PVC camera stand sea trials

The cheesy new PVC camera stand got to go out on the strait with the new video camera.

Camera stand all the way forward.

It was too hard to reach the stand when it was under the foremost bungees, and it was almost in the way when under the bungees right in front of the cockpit.

All the way back.

It's hard to get the 1/4" camera-mount screw vertically aligned with the clamp, so the clamp is a bit to one side.  The stand ought to be a little higher so that the clamp isn't resting on the deck.

I can tell from the videos I took with the camera on the stand that it isn't entirely stationary.  This might be because the inner tube on the conduit elbow isn't glued down, and it's slipping.

I took the old Kodak EasyShare Sport, attached to a clip that fits on the end of the paddle, to see how it would work for self-portraits.  

Selfie-clip prototype II.

It needs some work -- the lens is so close to the paddle shaft that the paddle and drip rings intrude (and sometimes steal the focus), and the leash I had the camera on wasn't long enough to let me position the camera as far from the boat as I could.

Photos from the strait

These are a few photos that I didn't feel like posting on flickr.com.

Otters in Suisun Bay.  The photo sucks, but it isn't as bad as most of the wildlife photos I've shot from the kayak.  I have some really lousy pictures of sea lions, a harbor seal, a big group of pelicans, and a few ospreys.

The Eckley wharves

The Mount Fisher at the C&H dock

BTW:  I lost my glasses in the Carquinez Strait near Dillon Point (at the Benicia State Recreation Area) a few days ago.  They had (or should have had) a neoprene strap that might keep them afloat, so they could turn up in Southhampton Bay, Benicia, Glen Cove, Crockett, Port Costa, Mare Island, the Farallons...let me know if you find them.

And:
I found an A's cap in the Strait; let me know if you lost one.

Kayak camping on the delta, and boat-in campsite maps

I've started making a Google map of places to camp in and around the Sacramento--San Joaquin River delta.  The object is to make it easier to plan a multi-day paddling trip thru the delta or down the Sacto River, and like that.  So far I've plotted about four dozen potential campsites (both public and private), but I still have to verify most of them.  Since it seems likely that some have gone out of business, are closed or offer limited services because of budget cuts (e.g. Brannan Island), have stopped catering to the non-RV crowd, or are too far from the water for portage, etc., I suppose the list will become shorter.

Cropped screen capture.  This is the link to the actual map.

The map also includes a few marinas, wrecks, places to stop for a break, grocery and convenience stores, bait shops, and other places that might be of interest to me, and maybe to you.  I haven't included "stealth" campsites--yet--because I don't know where any are, and, of course, I don't want to encourage irresponsible paddlers to camp there.  If you know of a stealth site on the map, let me know (maybe using Google map coordinates) so that I'll be able to warn campers away from them.

A few of the spots ones listed were swiped from Dan Arbuckle's Google map at his Delta Dreamer blog.
To make up for that I'll include a link to Headwaters Kayaks, his shop in Lodi.

Let me know if you can't access the map, or if the icons don't show up, or if I've got some things wrong.  And please let me know if it's useful.

There's a second map for boat-in campsites of northern California.
This one is even less complete than the other map, but it may be of use to someone.

Boat-in campsites

Various delta-bay-kayak-paddling-whatever links:
Petaluma Paddlers
BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers)
A Sac Bee article about a project to photograph all of the Sacramento River
Nautical charts for the bay and delta areas --the links you want will be about half-way down the page
The new location for the SF Bay area wind map
Kayak Fishing Magazine's California resource list

Some local paddler's Meetup groups:

the Lodi Paddle Club
Northern California Kayaks - Suisun City
Sacramento Paddle Pushers
Sacramento Sea Kayakers
I'll add more meetups, yahoo groups, etc., if there is any interest.

More rejects

I don't know who wants to look at lousy photos, but here are some more.

A sea lion popped up a couple of yards from the kayak, and almost gave me a few opportunities to get its picture.  This one is the least wretched of the shots that I managed to get.

Good ol' Golden Bear.  The sky and the bridge aren't overexposed (as they so often are), but the ship is bright enough to be seen from space, and the Casio can't handle it.

Not such a lousy photo.  I think I threw this one out because I had a very similar shot that I liked more.

My hand is in focus, and the sky looks good, and everything else sucks.  What was this supposed to be a picture of?

Kayak shots from the recycle bin

Most of the shots I take from the kayak are crappy.  The most usual problem is overexposure, because the exposure compensation on my old compact camera has to be adjusted for almost every shot that has the sky in it.  Problems handling the camera in the waterproof bag cause framing and other problems.  Sometimes the shot would have been junk anyhow, but I'd rather blame the camera than myself.

The waterproof bag's lens cap thing needs to be held open.  The wooden structure is identified as "dike 14" on the NOAA charts.

I guess I need a brighter flash.

Framing and focus problems.

Overexposed.

Water spots on the bag, and an edge of the part of the bag meant for the lens is showing.

A bit overexposed.

Out of focus, overexposed sky.  This was a blind shot, so I guess I'm lucky I got anything at all.

Overexposed.

I can't remember why I put this in the recycle bin.  It seems like a decent image in spite of its problems.

The casio has a special feature called "digital zoom" that it uses to ruin images.  Digital zoom is very easily activated by mistake.  Digital zoom really, really sucks.

This is from the one time that I saw a harbor seal in the strait.  I got a couple of other pictures of it, but they weren't as good as this one.

I don't know why I threw this one out.

Almost every picture I took of the Peace Lucky was overexposed, like this one is.

Overexposed.  It might have been an interesting anyway if I had been able to zoom in more.

Has glare from the camera bag.

Nothing's in focus.  What was the stupid camera looking at?

Various photos from the Carquinez Strait

Glen Cove, not shot from the kayak

 These are from-the-kayak photos (except the Glen Cove shot) that I didn't like enough to post on flickr.

I think this is part of a sunken boat near the Crockett marina

Crockett marina and the south end of the bridges

A ship at the C&H dock

Downstream from the bridges

Crockett

At the second oil terminal west of the bridges

Approaching the Crockett marina

Looking upstream from near Glen Cove - it's not all tankers, C&H, and bridges

More Eckley pics

The pier again; these are the images that weren't posted on flickr.

Eckley pier

Waitin' for a train.  The stupid train actually stopped for several minutes, blocking the crossing, and it took so long to pass Eckley that two Amtrak trains passed it while I was waiting.

Kayak on the cart at the crossing

I saw other kayaks at Eckley for the first time.  I didn't get a chance to ask if they were locals or not.

Near the abandoned oil terminal upstream from Port Costa

Wharf bones near the pier

Stopped near Port Costa

Shots from the kayak on the Carquinez Strait

I've been bringing my old compact digital camera in a plastic bag when I go paddling on the strait, and sometimes the pictures aren't completely ruined by glare or water on the plastic.  (There are more shots of the area taken with the Pentax in my flickr photostream.)


The south shore on the Carquinez Strait has the remains of old wharves from Port Costa to the C&H property in Crockett.  There are hundreds of pilings, like these:

Wharf bones

More wharf skeletons

The Eckley slalom course

Eckley ruins

C&H is downstream from the wharf skeletons.  Sometimes there's a ship at their dock (this one is the Moku Pahu), but I think the view's interesting whether there is or not.

The Moku Pahu at C&H

The Moku Pahu, with the Carquinez bridges in the background

The kayak Kayak and the Moku Pahu

Port Costa is upstream.  There's a sometimes-shady beach that makes an ideal place to pull out and look for camera batteries, provided there's aren't a bunch of people fishing there.  (You morning people may have to do without shade).  That's Mt. Diablo in the background.

Port Costa shore

These last two weren't shot from the kayak - I'll let you guess why.