Late season Cove run with Ralph.

With big swells and a few more inches of rain coming soon, my hope was that last Friday would be the calm before the storm. Ralph was coming from past Sacramento to meet me at Shelter Cove for his first offshore kayak fishing trip. Launch looked good at sunrise, and there were even a few powerboats heading out, but the fog was really thick and the ocean wasn't exactly calm.

We got outside and started trolling right away - we'd head SSE toward the Bell and work those pinnacles. Navigating in thick fog is on my list of exhilarating activities for sure, but throw some strong SE to NW current in there and it gets interesting... I like to use my compass and only look at the GPS if I have to. Soon I could hear the Whistle but not the Bell - it was time to look at the GPS. The current already had us around the corner in front of the lighthouse!

Within an hour or two the fog cleared and we could navigate by landmarks, and we basically spent the whole morning trolling against the current. Whenever we'd catch a lingcod (all that was biting!) we'd be down current again, but at least we were catching some fish.

Ralph did great with a less than perfect ocean - I was glad I asked him to take some Dramamine. Although he's in good shape and runs often, the seat and leg situation in the X-Factor wasn't agreeing with his back, so we headed for the barn around noon, content with a strong outing for his inaugural paddle on Big Blue.
 
Thanks, Ralph, for making the trip. I hope to paddle with you again - or peddle, if that's what you end up deciding on~

Thanks for the report and pictures Eric.  I really miss Shelter Cove!

Glad to see someone out there. Nice post as always.

Nice report Eric. Man winter reports just aren't exciting as summer ones. I'll take what ever porn i can get.