The North Coast Series
400 miles in 40 days
Putting Together a Paddling Team
For an expedition of this type, a team must be small enough to stay nimble, flexible and easy to supply.
Gentle Waves Christen a Peaceful Launch
So for our last supper – in the embrace of civilization – we tucked into Thai food at a Crescent City restaurant on Monday evening.
Tale of the Tolowa
Prince Island, just north of the Smith River, was a final refuge for the Tolowa as they sought to survive massacres inflicted by settlers eager to seize the land.
Organic by the Ocean
On our first day, we first touched shore in California in the sumptuous Smith River estuary, after a peaceful five-mile paddle down from Oregon’s Winchuck River on Tuesday.
Breaking the Waves
Surrounded by fog and wary of the rough waters near shore, the three kayakers head farther out to sea — and encounter birds, dolphins and big swells before Crescent City
Port’s Identity Crisis
After our long, cold paddle to Crescent City on Wednesday, we beached our kayaks on Whaler Islander at the breakwater.
Wreck of the SS Brother Jonathan
She was a fancy side-wheel steamer, a hybrid assisted by a square-rigged sails on two masts.
Kayaking: A Pounding At The Bar
The gale blew itself out by midnight Friday, though we could still hear rain spatter on the roof of the steel building on Whaler Island where we’d taken refuge.
Ancestral Home of the Yurok Nation
When we came in from the sea Saturday afternoon, after a seven-hour paddle from Crescent City, we aimed for a beach by a tall rock near the Klamath River bar.
A Forest Primeval
As we paddled out over the Klamath River bar, and turned our course south to head away from the Yurok village at Requa we saw hillsides swathed in Sitka spruce
In the Sea Lions’ Lair
Our launch off Hidden Beach was a study in patience.
Our First Paddle Marathon
A half-day spent performing any sport is a bit much.
Discovering the Secret of Humboldt Bay
If your goal is performing coastal exploration, a classic square-rigged sailing ship constitutes rather a blunt instrument.
Surfin’ on Radio Waves
Unlike original adventurers and explorers on the North Coast, I arrived bolstered by the aid of a few excellent electronic devices, which I’m not embarrassed to admit.
Robust Resilience of the Wiyot Tribe
When you go to a place and want to truly understand, it’s good to speak with folks who’ve been living there for quite a while.
Out Into a Wet Wilderness
A notion of the “will of heaven” is extremely useful.
Salvaging a Salmon Stream
My original plan, after rounding the rhino horn of Cape Mendocino, called for making landfall at the mouth of the Mattole River.
Seeing Hard Sea Miles, Plus a Shark
Let’s stipulate that predicting weather on the North Coast during autumn can be a thankless task, even for highly trained meteorologists.
A Peaceful Town’s Turbulent Past
A mesa pokes out from the west side of the Coast Range like an end table shoved up against the rumpled heap of all those steep coastal ridges.
Gateway to Another Wild Zone
Heard enough stuff about nasty wind and thundering surf? We certainly had heard about – as well as endured – a bit much of those forces, ourselves. Then, good ol’ Mom Nature pitched us a change-up.
Devastation vs. Preservation
California boasts far more than one Lost Coast.
Losing the Lost Coast
Navigation does not deal in absolutes. It always must include some accommodation, a bit of adjustment.
Beating Downwind to Fort Bragg
Like a DUI driver jugged in the tank, we always appreciate getting some small chance to dry out.
Harvests of a Harbor Town
When three major timber companies all yanked up stakes and fled Northern California, they left behind the sprawling, scrofulous fuzz of logged-over timber land, debris-clogged streams, idle lumber mills, idle loggers and idle mill-workers.
Village by the Sea
Dark and early at 6 a.m., John Weed and I rolled from our sleeping bags in the waterfront shack of the Lost Coast Rowing Club that had provided us with a welcome refuge.
My Special Source of Mission Support
It’s been said that behind every successful man is a great woman.
Explore Every Charmed Nook and Cranny
Napoleon opined, “An army travels on its stomach.”
A Bright Light in Point Arena
Poseidon had now blessed us with two sweet, easy days.
Please Lend a Hand, or Get Out of Our Way
Some people wander into the magnificent landscape of the North Coast as trust-fund vagabonds, some purposefully drive up as leisure-seekers fueled by bulging retirement accounts, a few are billionaires who choose to slum in the countryside.
