Down the slough they go.
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35 kayakers on 3 different trips attack the Alivso Slough for the annual 2004 International Migratory Bird Day. Note: several of these pictures courtesy of Glenn Nunez.
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The South Bay Yacht Club (aka the "Alviso Yacht Club") in the background, paddlers head out.
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In the Bullrushes, checking out the critters.
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Pondering which way to go. Fortunately, the Slough is hard to get lost in.
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Whatcha hiding from?
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2 newbies and a 6 year old kid in my double. The boat tracks for crap, so they spent much of their trip spinning in circles. We threw tow ropes on them to straighten them out and the ropes helped. But not completely.
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I REALLY gotta put a rudder on that boat to keep it from spinning. Check out the sailboat mast in the background.
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The slough is BIG!
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And long and wet, too.
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The levees are walkable and bike-able all the way to the Bay. I used to lead weekly bike trips along the levees. Maybe I'll start up again, now that the weather is unbelievable.
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Stopping to take a break from the high winds.
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A sailboat mast. Wonder what it could be.
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On and on the slough goes....
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An ancient abandoned sailbost mired in the muck.
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Paddling.
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The train bridge. Amtrak flies over this every so often. Must be quite the experience to be floating under this bridge when the train flies overhead.
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The last group: Saturday 5pm.
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Gettin ready.
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Cars lined up, waiting for launch. Or was it recovery?
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Into the breech.
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Recovering at high tide is EASY PEASY. This was the last of the Saturday 2pm paddlers landing
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...Launching at high tide was easy, too. Mel was the first of the Saturday 5pm launchers.
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Go for it, Mel!
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Paddling the slough.
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5 of us went out the last trip, 5pm Saturday.
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Check out all the floating weeds.
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The back of the Alviso Yacht Club.
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What a scenic view! The sunset is spectacular on the slough.
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The Alviso Marina is in here. REALLY! Or whatever is left of the broken-down dock, I should say.
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Believe it or not, I've paddled thru these weeds. REALLY! At high tide, it's barely navigatable.
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Another ship mired.
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Look closely. What do you see? Weeds? Look closer....
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Wow, check out this awesome nest hidden in the weeds!
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This thing could win any basket-weaving award I know of.
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The Saturday evening crowd.
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Several nests lined the slough.
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Wow! Weaving!
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The Saturday Evening crowd pulls away from me as I paddle my WaveWalker.
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Mel at Thai Dinner later Saturday night.
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These pictures are from Saturday Afternoon 2pm. Courtesy of Glenn Nunez.
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Unloading on the "launch area". Which is actually a construction parking zone for bulldozers.
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Who's the geek to the left?
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The littlest paddler: 6 years old.
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Check out the Seal Launches down the river bank. Tide was nearing its low point and coming back in quickly, but we still had to launch down the mud! The first kayakers blazed a single-track launch groove. Subsequent kayakers merely followed the groove.
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Into the slime they went....
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35 kayakers on 3 different trips attack the Alivso Slough for the annual 2004 International Migratory Bird Day. Note: several of these pictures are courtesy of Glenn Nunez. This was the most fun launch: my double SOT down the bank.
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YEE HAW! The secret: Just Don't STOP!
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But once you got into the slough, it was clear paddling.
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HI MOM! Here comes a batch of kayakers. Notice Dean in the WaveWalk catamaran kayak in the back.
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Michael Lays Back....
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Happy Campers. At the end of the day, everybody returned safely.
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