Washington Park to Friday Harbor Paddle

Our merry band of eight paddlers made the 21 mile paddle down Rosario Strait around the south end of Lopez Island through the turbulent Cattle Pass and up to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island in bright sunshine and favorable southerly winds. We hit the water at 8:30am and landed at our destination at 2:45pm. Took a hour long lunch break at Iceberg Point while the 4 knot flood built. We had a couple of folks practice their low braces ' for real ' but no swimmers today ! Also had one first timer for this long trip and she was very excited to have successfully added this trip to her paddling resume.

Danskin Triathlon Aug 2008

I joined a group of kayakers who provided support for the swim portion of the Danskin Triathlon. This year 5200 female athletes participated in this annual event held at Seattle's Genesee Park. I arrived at the site at 5 am to a rare Puget Sound thunder and lightning show. The wind kicked up a bit a half hour before the swim event started but all clamed down at the light of dawn. The athletes swim 880 yards, bike 12.4 miles and finish with a 3.1 mile run. This year's winner completed the race in 1 hour 2 minutes and 8 seconds ! The youngest racer was 11 year old and the most mature was 79 years old. 400 of the athletes are cancer survivors. It was a fun event and I look forward to helping out again in 2009.