The last moments of the Casio QV-R51

The Casio point-n-shoot camera that I use when kayaking seems to have kicked the bucket.  Although I'm hoping that it's comatose rather than dead, I'm assuming it's the latter.  I have yet to perform the examination\autopsy that will make the final determination.

New and old bay bridges, and a kayak

I took the kayak and the Casio to Crissy Field in San Francisco for the Blue Angel's practice show (for Fleet Week 2011).  The Casio was a bit blurry-eyed, but responsive, on the way there, and took the usual photos of the bay bridge(s).

The Snowbirds demonstration team

Once on the water, the Casio began to show signs of disorientation, and increasingly blurred vision.

St. Francis Yacht Club

The wave organ

The Casio seemed to rally at the Wave Organ jetty, taking several blurry-but-almost-adequate pictures.

The Lemming Club's annual event

The last communication from the QV-R51

This photo of the USAF F-15 Strike Eagle (the gray spot in the sky) was the last image from the Casio QV-R51.  It's long and largely successful career ended to the sound of waves against the sides of the kayak, and of the F-15 blasting gently overhead, on the peaceful waters of the San Francisco Bay, free from it's waterproof plastic bag, looking wistfully at the clear blue sky, and perhaps thinking of its far-away homeland.

That's assuming it's dead, of course.

Potential kayak put-ins on San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay

I've been trying to figure out where I could launch a kayak in Western Contra Costa County. The following is a short list of the places that I might try.

Lone Tree Point

Rodeo, Lone Tree Point

there is a small regional park on the San Pablo Bay shore here with a small sandy beach. There is room for several cars to park by the park entrance. There's an outhouse and running water, and that's it for facilities.

The beach remains sandy when the tide is out, and I think the water is still deep enough to allow launching.

I've seen someone launch a kayak here; he uses a dolly to get his boat to the beach, maybe from the neighborhood adjacent to the park.

Lone Tree Point photos: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=lone%20tree&w=24215152%40N04

The Rodeo marina

The Rodeo marina

The Rodeo marina seems to be silted in, and impassible at low tide. You might just as well launch at Lone Tree Point.

Rodeo, a bit north of the marina

There is small piece of regional park land, with parking for three or four cars, and another small sand beach. I've seen someone windsurfing here, but I don't know if it's passable when the tide's out. There are no facilities.

Low tide at the mouth of Pinole Creek

Pinole, Bayfront Park

Bayfront park is (I think) a city park surrounded by regional park land, on the east shore of San Pablo Bay. There's a sandy beach when the tide's in, and a whole lot of mud when the tide's out.

Bayfront Park beach at low tide

Pinole Creek at high tide

There is a crumbling boat launching ramp on Pinole Creek at the north end of the park, and it might be usable when the tide is in. Where the creek joins the bay there is a gravely-rocky beach that might be usable in a pinch. A bit to the north of the park, there is a sandy beach across the tracks from a residential block, and like the rest of the area it's probably too shallow to be usable when the tide's out.

The Albany Bulb beach

Albany, the Albany Bulb beach

At the north-west corner of the Golden Gate Fields lot there is a beach that's popular with dog-walkers and kitesurfers. It seems like it should be usable when the tide's out, and it might be somewhat sheltered from the chop that comes with the afternoon wind. There's plenty of room to park, and I think it has an outhouse and a water tap.