March 31, 2002

Scouting the Tanesashi Coast (from the sea)

8.4 miles

Awake at 5:30, but I couldn't get out of the house till 6:30. There was little traffic till I got to the 1 and a half lane streets of Hachinohe. Part chicken and part Russian Roulette, the goal appears to be you should aim to clip side view mirrors, and at the last moment swerve ever so slightly to just miss. Trucks on the other hand, play a different game as they sometimes wonder completely into your lane before drifting back to the other side of the road.

In the small back roads of Hachinoe near the port, there were a lot of people out. Mostly old women carrying bundles of flowers. The police were out directing traffic and the streets were jammed to the point I was afraid I was going to hit someone.

My GPS had carried me to this point. Using a track I had previously recorded last weekend, I was navigating with 21st century precision. I was looking at the map screen of my Garmin GPS III+ pondering how I would have ever found my way back without this modern technological wonder. When I looked up to the road again I had to stop because I had come to the end of a dead end road. My GPS track kept going.

I was lost.

I looked to my right and I could see the road I was supposed to be on. It was a mere stone's throw away, but I would have to back track a mile or so to find a road that cut over to it.

As I drove along the coast the surf appeared much larger than last weekend. At the north end of the swimmer's beach the waves looked a little too large so I drove down to the south end thinking I could take advantage of the break walls. I parked as close as I could, and after installing the float bags and sea sock I carried the kayak down to the southern most part of this crescent shaped beach. The surf here was small, and after one more trip to the car for my gear I was ready to launch.

Waiting for the last of the large set of waves I pushed off and made it through the surf with little more than a bit of water over my front bow.

I turned north after heading out a good distance from shore to not be surprised by an occasional wave breaking across hidden rocks. The coast was rocky, and I kept drifting out further from shore to not get caught in the nasty waves breaking hard against the shore.

Before long the coast became more man-made as I neared the port of Hachinohe. Just before the port was a Temple high up on a hill overlooking the water. I rounded the point here staying well off shore because of the submerged rocks occasionally causing waves to rise up and break seemingly for no reason at all. Once around the bend I took a closer shot of the Temple. The little white dots were seagulls and as I put the camera away I wondered if it was good or bad luck to be shat on when going to the temple to pray. I already know the answer to that question.

I entered the edge of the port and worked my way around only a short distance. Then after exploring a side slip full of small boats, I headed out for one last look at the port and rounded the corner to snap one more picture of the Temple.

On the return trip I stayed in closer to shore. Feeling the swells rise up under me and the sound reverberate as they crashed onto the rocky shore. One last picture and I got serious about paddling back to the beach.

As I got closer to the north end of the beach the waves were huge. I could see green water on the back side of the waves and spray shooting tens of feet into the air. The swells were well spaced and broad out where I was. Based on a rock in front of me that appeared and disappeared with each passing swell I estimated them to be nearly 10 feet high from trough to crest out 100 yards from shore. I began to get nervous about my landing.

The tide had come in a bit, and as I neared the break walls for the swimmer's beach I could see the waves were easily crashing over them. As I turned towards shore I noticed I was catching the attention of quite a few people who came out to walk and sit along the beach. They were probably wondering, like me, how I was going to get in.

My nerves continued to build. These were some big waves. But for each 3-4 set of big nasties, there was a long lull with nothing much to worry about. Timing could be every thing. Heading for the southern edge of the beach, I found the waves just south of the last break wall to be small. I got in just outside the break zone and sat and watched. This was doable. People continued to gather.

After watching the last of a set of nasties crash over the break wall I started paddling in. Feeling the next wave begin to gently pick me up and carry me forward I paddled hard. This wave wasn't big enough to even break, and still it carried me a good ways up the shore. Hopping out and grabbing the bow to pull the kayak on shore I imagined the people watching were commenting how skilled this kayaker must be to make things look so easy.

I carried the gear and boat up to the concrete sidewalk then hoofed it back to the car to get my cart. I was too sore from lack of paddling to carry the boat the 300 yards back. After loading up the car I sat down and had lunch, then started the long drive back to Misawa. Five minutes from home I caught site of the ocean again - off limits to military here.

Here is my GPS track log although I'm sure it is in error because everything north of that big bump is off limits to Military :)

Woody