Location, Location, Location - Fort Bragg, CA

I started this blog not long after I moved to Northern California from Southern California. More specifically, I moved from Los Angeles to Folsom. I learned to kayak when I was down in L.A. It's actually a great place to learn how to paddle. I started in the ocean, enjoying the relatively calm and warm waters. I learned to love sea caves out on the Channel Islands - I also learned to love long distance paddling to get out to them. I also got into surf kayaking going regularly to Topanga Canyon. I started kayak polo through my affiliation with UCLA and that also lead to whitewater kayaking on the Kern River. Lots of great places to paddle.

When I moved to Folsom it was for a job running a kayak program for California Canoe & Kayak. The store is in a Sacramento suburb and I taught flat water paddling on Lake Natoma just minutes from my house. Our whitewater program is on the South Fork American River about 20 miles away in Coloma - the center of the whitewater world in California. I was also plugged into the ocean, teaching ACA courses down in Half Moon Bay and often paddling out the Golden Gate or playing in San Francisco Bay. Once again, lots of great places to paddle. But still a little ways away.

I have just recently moved to Fort Bragg. For those who don't know California geography, it's on the coast a few hours north of San Francisco. It's the Mendocino coast. It's sea kayaking heaven. It has the most beautiful coastline with everything you could want. Sea caves, rock gardens, pourovers, protected bays, world class surf, tidal river mouths - it's all here. Right here. Within fifteen minutes here.

I've paddled in the area before and it was always one of my favorite spots to visit. Now that I live here I am looking forward to exploring it on a level that you can only get by spending serious time. I have years of poking my boat into every nook and cranny, finding the best waves and soaking up the beauty of the redwoods. My good friends Jeff and Cate are now my neighbors and I expect that I'll have plenty of folks looking to stop by for a visit (and paddle).

The irony is that in the short term I have lots of pre-made plans on the weekends that are taking me away from my new home in the short term. But now I can go out any day - over lunch, after work, dawn patrol. And I'll keep filming and taking pictures and sharing it on this blog. After all, it's still California and I'm still paddling.