Baja Kayakers,,,,Where are you??

Hola EseNADAslim

There are hundreds, if not thousands of Baja kayakers out there. You must have been out on one of those very rare days. Conception Bay in particular is full of kayaks, and the Baja shoreline from Mulege to Agua Verde is a regular paddle.

Enter Conception Bay area kayaks, stage right:

The first photo shows a friend kayaking with his cat, Feyo. This famous cat has made the front cover of Cat World a few times. A frequent visitor to my patio parties, he is now famous in Cat Heaven. The paddler here makes 3-4 trips a year kayaking from Coyote Bay to Agua Verde and the Tip.
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Felipa on her morning workout in the Bay. Usually an 12-mile route from the house to Ille Barga (Dead Dog Cove) to Santa Barbara to house.

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Bon voyage, senoritas!

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Most all residents of the Bay have kayaks at the ready. Today looks a mite rough, so will wait...

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A side benefit of kayaking the Bay is viewing marine habitat and billions of aquarium-size fishes...yes, billions.

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The world is our oyster! Make voyages! Attempt them! There is little else..

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"You wanted breakfast BEFORE we go kayaking?? Think cereal, boyo."

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Here's a group of NOLS kayakers rafting up...just south of Pt. Conception enroute south towards Loreto.

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A fun day in Paradise.

nancyinpdxx...

CANOEING AND KAYAKING:

The difference is that a canoe paddle has one blade and a kayak has two.

Open Canoe. These are the large boats you can fit two or three people in, and that you propel with a single bladed paddle. Generally you either sit on a bench-type seat, or kneel. We take lots of canoe trips thru Minnesota systems and Up North into Canada. You can generally pack more gear into a canoe...and people.

Kayaking, on the other hand, involves sitting down with your legs in front of you and using a two bladed paddle. There are also type of kayaks that are suitable for long distance trips. You will soon find which suits your style best.

There are many different types of kayak, most of which are designed for specific disciplines such as touring, river running, placid water, wild water racing, slalom, surfing, seakayaking, and some other specialties.
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The basic type of canoe is a very forgiving boat - you certainly don't get as wet as in a kayak - but it does require a little more skill to manuever it as a solo paddler. If you intend to paddle as a pair, or out with the family, this is certainly a very good option.

Although not as common as kayaks, there are specialist canoes for nearly all of the above mentioned uses. To the casual observer, the only noticeable difference is the type of paddle used. Decked canoes (as they are known) are, however, a lot more difficult to paddle, but they do have the edge when it comes to manuevarability. I used to have a canoe here in The Bay, but found the kayak best suits our needs.
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Take any of them out...you'll have a ball.

Hi Nancy,
Depending on where you live, you might be able to find a Kayak shop, or rental place and give it a try. Some Kayak Shops that sit on water fronts will sometimes even let you test-drive them. Yes there is a difference in the way you paddle a canoe vs. a Kayak and there is difference within the different types of Kayaks as well.

There's the Sit on top type, and they can be very stable and easy to get in and out of
Then in there are the Recreational type that you sit it, but have a very large opening, so they to can be a bit easy to get in and out of.
The closed Deck touring type can be a bit more complicated and would require some professional instructions on how to handle certain situations.

Our Kayaks have taken us to some beautiful areas all up and down the coast, from Washington, Big Sur, below Hover Dam, and of course Baja.

Nothing like paddling in the morning as the sun comes up. Heading to Playa Perla


Our Kayaks sitting on the white sands of Isla El Coyote


Have car and Kayaks on the Yakima's,,,,will travel!

Kayaks

Try a sit on top kayak that way if you do tip over you just fall off. Then you just climb back on a go.
It is vary hard to tip one over though. You almost have to do it on purpose. and if you do your just going for a swim until you climb back on.
I have an Ocaen Kayak Prowler its 15 1/2 ft long and can carry all my camping gear and fishing gear inside.
I fish off mine in the ocean and have paddled it many miles off shore. When I am going farther off shore then I can safely swim in from, I wear a PFD. I always have it with me when Im on the water. In the USA its manditory you carry a PFD on any boat/ kayak while in the ocean. You dont have to wear it but you have to have it with you. I wear mine.
Have fun

We always have our kayak with us in Baja. It's a 14 foot Hobie sit-on-top with 3 adjustable seat positions. 2 adults and a child in the middle - perfect for us, till the daughter gets bigger.

How hard is it to get back onto a sit-on-top kayak after it rolls over in deep water?

getting back on kayak

Its pretty easy I've never had a problem. Before you take it out in deep water go for a swim and practice climbing on the kayak. wear a PDF. If you go rent one most places will give you instructions on how to get back on.
While im fishing I usually turn sideways and hang both feet over the same side in the water. allows me easy access to the whole kayak. But again its vary hard to tip one over or fall off.

[Edited on 3-25-2009 by BajaDanD]

[Edited on 3-25-2009 by BajaDanD]

Cabo trip

Drove this rig all the way to Cabo then all over the east cape a few years back

BajaDan, this must have been at the beginning of your trip,,,,your car is way to clean, and your boats don't have the Dried Salt look to them yet. Where all did you paddle besides Cobo?
ya got a nice set up!

I LOVE kayaking Baja! I'll be kayak fishing Gonzaga Bay Memorial weekend. For those of you thinking about it, check out a kayak shop that's near water and they'll let you test paddle. OEX kayak shops are great because they carry kayaks of all makes. Although they focus on fishing kayaks they also have a selection of touring kayaks. Generally speaking, wider kayaks are more stable but track slower. While longer kayaks are faster you give up a little stability. All kayaks have their pros and cons you just have to pick the one that suits you. Here are some of my kayak pics...

Cabrilla caught outside of El Faro



Hogfish at Gonzaga




I'm that tiny spec in the ocean down there paddling back to Gonzaga from Punta Bufeo

self rescue

first day

Quote:

Originally posted by EnseNADAslim BajaDan, this must have been at the beginning of your trip,,,,your car is way to clean, and your boats don't have the Dried Salt look to them yet. Where all did you paddle besides Cobo? ya got a nice set up!

I believe that was BOLA in the backround we were on our way down and stopped there for the night didnt kayak there that trip. Kayaked south of La Paz Las Frailes, Cabo Pulmo and that area mostly. didnt kayak in Cabo at all couldnt get out of there fast enough. spent most of the time around East cape. The Halibut were caught at San Quintin on another trip. The Sheephead was caught at San Roque last month.
Paddled to Isla San Roque and back two days in row caught lots of Calico Bass and one Sheephead.
Maybe 2-3 miles to the Isla plus I did a big circle of the bay there at San Roque maybe 8-9 miles each day. Had to paddle into the wind comming back the first day. I was so tired I got dumped in the 2ft serf comming in.

This is a picture of Las Arenas light house south of La Paz our car still looks clean I cant figure that out. We had already been to Loreto, Mag Bay and La Paz

[Edited on 3-26-2009 by BajaDanD]

[Edited on 3-26-2009 by BajaDanD]

the bay here in mulege is pretty smooth today...

"mom" said they were getting snow in utah

notice no paddles
those hobie petal kayaks are sure "sweet"

Hobie kayaks

type to use

sit on top

I got what I got.