Spending 13 days in a kayak with your spouse could put a strain on any relationship, especially if you’re undertaking a 225-mile journey punctuated by gale-force winds and pounding rains in waters teeming with tankers.

But if any couple were suited for the task, it would surely be Liz Wilhelm and Dallas Smith, Point Reyes backpacking guides who met in a kayaking store, got engaged on a camping trip and recently started their own adventure company.

They are believed to be the first paddlers to circumnavigate the San Francisco Water Trail Network, a journey that took them through all nine Bay Area counties. They completed the trip last Thursday and were greeted by television crews and a welcoming party at the same bayside park in Pittsburg from which they had set off.

“Congratulations!” read a banner held by two Pittsburg officials, one of whom rang a cowbell as the couple guided their kayak ashore. They looked weather-worn but happy and vowed to undertake the journey again someday.

“We already have a list of where we want to come back to,” Liz told ABC7 News upon disembarking from their red tandem, which they launched into the bay on March 6.

“225 miles. 13 days. 3 bays. And just like that, we’re back!” they wrote on Instagram, where they posted updates each day of the trip. “From howling winds to glassy water, sea lion escorts, and stunning sunrises, this trip had everything.”

Aside from a sense of personal accomplishment, the couple reaped a publicity bonanza for the Point Reyes Adventure Company, the venture they started last year after working for 15 years at Blue Waters Kayaking. The outfit specializes in kayaking adventures on Tomales Bay and backpacking trips around the Point Reyes National Seashore.

The pair worked hard to earn their 15 minutes of fame, paddling around the San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun Bays, covering 20 miles a day through some very strong currents and some very low tides. Halfway through the trip, with the forecast calling for 50-mile-per-hour winds, they took a day off, but they stuck to their schedule on another day when the gusts turned nearly as blustery.

That was Sunday, March 16, the morning they paddled beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. They got an early start and watched a glorious sunrise.

“We were the only vessel out there, which, in a major port of call on the West Coast, felt surreal,” Liz told the Light.

“The morning was beautiful,” Dallas added. “But once we got to the other side, the winds really picked up, and we had a max flood tide paired with 35-mile-an-hour southerly winds, and it made for some very spicy conditions.”

They cut their paddle short that day, stopping after just 13 miles. On another day, while traversing the South Bay and paddling into headwinds, the tide got so low—just inches deep—that they had to pause until the waters rose again.

Wherever they could, they pitched their tent and spent the night in campgrounds. But on other stops, they slept at friends’ houses, hostels or inexpensive hotels. They stashed their 19-foot Looksha T kayak at marinas and boathouses along the way. The idea was to create an itinerary that other people could replicate.

The couple had packed the vessel to bursting, cramming every available millimeter with food, gear and clothing. They prepared their own breakfasts and lunches but enjoyed no-frills dinners at eateries along the way.

The San Francisco Bay Water Trail is a loosely connected network of launching and landing sites that allows kayakers, canoers and paddleboarders—anyone in a non-motorized vessel—to explore the area safely. The concept began percolating in the early 2000s, and the California legislature formalized the initiative with the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail Act in 2005.

With some 50 access points, the trail is still something of a work in progress. The vision is to incorporate over 100 existing marinas and waterfront parks into the network. Liz and Dallas are hoping the attention they generated will nudge the project closer toward that goal.

Between them, the couple has 35 years of guide experience. They met 15 years ago, when Liz, 38, took an internship at Blue Waters Kayaking, where Dallas, 39, had recently begun working. 

They quickly realized that they had been in many of the same far-flung places at nearly the same times, including Miami; Lake Tahoe; Charleston, South Carolina; and Athens, Ohio, where Liz went to college. 

They sensed a whiff of destiny. “The universe had tried to get us together a few times,” Dallas said.

In fact, his father had once suggested he pay a visit to Athens in search of romance. 

“He told me, ‘There are so many hippies down here, you’d love it. You should come down and find your wife,” Dallas said.

They got engaged after kayaking to Marshall Beach, one of their favorite camping spots, and married on Limantour Beach with nothing more than an officiant, a witness and a bottle of mead. They got whale tail tattoos on their ring fingers as an alternative to wedding bands. The inspiration came on a hike near Limantour, when a pod of some 50 whales swam by.

At first, they’d only planned on a domestic partnership. Marriage didn’t seem the right option unless all their LGBTQ friends could choose it, too. 

“We were like, f— that,” Liz said. “We’re not getting married either.”

“Inclusivity was a big part of it,” Dallas added. “It was our way of bucking the system.”

Inclusivity is a focus of their business, too. They partner with as many local businesses as they can, featuring their offerings on a Savor Point Reyes tour. Environmental Travel Companions, a San Francisco organization, helps them make their outdoor adventures accessible to people with disabilities. 

One of their favorite partnerships is with the Alliance for Felix Cove, a group that advocates for the protection, restoration and re-matriation of the last Coast Miwok homestead in the Point Reyes National Seashore. 

Theresa Harlan, the nonprofit’s founder, hired the company to organize a camping trip last fall for a youth group from the Indigenous Healing Center in Novato. They camped at Marshall Beach, on the same cove where Ms. Harlan’s adoptive Támal-ko ancestors lived for generations. 

The teens were nervous about kayaking at first but quickly came to feel at ease, even paddling in the dark. 

“Liz and Dallas are very experienced in helping people to feel safe and comfortable,” Ms. Harlan said. “The nightscape was incredible. Do you look at the bioluminescence in the bay or up at the Milky Way?”

In addition to kayaking excursions in Tomales Bay and Drakes Estero, the couple leads backpacking adventures elsewhere in the park and rents an array of camping gear, preferably produced by employee-owned companies.

They’ve invested all their money and heart into the venture. 

A friend of theirs named Lizard once said: “Those guys are betting everything they have on themselves. I’d bet on them, too.”

For information about their tours, go to https://pointreyesadventureco.com