This date was picked for obvious reasons; Boo!
We finish the 2026 meetings with a favorite place: Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor on Saturday October 31 at 10 a.m.
Members and non-members are welcome.
Hopefully the Skills Clinic 2026 grads will be in attendance and show off some slides of their experiences, including their last day of towing practice (thanks Tom and Jonathan) which only an hour later became real with 20-25kt winds and multiple tows. Obviously the SC Coordinators (Margot, Jim, Dennis, and Debbie) arranged for a challenge to finish off the SC and the students met the challenge with honors!
Then we'll take time to acknowledge the efforts of Skills Clinic instructors who have taught in the SC for many years. This year's volunteer signup had 50 members wanting to participate, a 25% increase from previous years' volunteer count. Most of you have contributed to BASK in various ways and it so appreciated. This month will focus on those who have volunteered year after year.
For October we'll hear accounts of three self-supported kayak trips by BASK paddlers in the Pacific Northwest this July and August. They'll share the challenges and rewards of paddling the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. Since this in an in-person meeting, you'll have a chance to meet with the presenters at lunch afterwards to learn how you could follow in their paddle strokes.
1. Stuart Cook: Paddling in the Kodiak Archipelago
Stuart will talk about an 18-day expedition with fellow BASKers Franca Cioria and Gwenn Bezard through the Kodiak Archipelago in south central Alaska. He'll discuss the hows and whys of kayaking in Kodiak, including logistics, weather issues, and dealing with Kodiak’s largest denizens. He'll also present a unique perspective on expedition dynamics.
Stuart has been kayaking for over 40 years. While he enjoys surfing, rock gardening, and Bay paddles, his first love is expeditions to remote areas. After a long “real job” hiatus, in recent years he’s paddled in Baja, the Channel Islands, Vancouver Island, and Alaska’s Kenai peninsula.
2. Jonathan Luskin: Paddling in British Columbia - An outside passage on the trail of Sasquatch
Jonathan paddled with fellow BASKers Ellen Simms and Tom Colton for 18 days through the outer islands of the BC coast, 160 miles North of Vancouver Island.
Jonathan Luskin has been a member of BASK since 2006 and has paddled expeditions in Alaska, Norway, Sweden, and Haida Gwaii.
3. Katrin Tomanek: Paddling Washington's Olympic Coast
Kat teamed up with BASKer Ken Sund of Oregon and former BASKer Eli Countrywood of Washington on a 4-day trip to explore the incredible coastline of the Olympic Peninsula. This stretch of coastline is absolutely stunning with beautiful beaches, sea stacks, caves, otter floats, and offshore islands.
They had some serious fog to deal with, making their landings and navigation onto shore sometimes a bit exciting, but for lunchtime the sun magically always came out for about an hour or so...
Kat loves adventuring, these days preferably by bike, kayak, or public transportation--ideally combining all of those. She tends to go on long solo trips, but has been recently exploring a more social approach to adventures and so far quite loving it 🙂
Of course post-meeting your monster of an appetite needs to be tamed. We'll have a hosted lunch BUT you are called upon to enter the "best cornbread" contest, with the winners receiving a coveted BASK apron. Start your ovens!
And of course you were wondering...are we acknowledging the date? Certainly if you show up in a mask (or costume) you might win a glorious prize! If not, there will be another opportunity to win a BASK apron with your amazing corn bread contribution to the catered chili lunch after the meeting.
Point San Pablo Harbor Clubhouse
1900 Stenmark Drive
Richmond, CA 94801
