cove behind!

Under beautiful blue skies, me and my
orange pointy boat set out, looking
 for adventure

Anyway, no chance of such excitement today, as the Giants are away this week (check me out, knowing the baseball schedules!) but by the time I arrived for the start of my tour at 11am, the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight and it was an absolutely PERFECT day to mess about on the water for a couple of hours.  And even more perfect as it took me less than 3 minutes to walk to City Kayak from my apartment - no stress, no parking, no problem!   Consequently I was the first to arrive, so i got checked in, signed the inevitable waiver, then nipped to Red Java, the little dockside shack that sells breakfast and lunch, for a quick coffee and sat outside soaking up the sunshine while waiting for the other people to arrive.

By 11.10am, everyone had arrived - there were supposed to be 10 of us, but only 4 of us showed up, so it was a nice manageable group.  Our guide gave us a brief lesson of how to paddle, fitted us up with life jackets and dry sacks to put our stuff in, and off we went!  

Now THATS how you collect tips...

It was simply perfect.  Our route was very straightforward - paddling out from the dock, round the corner by the sea wall, then just out across into McCovey cove, behind the ballpark, and across and down into Mission Creek.  You couldn't go wrong or get lost, as Mission Creek dead-ended, so after you'd paddling all the way down, you simply turned round and came right on back.

I've done a bit of kayaking before, so I was very comfortable and not (much) worried about capsizing and drowning.  So, it was lovely just to paddle away, feeling very Zen as you glided (or as Eddie would say "glidded") through the water, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face and your heart rate just a little elevated with the physical effort involved.  It was fun to cruise past the ballpark, then down the into creek, enjoying the different perspective of all the buildings, the houseboats and occasional randomness that makes San Francisco the quirky, weird and charming city that I love.  Here are some pics from the morning - enjoy!

View of my apartment complex
 from the marina

AT&T Ballpark

About to go under a big scary, low
bridge - DUCK!

Phew. Not a troll in sight

Houseboats along Mission Creek.
And yes, that is a giant swan.

Unbeknownst to many, MI6 has quietly relocated to SF

Well, of COURSE you'd expect to see a giant floating
 spaceship on a paddle trip around the Bay

The inspiration for the lesser known ballet, Swan Creek

Fancy-pants house boat

Bad puns are alive and well in the boating community

Its just like a house!  But on the water!!

The Architect obviously had a set of Rolling
Rulers when he designed this house

Houseboat Alley, with AT&T Park in the background

I think the seagull may be a bit confused...
"Mummy - is that you?"

Yeah!!  I came, I saw, I paddled.
And didn't fall in.

Showing off my advanced Patent Pending "jazz hands" paddling technique