I figured some of you guys might get a kick out of this. I just went through a three day IRB training course in Marin with lifeguards from Stinson Beach, China Beach, and Ocean Beach, rangers from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and some of the guys from the dive team at South Marin FD.
They had us swimming into caves at and near Bird Island, swimming into and out of a cove with a narrow opening that makes the waves jack up on the way in, climbing rocks, climbing the lighthouse at Mile Rock, swimming through the arch out past the cliff house at OB, climbing onto marine nav buoys, practicing running up next to a CG 47 from Fort Baker while under way to transfer people in and out, practicing body recovery from the bottom of the cliffs along the Marin headlands, launching and beaching the IRBs, running them around inside the surf line… fun stuff! I was busy not getting killed during a lot of the cave swimming and shore work, so I don’t have pics of that stuff, but I did get some pics of the rest of it.
Serious fun! That looks like a very demanding course. I was a “ships swimmer” (pu$$y training to what you just did)on a FF Class (with Helo onboard) in the 80’s. Never had one go down thank God, so we never got to rescue anything but test torpedo’s. The training you just went thorugh would have been a blast (20 years ago!!)
Similar story for me, search and rescue off a navy ship, where the only fun part was jumping off of oil tankers in the gulf when no one was looking, and trying to ramp the rigid hull boat off of the biggest waves we could. broke the motor mounts when we landed in the trough on one. and rescueing test torpedos. thanks for sharing.
Right on, Patrick, glad you enjoyed my part of the world I’ve done a lot of swiftwater stuff & taught it to the county FD many years ago along with ropes & heavy rescue…but never the ocean stuff.
If you ever want to hook up with Shawn Alladio for a K38 day (jetskis at Mavs) pm me and I’ll send you her phone #. You’re more than qualified.
The sandbar just out of the frame to the left of this shot
is working really well right now. Some heavy tide changes laid down a lot of sand along that little jetty at the edge of the channel. Spent a couple hours on it yesterday in beautiful sunshine (after rain on Tuesday & before rain again today).
But the bars here
are pretty much wrecked right now - that beach is a 1.25 mile wide closeout (as usual). Needs the offshores of late winter & some mellower tides before it’ll be back.
I’ve got some shots on my other computer of Rodeo B going off - PM me later this evening if you want a couple.
Okay Benny, you clearly know the area. But do you know where this cave is? I’ll give you a hint. It’s south of the lousy break and north of Rodeo. Ever hiked up to Alamere? It’s an easy path from the south, and there are two other ways in that I haven’t tried, but it’s about 6 miles from anywhere you can park a car. Very cool sights, and totally worth the time.
We surfed the Zodiac on a wave a little west of the reef, which was a blast. Clearly, we need to haul a board out there and do some tow-in surfing.
Sure, Alamere is a great hike. I usually park in the smaller parking lot from the end one, and go down the trail to the coast. The trail lost a section in a big slide a decade ago, but its passable. Hard with a longboard, easier with something smaller. At the bottom of the trail is a nice cove with a point on the right side. A wave develops right in the middle of the cove with north swells, but not so steep north that Pt.Reyes blocks em. Looking down from the top, you might see this back down to the south, but I’m talking about a cove to the north a bit…
If you have a double-low-tide day, you can go around that point to the next cove called D____ Point. Some of my favorite days surfing have been there - its between the cove the trail is named for & Alamere. Its almost as far as Alamere, but along the coast…a zodiac would be perfect
Camping at Wildcat Beach is also an option, but then you’re walking south. That’s a great bike-in campsite: about 6 miles each way in & out, from sea level on both sides & up & over a 2200 foot hill Fun ride.
I’ve seen your cave from a sea kayak, but never been inside. I know guys who paddle river kayaks into it. They have facemasks on their helmets I used to raft with some of them…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami_Rangers
I’ve done a lot of swiftwater stuff & taught it to the county FD many years ago along with ropes & heavy rescue…but never the ocean stuff.
