Monday July 1, 2019 Fort Bragg CA.
Yakking the Noyo Harbor
The plan today was to drive up to Fort Bragg Ca. which is a couple hours driving and go to the South boat ramp on the Noyo River and yak for a few hours in the evening checking out the fishing boat area in the harbor.
Ramp put in
Here’s the boat ramp where I put my boat in the water around 3PM. The ocean was rough so not many fishermen putting in their small boats today.
From the ramp I paddled along here heading to the harbor area up ahead a quarter mile or so.
Just up ahead past those big trees and the harbor starts. Not much wind in here so it was nice.
I paddled along this fence. Lots of fishing boats parked on the other side I’d check out on the way back.
Main harbor area
Here’s one of the main fishing boat fish receiving areas and Coast Guard Station in the main harbor.
I slowly made my way through the area checking things out. Not much fishing today as the ocean is rough and it’s Monday so some boats are going out but not much coming in yet.
Fast boat and looks a bit armored
This is a Fish and Game boarding boat parked here. Looks like that thing can get up and move.
Highway 1 bridge
There’s some restaurants on the right there and highway 1 bridge with the ocean on the other side of it.
There were a lot of seagulls and some harbor seals in the logs here as it’s a place a local fish receiver dumps their waste water and likely some fish parts. That harbor seal seems fairly tame eh.
This nice boat was parked at the restaurant for dinner and was from Florida.
Stay safe
I paddled out under the bridge and looked around and sat in my boat watching things then turned and started back. I never go out into the ocean as I don’t have to right clothes for that as a wet suit or dry suit is needed for safety. Stay in the river and things stay safe.
This grebe paddled on by me as I paddled along.
I left the main harbor area and headed to another boat parking area.just up ahead and around the corner to the left.
Boat parking area
I went by this other fishing boat park area on the way down so I veered into this area to have a look see.
Heading on into the fish boat parking area along these logs.
I’m headed into those parked boats up ahead to have a look around.
This is one of the larger fishing boats. It lets out a big net it pulls in on a big spool on the back.
You can see the net wrapped up on the spool in this photo. 
Back to the boat ramp
I checked out all the boats and then headed on up the river back to the boat ramp over there.
Enjoying the evening
I pulled my boat out of the water than parked the old van along side of the water and made some coffee and sat and enjoyed the evening on the harbor for a bit.
He looks like a bum but isn’t
While I was sitting there an old bum came by and said nice van. You can’t tell people by looking at them. Turned out he wasn’t a bum, but an old guy that was a local and had had a stroke not long ago. He’d started fishing here when he was 15. We shot the bull until one of his buddies came by and he took off.
Night spot at Russian Gulch
I needed a place to park the van for the night so I drove south about a half hour to a place called Russian Gulch and was able to find a nice quiet spot for the night. You can just barely see the ocean out there and it’s a bit windy too, but still nice.
That was it for me today for a nice day on the Noyo River in the harbor.
Just read this post about a place where we have been too. We put in at the kayak rental place across the street from Casa Del Sol. We could check out the harbor and then go on up the river, and avoid the mob that was at the boat launch. The people there didn’t mind.
I was looking at that place last time I was there. But really the South launch ramp is never very busy as it is huge. I seem to avoid the parking fee of three bucks by going in the afternoon as they don’t seem to ticket to park late in the day, although three bucks isn’t much. One of the nicer rivers to yak up and back, not too long. Very scenic and I really love cruising around checking out the fishing boat action.