Swimming with Sofia

No handy kelp to anchor the boat to, so I just swam with her.

Cold & Rough: Kayaking Mendocino

The Rush

Pillar Point Harbor: north of the jetty.
A rising tide.

Holiday Commuting

Portal to White Gulch, Tomales Bay.

The coffee helped; first time on board.  Thanks, JP.

 Bright day; cold morning.
One-piece 5mm wetsuit; thick wool sweater; squid lid at ready; Peruvian stocking cap (from my friend MR): never got cold, but never got overheated either.  A chill last day of 2014.

Quick Dip: Four Shots

The last two shots are not quite in focus, but they capture the actual visual experience of the dive rather well.  Slightly murky water with dark skies overhead kept me squinting, attempting to see better and more.  Cold, cold water too . . . though I was wearing a 4/3 surfing wetsuit, not fully zipped, and shouldn't complain.  Proper gear makes for longer dives . . . .  I need to find that good 6/5 surfing wetsuit, I guess.

Larger context:
Yesterday, I slipped off the kayak into the water off Mendocino for a short free dive.  I intended to play with (and shoot photos inside) a surge channel between a rock and a small island off Van Damme State Beach, but the surging of the swell circling around the island and then being squeezed into that channel shot me out precipitously.  After the such second cannon blast, I moved into quieter waters just to the side of the surge channel and took a few shots there.  I've often swam into such channels -- there's a great one on the east point of Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, for example -- but this particular one had a combination of seeming innocuousness and irresistible force that I will be back to try again.  Often, I've found the largest sea anemones in such channels.

Out In The Water

Out in the water, looking back at land, watching the waves and the surfers . . . .

Favorite views.

Pacifica Surfing

Face In The Water

Face: 
sculpture mix; transparent black and shino glazes.