BP Seattle Kayaker

A Winter Paddle 2011

2012-01-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Pictures are of a 10,000 years old 'rock' fish, dawn over Echo Bay and Dought Pt...

the plan.....
Up and out the door way before dawn, on the road by 5:30 am,
take the 7:35 Anacortes to Orcas Island ferry, head right to North Beach,
launch by 9:05am......
Land at Fox Cove, set up camp, back in the kayaks for a
paddle around Sucia Island.
Day 2: Paddle over to and around Patos Island, hike to the
light house, then return to Sucia..
Day 3: Break camp and head back to North Beach.

the trip report.....
Up and out the door way before dawn, on the road by 5:30 am caught the 7:35am to Orcas. Met up with our friends from Body,Boat,Blade strolled over to one of East Sounds premiere breakfast joints, following a leisurely breakfast we head to North Beach. Boats are packed and we are on our way to Fox Cove by 11:00am. The weather forecast suggests a strong front with high winds will be passing over the islands tonight, as we launch it is a very pleasant day for a paddle. We arrive at Fox Cove, pitch our tents and are back in the boats by 12:30 pm for a trip around the colorful sandstone features of this unique island right in our back yard.
The currents are lively today and either pull against the boats or push us along. Lots of wintering seabirds along the way as well as the usual large number of eagles soaring overhead. As we passed along/under the steep overhanging walls along the northwest side of the island a large chunk of rock gave way crashing into the water WAY too close to us for comfort.. That would
have left a mark!!
As we passed around the east end of Ewing Island we floated by six very large male California sea lions sacked out on the rocks, probably a group of bachelor's waiting for the ladies to return in the spring time.
Landing back in Fossil Bay we call it a day. It's almost dark by 4:30pm so we have just enough day light to line up our gourmet MRE dinners before the night falls. The south south west wind is very noticeable high in the trees on the south side of the bay, situated where we set up our
camp we should be fine when it really gets windy late tonight.
Day 2: Up at the crack of dawn 8:00am and the wind is still howling out of the south southwest, weatherman is saying the winds will subside then pick up again late in the afternoon as a second strong front passes thru the area. The plan to paddle to Patos is deferred until next spring. We break camp, pack our boats and head out into the abyss, well actually the winds are starting to swing around to a more easterly direction and the white caps are easing..
We set our sights on Doughty Point which is about 5 miles away. Only boat traffic this morning are a couple of fishing boats and a coast guard cutter. The wind has almost died down to a breeze and minimal waves to paddle in this morning. We land at Doughty Point and get out for a walk around this park which is only accessible via water craft and has dramatic views all the
way to Canada. Back in our boats we head the mile and a half back to North Beach and the end of another beautiful winter paddle in the Salish Sea. Total miles paddled about 15. Things to remember, the water is shut off for the winter on Sucia. Wildlife seen: loads of eagles, oyster
catchers, seals, the very rare Canadian geese, sea lions, several species of gulls, porpoise, harlequin ducks, and of wintering birds galore.

2012 Race for Your Life

2012-01-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful winter 45 degree January 7th 2012 with little breeze under overcast skies in Seattle for the Third Annual New Year's Challenge. This year as last, there were well 120 competitors out to compete against outrigger canoes, surf skis, kayaks, standup paddle boards, dragon boats, rowing shells, and many other human powered crafts.
I finished in the blinding speed of 81 minutes which was a couple of minutes faster than last year.. ...Lot's of fun, a vigorous workout with a great meal shared by all at the finish line...

New Year Challenge "Race for Your Life"

2011-01-12T09:42:00.000-08:00

A sunny beautiful day for a paddle powered race in the Puget Sound area. Race started at Gas Works park then headed past U Dub on the Montlake Cut and ended at Sand Point on Lake Washington.

Lot's of unique water craft, from 4,000 lbs dragon boats, 30 lbs boards and loads of boats of all description in between. There where 170+ racers which made for an entertaining day. I finished ( always my first priority !! ) 6th in a amazing time of 83 minutes 40 seconds ;-)...... Next race in the five race "Race for your Life" series is May 7th in Port Gamble....

5th Annual Winter paddle 2010

2010-12-30T12:20:00.001-08:00

This winter's annual trip was to paddle around Bainbridge Island which is located just west of Seattle. Jumped on the Seattle -Bainbridge ferry at 7:10 am for the half hour ride across Puget Sound. Dropped off our boats and gear at the city park located on the water which made the start / stop point very convenient. Finding a parking place for over night parking, not so easy. After driving around for 20 minutes looking at the all the '2hour limit or we'll tow you' signs we ended up parking a lot close to the ferry dock ( $23), oh well, it's a nice day for a half mile walk back to the boat launch.

On the water at 9:30 on Tuesday 12/28 we paddled South towards Blakley Rocks, past Fort Ward SP and up into Rich Passage. Lot's of large floating logs, big chucks of wood and flocksum in the area of Pleasant Beach where we planned to stop for a quick break. As we headed to the beach thru all the floating logs, one of my paddling partners and a very, very large seal lion surprised each other, quite funny from my vantage point... not sure which participant was going to have to change into clean drawers later, but I did have a good guess.

The trip from Bainbridge to our first day's destination of Brownsville and the watertrails park is approximately 15 miles. The first 10 miles was under overcast skies, 45 degrees and light breeze. The second 5 miles up to Brownsville was in a nice 'freshening' breeze which made the last third of the paddle a slog into 15 kt winds. We took just about 4 hours to get up there.

The watertrails camping site is located on high ground behind the Deli/post office/latte stand/ Laundromat/liquor store, yep one stop shopping for all your needs. The Brownsville Yacht club is also part of the one building complex. One highlight is the heated bathrooms complete with showers and hot running water and all for your entry fee of $3.00! bargain..

After enjoying 'Taco Tuesday', a beer and evening watching a football game with the colorful locals we adjourned to our tents, under beautiful clear star filled skies. Venus was shinning brightly down on the all the moored sailboats in the harbor many had their masts fully decorated with Christmas lights.

Wednesday forecast was for 20-30 kt winds out of the north which will be a nice push going down the east side of the island, only trick is to time our arrival and passage thru Agate Pass, which has a 4.6 ebb in the early morning, slack occurred at 10:52 am.. Agate Pass is located about 5 1/2 miles from our campsite at Brownsville.

Wednesday arrives with the crows arguing with the Blue Herons over something, no rain last night, we have breakfast , pack our stuff, carry the boats down to the water, load up and it's 8 am... too early to start paddling, wonderful bright sunny skies and no wind at all, we don't need to hurry up to Agate Pass and fight ebb tide. It's one more stop in the deli for coffee and a snack before our planned 9:30 departure. The forecast has been modified today, small craft warning is 'scheduled' for 3 pm this afternoon, so we should be well on our way around the east side of Bainbridge by then. It was an interesting forecast, winds 20-30 Kts out of the North to Seattle then out of the SW at 15 Kts south of Seattle.

Under sunny skies an a minimal breeze we paddled up to and around the north end of the island. You could see a thick fog moving south from Admiralty Inlet, a sign that the temp was going to get cooler real soon and the winds pick up. We stopped at Fay Bainbridge SP for a quick lunch/pee break. In the 15 minutes we where there the temperature dropped noticeably, the sun went away and the predicted winds picked up. Paddling in a snow flurries now but with a nice strong push from behind it was an enjoyable windy ride back to our launch site just west of the Bainbridge ferry dock. This portion of the trip is 16 miles and it took us 3 hours 35 minutes to complete. Winter paddling in the Puget Sound, in our 3 1/2 hours on the water we experienced bright sunshine, rain, snow, flat calm water, fog, 3 ft sea's. Spent water time with sea lions, seals, tons of wintering birds and a large number of eagles soaring high above ..

It's all good...........................

Deception Pass Dash 2010

2010-12-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row the DP DASH experienced calm sea's and a bright sunny December day! This year there where around 175 paddle's entered into the event, a whole lot more than the the 30 some that showed up for the first DP DASH. You can "google" DP DASH and find ton's of pictures and video's on the web. Lot's of good friends, good food and very nice gifts provided by the many vendors who sponsor the race...This year I finished 18th out of the 46 boats in the SK class in a time of 70 minutes and 1 second... happy days!!

Port Hardy BC to Winter Harbour BC

2010-08-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Port Hardy, BC to Winter Harbour, BC Paddle

July 23rd – August 2nd 2010

Left Kirkland, WA @ 2:50 am on 7/23, crossed the border at 4:50 am caught the 5:15am Tsawwassen to Nanaimo (Duke Point)ferry.
No traffic on I-5 and 1 car in front of me at the Peace Arch border crossing….

Ferry ride is a 2 hours 15 min crossing
It is approximately a 230 mile, five hour drive from Nanaimo to Pt Hardy… stopped in Campbell River for liquid supplies and gas.

Note: Pt Hardy has a well stocked BC Liquor outlet and a good grocery store.

Stayed in the North Shore Inn in Pt Hardy…$90 CAD per night, clean room w/ frig and easy access to the public park/beach.

Met up with rest of the group on Saturday, we took the kayaks and all our gear to the city park directly across the street from our hotel, loaded everything into the boats and locked them to a park bench.

The three drivers then hit the road for Winter Harbour…… roughly 2 ½ hours of gravel logging roads. The road was well marked and there where no wrong turns… Stopped in downtown Holberg, BC and the Scarlet Ibis restaurant ( a must stop/ wonder how they stay in business) before continuing on to the fishing village of Winter Harbour which has a year round population of 20 very hardy souls. Summertime population is different, loads of fishermen. The folks at The Outpost collected ( $200 CAD) which allowed us to park our vehicles on their remote parking lot. The Outpost, located on the water’s edge has a convenient take out when the trip ends….
Our ride (Cape Scott water taxi) back to Pt Hardy showed up at 3:00 as agreed to.

Back in Port Hardy we enjoyed our last supper in hotel's Sushi bar and then waited for our 12:00 midnight rendezvous at the put-in. Plan was to be on the water and paddling by 12:30am up to Duval Point and into Goletas Channel to take full advantage of the full moon and 3kt ebb flowing towards our first campsite at Jepther Point some 23 miles away.
Weather forecast in the Goletas Channel was for 5-10 knot westerlies under clear, moonlight skies.

We are underway at 12:40am and paddle with heavy, fully loaded boats was easy for the first 7 miles from the put-in to and around Duval Pt. Interesting to see the sea gulls flying soundlessly through the light of the full moon in a faint sea fog, eerie. Once we rounded the Duval Point the 5-10kt breezes tuned into gusting 10-15+ knot breezes and paddling immediately became far more challenging. Instead of our planned advantage of paddling in the ebb father out in to the channel we where forced to paddle a lot closer to the western shoreline to avoid the wind. We lost any advantage of the ebb and no doubt had to paddle into the back eddies making for a long, hard slog. Paddling closer to the shoreline put us in the shadow of the trees and we lost the visibility the moonlight provided…. Geez it was really dark!
Stopped at a small pocket beach at 2:45 am to rest of an hour ( two members of the group had little rest for the prior 24 hours). Back into the wind, we paddled until the pre-dawn light in the eastern skies appeared over Nigei Island. Over the course of the night the group of five became two groups, one group with three and one with two paddlers. The group of three made it Jepther Point at 12:30 pm on Sunday afternoon July 25th. The second group made it to Shushartie Bay and decided they would complete the first leg Sunday morning after a good night sleep. Note: the western side of Goletas Channel does not have an abundance of easy stopping points along the way. It took roughly 12 hours to get from Pt Hardy to Jepther Point and 10+ hours of that was paddling. Had an interesting experience paddling in the dark and wind,… while bouncing along in the wind blown waves the bow of my boat caught a large bull kelp which slide down my deck and whacked me in the belly, in the darkness of the night it took a minute to figure out it wasn’t a giant, black sea monster that had a hold of me and it probably took 3 – 5 minutes trying to untangle myself, very unsteady feeling..

Had a bear stop by to welcome us to Jepther Pt, thankfully when he/she saw us it took off running into the woods because we where past exhaustion and incapable of moving let alone running…. We did see him/her again the next day way down the beach from our campsite. Black bear’s are a very common sight on this trip. This ( my opinion) was the best campsite of the trip, high pebble beach with one side of the site in the wind and the other well protected from the prevailing northwesterly wind. Another nice feature is a mile, mile ½ of shoreline for hiking.

Jepther Pt to Cape Sutil: ( morning sea fog, sunny afternoon, minimal winds, 7 miles)

Cape Sutil is a large, sandy ‘whale rubbing’ beach for orcas, humpbacks and grey whales… didn’t see any whales here! Tatnall reefs has significant currents, up wellings, whirlpools, fun to paddle in but one needs to pay attention in this area . Great camping stop, probably a mile of sandy beach to search for Japanese fishing floats and beach glass.
Here we met Jeff, a twenty something Kent, WA school teacher. He is paddling from Seattle around Vancouver Island solo, kind of a summer project as he put it. Based on our conversations he didn’t have a lot of experience and I for one, sure wondered about the wisdom of taking on this trip solo and unsupported. Guess it’s good to be twenty something, I guess.

Cape Sutil to Nels Bight ( sea fog in morning, overcast afternoon, some wind, 21miles)

Finally got to paddle with a humpback today, he/she surfaced 50 ft from the boats twice then disappeared, numerous sea otters in the kelp beds, barking sea lions, sea birds by the thousands. Today (like yesterday) we seemed to always be paddling into the current and wind. Lot’s of dynamic coastline to explore with each headland providing spirited paddling conditions. We stop to replenish our water supply which required a surf landing thru a gauntlet of standing waves at the Standby River. After a quarter mile walk, bushwhacking our way up the river and a swim back ( much longer story here) we have our water and we move on.
Stopped for lunch/stretch in a little cove just west of Nahwitti Cove where I found one Japanese fishing float and a Japanese ceramic float, very exciting for me, been looking for those souvenirs for years!

Nels Bight is another very large bay with a mile+ long sandy beach. Due to the sea fog we decide after a long paddle and decreasing visibility we will spend the night here. It was quite surprising to see 30-40 tents along the beach ! The North Coast Trail is real close to this beach and lots of hikers spend a day or two here. There is a ranger station here ( $10 buck per person to camp). The site provides a privy and water ( filter the water, a must ). A heavy fog rolls in early this evening and everything will be wet from the fog and dew in the morning.
Saw Jeff, the Kent school teacher’s tent and kayak as we paddled in but didn’t get a chance to chat with him. We’ll see him paddle out early the next morning, the last time we will see him.

Nels Bight to Hansen Bay ( heavy fog this morning, sun afternoon 10-15k, 10 miles).
The plan was for a 5 am beginning to the day which didn’t happen due to the thick fog . We’ll instead go around Cape Scott in the afternoon. This morning is noticeably COLD, it is late July, right ?
Our destination is Experiment Bight which is just east of Cape Scott and will serve as our staging area for our trip around Cape Scott. You want to go around the cape at slack just prior to the beginning of the flood. Experiment Bight is great camping location with a beautiful beach and plenty of places to take a hike ie: to the Cape Scott lighthouse.
At 3:15 pm we take off for our trip around the Cape, the water is jump’n but with minimal winds the paddle is relatively easy. For the first time since we started this trip we experience an assist from both the currents and the wind. On the west side of the Cape there are an abundance of under water rocks and formations which created numerous boomers. Guise Bay is yet another beautiful sandy beached bay worth exploring just after you round the cape. Strange Rock ( named after a British explorer) is the next landmark we pass on our way south to Hansen Bay. This is a rugged, rocky shoreline with few visible signs of humanity at this point. We camp on the south shore of Hansen Bay, probably a half mile into the bay. You will see an old, long deserted cabin here, long flat sandy beach and a nice flowing creek should you need fresh water.

Hansen Bay to Raft Cove: ( overcast morning, sea breezes @ 14 miles)

Raft Cove has a contingent of surfers here that seem to use whatever they can find to build a shelter and then spend the summer surfing, fishing and growing herb gardens. This is a large bay, 2+ miles across from north to south. We stay on the northern shore which affords wind protection, and a deep landing/launching zone, nice for taking off from the next day. Some of these long, flat beaches have made for quite a few very long carries of heavy kayaks ( carry straps where used many times on this trip).
There are miles of sandy beaches to hike and explore here.
Again, today we had the current and wind assisting which meant another easy paddling day.
We spend two day’s here at Raft Cove. On day two, a bright sunny day, the first bright sunny day we have experienced, three of us try our luck fishing in breezy conditions, which yields six fish. Several large black rock fish, two kelp greenlings and a ling cod. Yum fresh fish cooked over a camp fire.

Raft Cove to small beach north of Lippy Pt ( high overcast, light winds, 9 miles)

This section of our trip had dramatic coastline, ocean swell exploding on the rocky cliff faces, arches, sea stacks and caves. Would have been fun to have an empty boat to go a little closer to the action. We stopped at Hecht Beach for a lunch break where I found another ceramic fishing float. After setting up camp we celebrate Canada Day in fine style with a nice selection of Scotch’s, wines and fermented beverages. We decided to stay north of Grant’s Bay. Grant’s Bay would have been a more protected site but also much more populated site due to a logging road and easy(?) access for hikers and day campers . This is the last campsite where it’s just the seagulls and kayakers sharing the beach.
We can see in the distance to our south the Brooks Peninsula and Solander Island sticking out into the Pacific. Several years ago I paddled the south side of the Brooks but due to weather never made it out to Solander. It was nice to at least see Solander Island this trip.

North of Lippy Pt to Winter Harbour ( light sea fog, winds 10-12k, 13.5 miles)

Today, I will paddle with my partners to the lighthouse on Kains Island and then part company. They are heading across Quatsino Sound to Lawn Point Provincial Park. I turn left at the lighthouse and make my way towards Winter Harbour and the trip home. The first half of the trip we paddled into the wind and current, last half with the wind and current. A fitting end for me was to paddle the final 9 miles into a strong ebb current with 10-15 kt breeze in my face.
I latter found out that a group of fishermen had left Winter Harbour the day I arrived and where never seen again. Their boat was found 6 miles offshore in the area of the Brooks Peninsula.

In conclusion:
Never rained on us once ! No bugs…. Yes NO BUGS..no mosquitoes, no no-seems, no biting flies…Outstanding coastline, beautiful and rugged. Logistics’ are much easier to manage than going to the Queen Charlottes, and much less expensive. Used the BC Coastal Recreation Kayaking and Small Boat Atlas and the “The Wild Coast” guide, both very accurate. I’d go again in a heartbeat !

Diablo & Gorge Paddle January 2010

2010-01-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

The 2010 paddling season started off with a great winter paddle up to Diablo Lake on Saturday, Jan. 22 followed by a Sunday paddle down the length of Gorge Lake. I paddled with the SSAK group, a fun group of skilled paddlers who do know how to enjoy camping out, probably the first paddle that I gained weight !! Saturday was absolutely beautiful, the Cascades where gleaming in the bright sunshine with a fresh covering of snow, and cold, clear mountain air with only the scent of pines, oh yeah ! Sunday's paddle on Gorge Lake was a more typical winter paddle, the winds where whistling down the length of the lake but still very enjoyable..

4th Annual Winter Paddle - 2009

2009-12-30T16:26:00.000-08:00

Just completed an annual winter paddle with paddling bud Rob F. This year we paddled around Lummi Island WA. Dec 28th was a cold but beautiful day to be on the water. Launched just north of the Lummi Island ferry terminal and paddled north then down the west side of the island. The lower third of the island is DNR land and is undeveloped and very beautiful I might add. Be sure to poke around Lummi Rocks on your way around the island, well worth it. Today, under bight blue skies and a light breeze ( not the norm for this time of year around here !) we saw several pods of porpoise fishing, loads of seals and eagles. We camped at the DNR site on the southeast side of the island, great camp site and what luck we had it all to ourselves ! Built ourselves a big fire and enjoyed the evening. Must have been 3-4 am and the wind started howling, kind of unnerving being in a tent and hearing the branches breaking and thumping on the ground. Up at 7:00 am although still dark just had to have that coffee and oatmeal and start the packing ritual. Everything is cold and wet from the overnight rain showers. On the water at 8:45 with a brisk wind out of the south southeast to our backs we made real good time and got back to our launch site by 10:15. The pictures are of southwest side of Lummi looking at Lummi Rocks in the distance, our boats on the DNR site and the Lummi Ferry. Total mileage 21 miles.

2009 DP DASH

2009-12-19T16:41:00.001-08:00

This year's 6 mile Deception Pass DASH was a flat, calm water paddle, very unlike last years event. This year 177 paddlers on all kinds of water craft paddled the Dash. This has really gotten to be an event for all the paddling community to get involved with. Loads of goodies where provided by a long list of vendors, along with lot's of good food and hot drink. Had a blast myself, finished this years race in 69 minutes and 17 seconds which was the third time I have participated. First year I finished in 88+ minutes, last year it was 83 minutes in very BIG conditions. The 2010 DASH is scheduled for 12/04... looking forward to it.........

Hood Canal, WA Oct 2009

2009-11-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

A group of four paddlers from the Washington Kayak Club launched ( 9:30 am) at Triton SP on the west side of Hood Canal for a 20 mile paddle south to Potlatch SP. A beautiful fall late October day greeted us on this journey. Calm, flat water interrupted only by the thousands of salmon heading back to the streams and rivers of their birth occasionally break the surface of the water. A number of eagles, seals and a few sea lions along with a goodly number of fisherman pay close attention to the returning salmon all vieing for a fish dinner. With a couple of short breaks and a half hour lunch stop/rest we made it to Potlatch at 4:15ish. Long day in the boat but the changing leaves in their brilliant reds and yellows along the hillsides where beautiful and well worth the trip. Potlach SP has a Washington Water Trails campground on the state park site which is where we will pitch our tents and camp for the night. No one is camping at the park this time of year so as the sun sets we have the whole park to ourselves. The bathrooms are open so we have access to (cold) water for cooking and washing off our salty gear. After the camp fire dies out the temps drop into the upper 30's it's throw on another layer of fleece and jump into the sleeping bags. Plan is to be on the water at 9-9:30 in the morning to paddle the mile and a half across the Canal then head north along the eastern shore for the 20 mile paddle back to Triton SP.

Morning breaks with overcast skies and a bit of fog. The only sound are the barking of seals who have congregated on a floating dock just off the beach. Today we will have the benefit of both the current and the wind which was blowing out of the south at 10-15 knots. The trip back to Triton was a lot faster and a much easier paddled with the aid of the water/wind pushing us in the right direction. We left Potlatch at 10 am and arrived at Triton at 3 pm share..

WKC Paddle around Cypress Island, WA

2009-10-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Oct 10 a group of eleven WKC and WAKE paddlers left from Washington Park to circumnavigate Cypress Island. A beautiful fall day, minimal winds and with a little help from the currents we had a great day on the water. We traveled up Rosario Strait with a quick stop on Strawberry Island to check the vegetation, then around the north end of Cypress stopping for lunch at Pelican Beach. Completed the 17 mile/5 hour trip with the group in tack and smiles on all faces......

WKC Trip West Sound to Little McConnell Island

2009-09-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Tagged along on a WKC ( Washington Kayak Club) trip from West Sound on Orcas Island (WA) out to Little McConnell island. The island has a great view of Yellow Island to Jones Island SP and many of the little islands west of Orcas. Today we had beautiful blue skies, a minimal breeze and near perfect paddling conditions to just poke along the shore line. Some very cool rock formations, loads of seals and just glad to be on the water with some good paddling buds. By the way that's what left from a very large halibut that met it's maker....

Orcas Island circumnavigation.... continued

2009-09-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

In December of 2008 a paddling bud and I started a circumnavigation of Orcas Island (WA), unfortunately the third and final day after leaving from Jones Island we where met with 40-50 mph winds when we got to East Sound and ended our paddle blown up on a beach in downtown Eastsound. You can see the first part of the story on this blog from last December. On Thursday July 10 I finally finished the last leg of that journey. Launching at the public beach next to Lieberhaven resort at 8am I made to North Beach a few minutes before noon. Making a couple stops along the way to enjoy the beautiful vista's of Mt. Baker and the Canadian mountains in the distance.

Penn Cove WA Sept 2009

2009-09-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

I tagged along on a Washington Kayak Club trip today. We were going to paddle off the west side of Whidbey Island at Ebey Landing but it was a bit breezy and with a forecast of stronger wind and thunderstorms ( rare out here) the group opted to paddle the 'calmer' waters of Penn Cove on the east side of Whidbey. Seven paddlers in all launched out into Penn Cove heading first to Long Point then crossing to the west side and Klootchman Rock. By the time we crossed we were surfing 3 and 4 foot wind waves, all very exciting. Had a few folks trying rescues, 'cowboy' reentries ect. A very good day to practice those skills. Stopped at Blowers Bluff for a break and quick lunch then back into the elements for some more windy action. Had a rock garden to test one's skills in on the way back. Good fun, all made back to the launch site safe and sound.

DEER GROUP 2009

2009-08-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

Deer Group Trip Report August 2009

Three paddling amigos met at my house at 4:00am on Thursday 8/13 to load our gear and boats on the two cars we will be taking to Bamford, BC which is our jump off point for a six day paddle out to the Deer Group. We caught the 8:15am Anacortes to Sydney BC ferry which we had made reservations (recommended) about a month earlier. After the two hour ferry ride to Sydney, BC we drive to and stop in Duncan, BC to gas up the cars, hit a restaurant and the liquor and grocery store. Driving on the ’ south main ‘road west from Lake Cowichan the pavement ends at the little town of Honeymoon Bay then its 60 miles of, at times, axle busting, flat tire making three and a half hour drive. The drive along Lake Cowichan and the scenic mountain views makes the trip via road worthwhile; it is a beautiful mountain lake. Camped at the Huu-ay-aht First Nations site at Pachena Bay, which was a very economical and well maintained camp ground. Pachena Bay has a huge sandy beach, good for many hours of beachcombing.
Friday 8/14: Into Bamfield we go for breakfast then a stop at the one deli/grocery store to pick up a frozen steak, then stop to get a parking pass ( usually ensures you will have inflated tires when you return), all these places open at 9:00am so no need to rush. The boats get loaded and we head out at 11:00am down Grappler Inlet and out across Trevor Channel. Great to be on the water this overcast 70 degree morning. We have a little wind and only a slight swell which aids our northwesterly paddle towards Robbers Passage. Our planned destination is one of the islands or islets in the Chain Group which lies west of the biggest island in the Deer Group, Tzartus Island. Paddled past Meads Island, Diplock Island (wonder how that island got its name), Friend Island before we saw the bright sugar white sandy beach on Stud Islet. That was the destination and our home away from home for the duration of the trip. It’s a 9km trip from Bamfield out to Stud Islet via Robbers Passage with Trevor Channel being a 3 miles crossing.
Saturday 8/15: Today the dawn breaks with a fog bank to our west over Imperial Eagle Channel and the Broken Group. No rain but a nice cool 70 degree overcast day, good day to do some exploring. We paddled north to Weld Island which has several very large sea caves to investigate. Latter we paddled over to Holford Bay on Tzarus Island to check out a stream which is a potential water source. Although it has been an extremely dry summer the creek does have a modest flow and is a good water source. Back at camp the resident pair of ravens do a flyby as they did on a daily basis to check out the newest island residents. Also saw mink tracks in the sand, another good sign, as they keep the four legged pests in check. I get out my fishing pole and two hours of fishing off the east side of the island produced two small rock fish and one big orange starfish, Mac & cheese for dinner tonight! The starfish which come in every color of the rainbow are in no short supply on these islands.
Sunday 8/16: Crystal clean, bright blue skies greet us this morning along with our two friendly ravens who where up earlier than we where and they loudly discussed their plans for the day in the tree’s right above our tents. Today we paddle back around to our north and Weld Island then onto Link Island. Link has several pocket beaches to explore. One pocket beach on the north side of the island had tons of oysters on the rocks and ten tons of mussels! We did not eat any of the shellfish on this trip, not trusting the water which was fairly warm considering you are on the Pacific Ocean and the water in general was stained a brownish color. After a quick stop on Link we crossed Junction Passage which is about a mile to cross, only thing to watch out for here are the hundreds of salmon fisherman and their BIG boats. There is an abandoned Ecoole Indian village which we where interest in checking out. Lots of cool rock formations and caves on the south end of Seddal Island but the ‘abandoned Indian village’ is only a couple of rusting boilers and a bunch of ‘no trespassing’ signs. From there we crossed back to Crosse Pt on Tzartus for a lunch break and cocktails. We see the first of many, many humpbacks that are also fishing for salmon. Just next get over how cool it is to paddle with those big, majestic fish. The humpbacks put on breeching shows every day we were on our trip.
Monday 8/17: Another beautiful sunny morning. Following coffee, oatmeal and the ravens flyby we paddle south today. A shore crawl around Diplock, Meade and Swiss Boy Island which is the farthest south island of the Chain Group. The south and west side of Swiss Boy is exposed to the swell and wind off Pacific and the water has a lot of “character”. Great fun if you have some ocean paddling experience. On the Westside of both Swiss Boy and Meade Island there are rock gardens to play in. Got to have a souvenir scratch or two on the boat. After a couple of hours on the water we head back to camp just in time to be entertained by a couple of humpbacks no more than 50 years off the east side of our campsite.
Tuesday 8/18: Another beautiful sunny summer morning. Following the normal routine of coffee, oatmeal and raven flyby today I will take my fishing pole and re-paddle yesterday route solo. Yesterday I saw a lot of sheer rock faces and bull kelp at the water’s edge on south and west side of Swiss Boy Island which will usually be a good place to wet-a-line. The water is a little livelier today with the one meter waves bouncing off the rocks which surround portions of Swiss Boy. Juggling a fishing pole in the waves is some fun, and despite my lack of skill I managed to catch four rock fish which will sever as dinner tonight for the crew. One of the challenges in fishing besides the balancing act is to avoid those pesky seals, they follow you around like lost dogs and the fish disappear when they are around so you have to move frequently. On my paddle back along the west side of Swiss Boy and Meads Islands the humpbacks are within 200/300 yards from my boat. Several breaches and even one whale turned on its side to wave a flipper my way. Again, what an incredible site! After a quick break on another beautiful sandy beach located on the south end of Meade Is. I get back to camp after four hours in the boat to clean fish. Campfire is ready, fish are seasoned and wrapped in foil and soon they are but a pleasant memory… tasty!. Latter the humpbacks are patrolling off the east side of the island, this time there are a pair of the big fish putting on the evening entertainment and again very close to shore.
Wednesday 8/19: Another beautiful morning and our last. Today, we pack up and head back to the ‘real world’. Our plan is to be on the water by 8:00am in order to have plenty of time for the miserable drive from Bamfield back to Sydney. We had hotel reservations in Sydney so there was incentive to get back for the hot shower and steak dinner in a place you actually get to sit on a chair and the beer is cold, some incentive especially the first hot shower in a week. Anyway the paddle down to Robbers Passage on calm waters and minor swell is an easy paddle. Stopped there for a 5 minute stretch then made the three mile crossing on a very calm Trevor Channel. Stopped in Bamfield for a sandwich and then hit the road for Sydney. Since I was the navigator in the car I will not comment on the ‘little’ longer route we took back to Lake Cowichan and eventually Sydney. We did luck out a bit on the drive back as approximately twenty miles of the road had been recently graded.
As it turned out this trip could have been paddled by less experienced paddlers but one must be cognizant of the long crossing which can get dicey in a heartbeat.

Strait of Juan DeFuca

2009-06-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend June 26,27 & 28 a bud and I paddled in three beautiful places along the Strait of Juan DeFuca which I had never paddled. Friday, under sunny skies, minimal winds and 65 degree temps we paddled Freshwater Bay which is just west of Port Angeles WA. Saturday at the crack of dawn 10:00 AM we hit Crescent Bay. Again, a glorious summer day in the Pacific Northwest, 75 degrees and thankfully a nice 10-15 kt breeze out of the northwest. A great place to paddle, if conditions are right this is a great surfing beach and even on calm day's if your looking for some adventure head out from the beach toward a big red buoy which guards a reef. When you see a large kelp bed west of the buoy , your getting close. Boomers appear to the west of the buoy for your paddling pleasure ! Sunday we did actually get up kinda early and hit Lake Crescent at 9 am. The color of the water in the lake is truly ausome, ice blue and an icy temperature to match. Another beautiful day under blue skies and a nice breeze we paddle for a couple of hours before jumping back into the truck and heading back to civilization :-(.

WKC 2009 Basic Class 5/29-31

2009-06-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

23 Washington Kayak Club students enjoyed a 2 1/2 day class at Bowman Bay and 'in' Deception Pass. We had beautiful sunny weather for most of the weekend which added to the pleasure of the experience. This year as last we took over the Environmental Learning Center on Coronet bay for the weekend. Looking forward to next years class already !

Sunny Day in May

2009-06-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

Salt Water State Park paddle over to Pt. Robinson and back to visit the light house and enjoy a paddle in the beautiful Puget Sound. Great view's of Mount Rainer on this fine day...

WKC Basic Class 2009

2009-06-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

On a beautiful sunny, warm weekend the"BASIC" class was held at the Environment Learning Center. Twenty three students and a dozen instructors spent two and a half day's of classroom and on the water training sessions. On Sunday the class and about 40 other kayakers spend most of the day in Deception Pass which is an exception ' class room'... all survived, got a bit smarter, had a great time and went home with sunburn souvenirs, sore muscles and big smile!

Hood Canal May 2009

2009-06-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Clams, oysters, clams and more clams... great food.... This Memorial Day weekend coincided with extremely low tides which made for easy clamming. We had a very nice paddle under sunny skies and 75 degree temps in the Hood Canal in Washington State.

Venture 115 Crew Training

2009-05-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

A warm, sunny day on ( and in :0) Lake Sammamish spent with a group of 15-18 year olds from the Venture 115 group. Had the opportunity, along with several of my fellow coaches of putting on a one day on-the-water training class for this group. Quite a few of the kids built their own wood kayaks ( and they did a great job ). Today we practiced paddle strokes, rescues and goofing off in the water, great fun was had by all.....

WKC Advanced Class 2009

2009-05-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

Great fun was had by all who took part in the Washington Kayak Clubs 'Advanced Sea Class" over the past week and a half. This year five students gained a lot of experience paddling in varied conditions. Four pool sessions focused on rolling, one lake session focused on rescue/recoveries in cold water, then up to the frigid Snolqualmie River for some 'currents' work. Saturday a long ( 10 mile ) paddle from Washington Park in Anacortes, WA to Strawberry Island state park which was lead by the students and finally a Sunday paddle in Deception Pass. I look forward to next years class.

Earth Day 2009

2009-04-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

I went out in my boat today and did my best to support Earth Day 2009. I paddled from Holmes Pt on Lake Washington under beautiful sunny skies to Sand Pt Navel Station and picked up discarded junk along the shoreline! A half hour at the most is all it took to fill the hatches of my Romany! Too bad I didn't have room for the 55 gal barrel and the many tires I saw along the shoreline.

Here's what I picked up:

32 tennis balls, 1 fishing bobber, 2 soccer balls, 1 Happy Valentines' balloon, 1 Happy Birthday balloon, I plastic coffee mug, 1 foam cup holder, 8 aluminum cans, 37 plastic bottles, 1 glass perfume bottle, 1 white ladies shoe, 1 flip flop, 2 plastic grocery bags, 2 nylon ropes and 1 rubber glove..

WKC Paddle April 2009

2009-04-19T14:21:00.001-07:00

Had the opportunity to lead a paddle for the local kayak club today. Four fellow paddlers joined for the Seahurst to Fauntleroy Washington Kayak Club trip. What a beautiful spring day, minimal breeze, some long awaited sunshine and 60 degree weather greeted today.

Along the way we saw the usual community of ducks and water fowl, a sea lion fishing for lunch and a young eagle getting harassed by a mob of crows. A good day indeed !

Chasing Gray Whales March 21 2009

2009-03-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Beth, Rob and I launched the boats at Langley, WA after visiting one of the fine coffee&pastry shops (nice caffeine and sugar buzz) and headed north along the east side of Whidbey Island looking for the gray whales that feed in the shallow waters of Saratoga Passage. A beautiful bright, sunny day with little wind and temps in the 50's, great paddling weather. After a 30-45 minute paddle north we cross the couple of miles of Saratoga Passage to the west side of Cameno Island, another favorite haunt for the feeding grays... After a rest stop to soak up the sun we paddled south along Cameno for several miles but no luck in spotting the big fish. One more stretch stop and we head back to Langley.

Here's the url for the site that tracks whales in the Puget Sound, Oregon and BC "http://www.orcanetwork.org/"

Salt Water Paddle Feb 18, 2009

2009-03-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I added something on my blog. Lead a WKC trip from Salt Water State Park to Redondo and back. A group of 8 hardy souls on this first club paddle for '09. It's an early season, dust off the kayak for some folks while other join me every year... kind of a reunion paddle. Today it was a bit breezy with the 15-20kt wind coming from out of the north, made some fun wave action on the paddle back to Salt Water. All survied and we celebrated with High 5's having cheating death one more time... :-)

Lake Washington in January

2009-01-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

Jan 24Th and the lake is flat calm. After a week of thick fog in the Puget Sound region this Saturday is absolutely beautiful, 30 degrees and sunny skies ! I paddled today from Holmes Point across the lake to Sand Point NS to meet up with six paddling friends to work on rolls, rescues, and various strokes. This group is headed to Wales in April so some 'wet' practice in the cold water is this sessions goal. Three hours after we started the light starting to fade so it's time for me to paddle the mile and a half back across the lake to my truck. Another good workout and great day to be able to take advantage of this great sport.

January 3rd welcome 2009 !

2009-01-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

A light snow is falling again this morning as I head down to Mukilteo's city waterfront park. The city has really fixed up the park, brand new heated bathrooms are a nice touch in the winter time. Two well fed sea loins watch as I launched at 8:30 am. Paddled north to Whidbey Island then west to Possession Point. The ebbing current colliding with the southwestern 15k winds creates 1-2 foot waves and very nice paddling conditions. A 20 minute Possession Point stretch break, hot tea, a PBJ sandwich and I head back towards Mukilteo. Loads of wintering birds, a couple of seals and one lone eagle soring high above along with two fishing boats are the only 'traffic' one the water today.

Winter Paddle Around Orcas...... almost

2008-12-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

Up at 2:30 am Sunday morning 12/28 and on the road by 3:15 to pick up my paddling partner Rob for our planned three day, two night paddle around Orcas Island. Took 10 minutes to get out of my subdivision due to the 10-15 inches on snow/slush on the roads, I-405 is clear so it's easy driving to Anacortes to catch the 5:30am ferry to Orcas Island, WA. We launch the boats at 7:50am from North Beach, what a beautiful, clear, crisp morning which is very unexpected. Due to a constant progression of snow storms over the past many weeks, I can't remember the last time I saw the sun actually shine in this part of the world. Our plan this morning is to paddle west, cross Presidents Channel and travel counter clockwise around Waldron Island. The island has few year round inhabitants, no stores, no electricity, yeah kind of remote. Paddling along the north side of the island in bright sunlight we saw several river otter's playing in the shallow crystal clear cold water, otters always look like they are having a blast. The snow covered hills of the Canadian islands to our northwest look pristine in the distance. We stopped and streched briefly on the south end of the island which is a nature preserve. There we saw seals, a couple of sea lions, a bunch of eagles and loads of wintering birds and best of all, bright sunlight !! We paddled about a 1/4 way around the east side of Waldron Island to check out the remains of limestone loading docks last used in the early 1900's. The island has beautiful rock formations and it is well worth the visit. From there we headed south to Jones Island State Park. The wind (15- 20K range) was out of the SW and opposed the current, so there where a few bumpy spots on the ride down to Jones which is our first day's destination. We stopped to stretch on the north end of the island which was protected from the wind but decided to paddle around and camp on the south side of the island just to take advantage of the one shelter on the island. A good plan, as by 2:00pm our tents where up and a light rain started to fall. No surprise that we had the entire island to ourselves. With a couple of hours of daylight we hiked all over the island, which still had some snow on hills and dense woods. Other than the raven's call and the eagles squawking above in the trees it was a wonderfully peaceful setting.

Last night the wind howled through the trees enough to wake me several times. As dawn broke it appeared the wind which was forecaster to be out of the southwest for our whole trip was more from the east southeast. The weather person did caution a fast moving low pressure system was heading towards the interior today with a good deal of associated rain.

Monday morning we are packed up and on the water at 9:00 am. We paddled towards Pole Pass on our way east towards Doe Bay, our second nights planned camp site. The slog across Westsound was energy consuming and took longer than we had planned due to the strong 15-20k winds and some pretty good sized wind waves hitting us head on . Stopped at the Orcas ferry landing and loaded our bellies with coffee, a great sandwich, apple and gator-aid from the grocery store. The temperature dropped noticeably during our 20 minute stay, just an hour before it was 46 degrees now it was 38 degrees. Left the ferry dock at 11:30am heading towards Doe Bay. The heavy rain with occasional hail is now coming down sideways as we near Foster Point. By the time we got to Diamond Point the wind was howling and we are fully exposed and totally committed, as there are few obvious places to bail out along the 20-30 foot high solid rock faced shoreline. The water is really jumping as the wind whipped up really big crazy wind waves. Crossing East Sound was definitely not possible so we decided the City of Eastsound was our destination this day. With the wind to our backs, it was brace left, brace right, stern rudder, stroke, brace, brace, brace, brace and more bracing for the next 3 1/2 to four miles with lots of looking over the shoulder just to see how big the next wave to contend with was going to be. Latter we discovered our timing was just right (?), we where in 40-45 mph winds with higher gusts that blew off the tops of the waves. I'm betting there was more than one Orcas resident ready to call the Coast Guard. Once safely tucked in East Sound and out of the wind's fury we finished our paddle landing at the city park near the Outlook Inn at 2:30ish. Even got a FREE ride from the Body Boat Blade Transportation Company to North Beach to pick up my truck. The other third of the 'round Orcas' trip will be scheduled in spring.. Trip covered about 33 miles.

2008 Deception Pass Dash

2008-12-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

The third annual DASH, has grown dramatically since it's inception. This year 144 kayakers signed up for the event and 137 participated in the race. Management of the DASH was assumed by Redmond, WA's Outdoor Adventures who did a fabulous job hosting the event. It has become an international event, with paddlers from Canada and Europe participating. A French paddler won the event, how cool. The DASH started a half hour before ebb at 10:00 sharp with a fairly strong breeze hitting the paddlers in the face. A 4+ft swell coming down the Straight of Juan DeFuca made for an exciting start. Lot's of swimmers before we rounded Deception Island ! With big waves and the water converging from several directions made for an interesting first mile or so. Glad to have Deception Island behind me, the current now was a great help assisting the paddlers eastward towards the bridge. By the time I got to Pass Island the paddlers were quite spread out ( the real athletes were long gone) so unlike last year I just hugged the side of Pass Island taking full advantage of the back eddie's and only deposited a small amount of gel coat along the way, another improvement over my effort from last year. Once past Pass Island a big eddie again tries to grab my boat but persistence and a dozen hard strokes and I'm on my way to Strawberry Island, the half way point. By this time the ebb current is building. As I head back on the north side of Pass Island and back under the bridge ( lot's of folks way up there cheering us on, very cool) there where a half dozen standing waves to greet us. A couple of good sized whirlpools form then just as quickly disappear, they always get a lot of my attention. The wind is straight out of the west so with the ebbing current heading into the wind, the waves are starting to REALLY stand up at Lighthouse Point, really stand up. The police on their wave runners reported 8 to 10 ft waves off the point, from my vantage point they sure seemed that big. The area between Lighthouse Point and Deception Island was the end of the line for many paddlers who decided they had had enough. The swirling water here was big, confused as swell, current and wind waves battled each other. I headed back around Deception Island and again through the choppy water off the west end of the island. I saw lots of boats heading straight for Bowman Bay after coming around the island but experience has taught me that is not the way to go. You have to go all the way back to the east point of Deception Island and then jump out into the current which is rougher water but if you make it through that quarter mile of bumpy water the current will assist you all the way back to Bowman Bay and the finish line with a lot less effort. Despite the conditions ( weather man reported there were wind gusts up to 26 mph during the race) I covered the 6.2 st mile race in 83:16 minutes, five minutes faster than last year. YEAH!

Here are a bunch of links to videos and pictures, I thank the content owners...
Brian Boatman's stern deck video (OC2) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uUsmXaKk5I
Michael Lampi's 388 pics (he was the guy in the green pedal boat, snapping pics of you while he raced. Thanks Michael!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uUsmXaKk5I
Stina Larson's pics - http://tinyurl.com/dpd2008
Steve Weilman's blog has some cool pics and his 2008 DPD video. - http://www.xexplore.com/journal/index.php/2008/12/deception-dash-movie-release/
Michael Cline's images on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/61825503@N00/sets/72157610978742216/

http://www.ramblinlamb.com/2008-dpd/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Daf3KuJcI

The Slough Slog

2008-12-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

November 30th, downtown Woodinville WA of all places to find a kayak race. The good folks at Paddler Magazine got together and decided to put on a 'tune-up' race for next weekends Deception Pass Dash. Twenty six paddlers showed up for this impromptu race. There were sea boats, whitewater boats, creek boats and a couple of other designs I didn't recognize. With the boats in the Sammamish River promptly at 10:00 AM the whitewater boats took off down river, followed 5 minutes latter by all but the sea boats who left last 10 minutes after the first wave of boats. Racing 1 1/4 miles down river, turn around a buoy and return. Simple !! There was one problem, you had to navigate thru the rapids and very strong current of Little Bear Creek. Since the river is shallow here I made the most of my neoprene covered knuckles and walked my boat following three failed attempts to paddle up stream in the strong current. Heck we even had a few swimmers, much to the delight of the many bickers who stopped to watch ( laugh)..
Results:1. Tom Wier, C1 Wildwater: 28:592. Rich Romer, K1 Wildwater: 30:033. Jennie Goldberg, K1 Wildwater: 31:194. Tao Berman, sea kayak (Eddyline Falcon): 31:335. Rufus Knapp, K1 Wildwater: 33:206. Christian Knight, Long boat, Green Boat: 33:357. Greg Barden, sea kayak (wood): 34:178. Darren Albright, Long boat (Response): 34:409. JP, sea kayak (Tempest 170), 34:50 *corrected10. Rob McKibbin, 9 and under (Nomad) 35:0811. Philip Sparr, sea kayak (Vokhv): 35:5712. Joe Jackson, 9 and under (Remix): 36:0513. Josh Knight, sea kayak (Necky Looksha): 36:2214. Dave Hablewitz, longboat (Hydra): 36:3215. Mike Kord, 9 and under (Dagger RPM): 36:3616. Ben Hawthorne, long boat (Crossfire): 37:5417. Chris Rogers, sea kayak (Wilderness Systems 170): 38:2618. Joel Martin, long boat (slalom): 44:43 (swam)19. Bernie Swanson, sea kayak (Nordkapp): 46:3320. Scott Waidelich, 9 and under (Jackson): 46:39 (late for race)21. Cathy Haggerty, sea kayak (Valley): 46:4122. Bill Porter, sea kayak (Romney): 46:5023. Henry Romer, sea kayak (Acadia?): 48:0824. Steve Murphy, sea kayak (NA): 50:5125. Mark Baron, sea kayak (P&H Quest): 52:4026. Bill Walker, sea kayak (P&H Capella): 53:19

Nov 2008 Lake Washington

2008-11-28T17:17:00.000-08:00

A blustery, 50 degree day on Lake Washington today, got a few miles in as I practice for the December 7th Deception Pass Dash. I ran into a couple of other animals ( besides myself) avoiding the day after Thanksgiving Day shopping madness. Much safer out here in the wind and rain then in the shopping malls !

Vashon & Maury Island Circumnavigation Feb 2007

2008-10-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Vashon & Maury Island Circumnavigation

Rob Freelove and I departed from the marina in Des Moines at 9:45 a.m. on a 45 degree Friday morning February 16. Paddled the 2+ miles across the Sound to Pt. Robinson on the far eastern shore of Maury Island. Heading southeast along the shoreline we crossed Quartermaster Harbor before turning north into Colvos Passages. We arrived at our planned campsite, the Washington Water Trails Park at Lisabeula on Vashon Island at 2:00 p.m. Tents were up and everything made ready for the night just before the rain started falling. One of the locals st oped by and shared the very interesting history of how the park was transitioned from an artist colony to a state park. First days paddle was about 16 miles.
Saturday’s weather forecast was for a sunny and warm 60-degree morning. Conditions were predicted to change in the early afternoon as a storm front approached carrying with it 30 to 40 mph winds. Leaving Lisabuela at 9:00 a.m. in a light morning fog that almost obscures a brilliant sunrise. The water is perfectly flat as we paddle north. We arrive at the Vashon ferry dock at 10:45 a.m. for a break. The Mexican restaurant at the dock is closed so it will have to be another peanut butter sandwich lunch along the way. Turning south around Dolphin Point, Mt Rainer with two cap clouds hovering over it’s peak stands out brilliantly in the bright sunlight. Following a lunch break at Pt. Heyer, our next stop was at Pt. Robinson, which completed our planned circumnavigation. We arrived in perfectly calm sunny conditions back at the Des Moines Marina at 2:30 in the afternoon. The timing of the weather change was a couple of hours latter than the prediction. At 6:00 p.m. the weather bureau reported wind speeds of 45 knots between Vashon Island and Fauntleroy, was good to be off the water! Total paddle for the two days was approximately 32 miles.

Beautiful Renton Washington

2008-09-27T16:58:00.001-07:00

A beautiful fall day for a paddle on the south end of Lake Washington. A group from the Washington Kayak Club launched at Coulon Park in Renton, paddled over to and long the south shore of Mercer Island then over to Seward Park in Seattle for a quick lunch break. Along the way we had the opportunity to admire the Seahawks new practice facility, very nice digs! Today it's 55 degrees, off and on rain, a bit of fog and a big beautiful lake all to ourselves. One ski boat and a few seagulls for company along our 7 nm trip and that was it... I had a chance to meet and paddle with three fellow paddlers for the first time, a real pleasure it was.

West side of Orcas Island

2008-09-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

September paddling in the beautiful northwest, bright sunshine, 70 degrees, light northerly breeze and tourists nowhere to be found! An old paddling bud who moved to the "islands" several years ago and I paddled from Cormorant Bay up to North Beach roughly a total of 7 nm. Noticed an abandoned lime kiln just south of the now quiet Camp Orkila. The buzzards are busy today circling high in the azure blue skies. We stopped for a quick lunch and rest at Point Doughty which a beautiful state park. One can only get to the park by hiking or paddling to it, I will revisit this site. You can see the Canadian Gulf islands as well as Patos and Succia Islands. Also good to note are the jobbly, swirling water off the end of Point Doughty, fun stuff! Noticed several snoozing seals on the rocky outcrop on the north side of the park. We arrived at North Beach three hours after we started our leasurely paddle. That evening we met up with a bunch of friends at the Lower for a beer and burger. Leon took some serious abuse over hitting the big 5- O, something about receiving his AARP card had him in denial.

Washington Park to Friday Harbor Paddle

2008-08-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T16:32:00.001-07:00

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.

Queen Charlottes June-July 2008

2008-07-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

A humpback whale, 2+meter swell and the totems on Ninstinsts

This is my recollection of 14 days of paddling in the Queen Charlotte Islands, BC and Gwaii Haanas.

On Friday, June 20, 2008 I drove from Kirkland, Washington to Prince George, BC then onto Prince Rupurt, BC the next day. This is a 1050 mile drive. On Sunday, June 22 my two paddling partners and I catch the 11:00 AM BC Ferry for the 7 hour ride to Queen Charlotte City/Skidegate, BC. It’s a beautiful sunny day and a very flat Hecate Strait we cross. During the crossing I saw one humpback whale breach almost doing a complete back flip. For a point of reference Queen Charlotte City has a population of 1056 residents, which comprises roughly one quarter of the entire population of the Queen Charlottes and is by far the largest city in the Queen Charlotte chain of 200 islands. A note on humpback whales, they are 10' - 15' at birth, eat 1 to 1 1/2 tons of food each day, grow to a length of 40' - 50' and weight up to 4o tons.

On Monday, June 23 we attend the mandatory, and very information packed orientation at the Haida Heritage Center in Skidegate. The Heritage Center is a beautiful new complex dedicated to Haida art, history, culture and education. Here you will receive a lot of good information on the Watchmen sites and you will also receive your “Haida” passport. Following the hour-long orientation we pay the $16 bucks for a tour of the facility, which again I felt was well worth the price of admission. There are multiple totem poles that were described in detail by our guide as well as paddle carving and canoe carving areas. The center also has a fairly large and growing collection of Haida artifacts on exhibit. If you have some big bucks burning a hole in your pocket you can purchase art, weaved baskets or world famous Argillite carvings from the souvenir shop.
When Monday ends we have taken care of all the necessary paper work for our trip, contacted Moresby Explorers to confirm departure time and we are good to go. That evening we enjoy our "last supper", the final restaurant meal before our return.

Tuesday, June 24

Moresby Camp to Raspberry Cove, took the 8:30 AM Alford ferry run for the 20-minute crossing. A big rainbow appears in the western skies as I ride over, good sign to get the trip started.
Once off the ferry you immediately turn right onto a logging road for the hour long ride to Moresby Camp. Only had one U-turn…not bad as there are zero signs to follow along the way. The Moresby Explorers folks were having trouble with one of their other boats, which delayed our start by a couple of hours. Oh well, “your on island time now pilgrim’. After successfully getting our gear, our three NDK Explorers, another boat and a couple weeks worth groceries, several cases of beer a case or two of liquor to be dropped off along the way crammed onto our transport boat we are ready for this adventure to begin. The three of us plus a guy from Germany, who seemed comatose from his airplane ride from Berlin, hit the water around 12 noon for the 5-½ hour ride south to Rose Harbor/Raspberry Cove. The smarter people do NOT take either of the front seats on the transport boat, luckily I did get one of the front seats. I’m not sure why but about a half hour into our trip the wind started howling and it began to rain sideways. Sure felt like bees stinging any exposed flesh. Another benefit to sitting in either of the front seats is every fourth or fifth wave the transport boat hits, deposits a goodly portion of Hecate Strait swell in one’s lap just to add to the total experience and complete pleasure of the boat ride. Our first stop was to drop off groceries (several cases of liquor, several cases of beer and some canned food) to this ‘colorful’ hippy who spends his life baby setting a fishing lodge it’s owners built out in the middle of nowhere. The owners where promised that if they build a resort the politicians would build a road to the west side of the islands which are the prime fishing grounds, resort got build, the road got started and then they politicians ran out of road money and the road was abandoned. This was a very welcomed stop, color appears to be returning to my face and hands and I’m trying to remember is you can get frostbite with the temperature hovering in the upper 40’s. Next welcomed stop was on Lyell Island where we dumped off this 3,000 pound (slight exaggeration) double kayak, as getting out and moving around a bit helped to bring the body temperature up a few degrees. We decided Raspberry Cove would be our destination campsite for the first two or three days. The Moresby Explorer driver dropped us off there, bid us adieu and headed over to Rose Harbor to deposit his German passenger and pick up four lucky passengers for the kidney-jarring trip back to Moresby Camp. Raspberry Cove is a very nice spot to camp, a fast flowing stream on the eastside of the camp provides all the water one would need. Also a very clique outhouse is located on the westside of the campsite. It had stopped raining long enough for our tents to get pitched dry, as was the case the entire trip, surprisingly enough. After setting up camp we were joined by a gent from Tokyo who had just retired and this solo trip was the first thing he was going to accomplish on his ‘ bucket list’ following many years of hard work.

Wednesday, June 25

Had a peaceful warm, first night in the wilderness, the only four-legged visitor’s where Sitka deer (they are about the size of a big German Shepard ) they deposited plenty of their distinctive piles as calling cards around our campsite. The deer seem to have no fear of humans, not quite petting zoo deer but they will let you get very close to them before they wander off. We would find that everywhere we go on these islands there are loads of these little deer. After a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and MRE apples we discussed the plan for the day. We will paddle west down the Houston-Stewart Channel to get a comfort level established for paddling in wind and swell and if all looks like a go we will paddle out to Ninstints and visit the World Heritage site, which we did. One-meter swell, small wind waves and some fog but all and all it was a very nice first paddle in Haida Gwaii. Sgand Gwaii (Anthony Island) is very special place to say the least. We called the Watchmen who instructed us to paddle directly into the village since there was a very low tide, poor visibility and few visitors that day. It was as very unique experience to paddle into the small fog shrouded bay surrounded by towering totems, one could only wonder what the first European’s felt like when they arrived in this group of islands. The Watchmen, as well as the totem’s tell a wonderful story, not to be missed. Our guide on the two-hour tour is a unique character with a Scottish accent and braded beard who relates the Haida version and then his own personal interpretation of the site, interesting he certainly was. After the tour in the cold rain we headed to the Watchman’s home to warm up and have our passports signed off. I think one could spend a month at this site alone and never truly grasp all the history on this chuck of rock stuck out in the North Pacific. On the return trip we paddle in a light rain along the northwest side of Kunghit Island and stopped at Rose Harbor to make dinner reservations for the following evening. Seems Susan is expecting 19 guests for dinner so we decide to pass on the experience. I’m guessing the sail and big pleasure boat crowd pay big bucks for the ‘wilderness’ experience.
Back at camp in the late afternoon it has stopped raining and we build a big roaring fire on the beach to celebrate our day and warm up a bit over dinner.

Thursday, June 26

The moss where I pitched my tent is anywhere from 5 to 7 inches deep and does it make for a wonderfully soft mattress, another peaceful night and no big bad bears visited. This morning the water in the Houston-Stewart Channel appears dark and angry, we even have 3ft-dumping surf crashing on the shoreline. Today’s forecast is for improving weather, which I think means less wind but the same amount of rain and fog. Breakfast is oatmeal and MRE apples, which really gets the day off on the right foot. My partners decide this is a non-paddle day for them. My plan is to paddle east then south along the eastside of Kunghit Island. I see lots of whales on my way but never seem to be able to catch up them. Maybe a quarter mile is as close as I get to them on my way to High Island. High Island was a Haida summer camp. I hike around the thickly wooded island but must admit I really didn’t see any evidence that the Haida once occupied this land. During my lunch break the sun comes out for the first time since we arrived in the Charlotte’s, very pleasant. On my paddle back to Raspberry Cove the gray whales are all around me, what and experience to be paddling alone in Hecate Strait surrounded by these big wonderful creatures. They take three deep breaths, then dive, flukes extending high out of the water, quite a thrill. I finally get a couple of close up pictures to prove I danced with the whales!
Another fire on the beach on this dry evening is a treat. Tomorrow the plan is to pack up and begin the journey northward.

Friday, June 27

I had a wonderful breakfast consisting of oatmeal and MRE apples, then packed up the tent, loaded the boat and we are on the water at 8:30 AM this morning. This will be a fairly long paddle in the exposed waters of Hecate Strait. Very nice 2-knot flood will be helping us on our paddle north to Gona Pt. Here the floods move south to north and ebbs north to south. It’s a gray morning with mist in the air. Some of the swell is in the two-meter range, along with 15 kt SE winds and waves bouncing off the rocky shoreline made for an interesting morning on the water. Carpenter Bay was the most exposed part of the paddle but we all did good and arrived at 2:30 PM at Gona Point which is located on the south shore of Collision Bay. A little latter the sun peaked thru the clouds so my dripping wet tent got an opportunity to dry. This campsite is not very large and backs up to a sheer rock face. The beach is all fairly large rocks and quite steep. Above the high tide line there was bear scat but again we did not see any of those critters. The critters we did experience were hoards of nasty, little, black blood-sucking flies, got to try my new Outdoor Research bug hat, which was very effective. I guess one blessing of the cool weather is there were few mosquitoes to go along with the generous hoard of black flies. Glad to be on dry land with a dry tent and beach fire going. For dinner today we roasted potatoes and carrots, which were very tasty. The rain soon returned and the temps again hover in the upper 40’s low 50’s. Back into the tent to read and get out of the weather. Did something to my right hand today it’s badly swollen and there a strange looking lump where my little finger used to be, doesn’t hurt as if broken but it’s definitely not normal.

Saturday, June 28

Glad to see this bug infested site in my rear view mirror, we are on the water at 8:30 AM after a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and MRE apples. Today’s destination is Swan Island. We paddle on flat calm water but thick fog will be our paddling companion this day. As has been the case today’s temperatures are 50’ish and the rains return at noon. Skincuttle Inlet is a large body of water and is another of the 3 mile + crossings we will paddle on this trip. We round Deluge Point (appropriately named, I might add) and head west out into Skincuttle Inlet towards the Bolkus Island group. We had an up close and personal encounter with several gray whales here, my guess they were less than thirty feet from us, again a very cool experience. The Bolkus Group is a must do, just follow the winding shoreline of this small group of islands as the shallow water is teaming with sea life. The bat star’s are numerous and come in every color of the rainbow. Arriving at Swan Island there was a commercial group there but we had plenty of room on the east side of the island. The skies brightened in the afternoon, beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies spend the next four-day’s with us. Once again the wet tents went up and all was dry in a very short time. We saw many raccoons scurrying about so hang your food here! The humpback whales were passing on both sides of our island campsite all afternoon and into the evening. There were an abundance of songbirds living on this island, which are such a joy to hear at 4:00 am when it starts to get light, real joy. The daylight lasts very long this time of year 4:00 am to 11:00 pm, I’m wondering why I brought several flashlights with me! We end the day with another beach fire. Our plan is to spend two days here.

Sunday, June 29

First time in my life I am awaken this morning by the sound of whales inhaling/exhaling. It is a glorious sunny morning; the ravens are busy searching for breakfast for their squawking young, deer eat the kelp from last nights high tide line and eagles keep a sharp eye on the activity from high in the spruce trees we camp under. For whatever reason this island is seemingly bug free. Following a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and MRE apples the plan was for a slow, easy day paddle in Burnaby Narrows, famous for the abundant sea life. We are in a period of large tidal swings, highs of +21feet to lows of 1.3 feet. Our timing was a bit off, we did not hit Burnaby Narrows at prime viewing time. The huge clouds of moon jellyfish under the water were impressive. We did see our first black bear walking the tide line in the Narrows. We also got acquainted with some local knowledge here, as noted the flood moves the water from south to north. We were paddling at a time to take advantage of the water moving south to north, what we discovered was the water flows into the Narrows from both the north and the south and meets in the middle. Lesson learned: go at slack before the low if possible. We did flag down one of the Moresby Explores boats that were taking a group back to Moresby Camp and asked about the currents in the Narrows. They though it best to go at slack but wern’t really sure. I guess when you have a 150 hp Johnson on the back of your boat you really don’t worry much about which way the water flows. We stopped to fill up our water bottles at Smithe Point which is where the Haida’s Swan Bay Youth Camp is located. After getting our water bottles filled we checked out the youth camp, it’s three Haida’s architecturally styled buildings and we were happy to discover a sign that informed travelers if there was no one using the camp the building were open to all. Only requirement was to respect the site. We then paddled back to our Swan Island campsite, packed up our gear and paddled the quarter mile back to the Youth Camp and moved in for the night. These are very nice, all cedar buildings with four large cedar bed frames in each building plus a nice new eco-friendly outhouse! No bugs bother you in these cedar dwellings, a real plus for the time we spend here. That evening baby seal pups whining for their dinner serenaded us, they sure sound just like human babies. The humpback whales patrolled this side of Skincuttle Inlet until the light faded into darkness. All is good, what a wonderfully peaceful setting, so very different from our so-called ‘real’ life in the Seattle area.

Monday, June 30

Happy birthday to my daughter Cari. This is an absolutely picture perfect morning, bright sunshine and 55 degrees. After downing another breakfast of oatmeal and MRE apples, I’m beginning to wonder about my breakfast selection choice for this trip. Our plan is to paddle Burnaby Narrows at slack before the low hoping to avoid some of the stiff currents we faced yesterday. Today will be the longest paddle of the trip, roughly 18 miles. We will probably miss the Watchman Station on Huxley Island due to our planned route. We are aware that by the time we get to the 5 ½ to 6 mile crossing of Juan Perez Sound we may have the afternoon anabatic winds coming down the mountains to deal with.
Burnaby Narrows is absolutely dead flat calm today, the huge clouds underwater of pale white moon jellies are amazing. Again, today there are a number of whales swimming up and down the shoreline in search of a meal. They are such an impressive animal I stare in awe each time I see them. We paddle to Newberry Point then around into Matheson Inlet looking for a resting place and stream to refill our water bottles. With the abundance of available water we have decided not to carry the weight and fill up at our destination campsites. Today our goal is Ramsay Island where we plan to spend a couple of days. From our campsite you are a 10-minute paddle to the Hot Springs site. After a nice long break in Matheson Inlet we begin the crossing of Juan Perez Sound in bright sunshine and flat, calm water. The temperature is by far the warmest we have experienced on this trip, with a light breeze to our backs it is extremely warm, even hot to paddle and it soon becomes a long, boring slog over to Ramsay Island and our campsite on Ramsay Point. Ramsay Point is a beautiful place to camp, as it ends up, probably my favorite. Here we have another opportunity to camp where the moss is 5” thick and what a nice soft bed that made. Even had a small steam not 30 feet from our campsite so again water was not an issue. That evening we had a couple and their two small kids camped just down the beach from us. This was the first time since our first campsite at Raspberry Cove that we saw any kayakers and as it turn out the last kayakers we saw! Headed over to the hot springs at the Watchman Site early that evening. No one there, we have the hot springs all to ourselves. Due to the cool spring the wild roses are just now blooming and fill the air with their sweet fragrance.

Tuesday, July 1

Today dawn breaks around 4:00 am, not sure why those crazy birds have to get up so early and start their chirping. Bright sunshine and a cloudless day greet us. I eagerly anticipate my oatmeal and MRE apples breakfast, my that pasty substance is yummy. A point of interest, there almost appears to be a forest fire in the San Charistoval Range to the west of us today. Any gaps in the mountain peaks have a thick carpet of fog oozing over them from the westside of the mountains to the eastside. The mountains still have lots of snow in the higher elevations so I’m guessing the warm air rising from the lower elevations clashing with the cold air aloft is creating this condition. Today’s agenda for me is fishing and hot springs. It took me probably 30 minutes to have all the fish our group could eat that evening. I caught three different species of rockfish in the kelp beds 200 yards from our camp. The cost of the fishing license was quickly justified. I kept three 3-4 lbs black rockfish which were seasoned, wrapped in foil and cooked over the campfire. Our team ate very well for dinner this evening. We paddle over to the hot springs around 5:00 pm and again have the showers and hot springs all to ourselves. The thermostat in the hot springs registered at 110 degrees so one soon knows what a lobster feels like. The hot spring water sure feels good on sore muscles and tired bodies. Only hard part of the hot springs experience is they melt your muscles and so thoroughly relax you it tough to paddle the 1-mile back to camp. Before turning in for the evening a quick listen to weather radio suggests a thick blanket of sea fog will be our paddling conditions tomorrow when we break camp and move on. The weatherman also warned of gale forced winds after 10 pm tonight caused by a quick moving low-pressure system with calming winds and fog to be the 6:00 am conditions.

Wednesday, July 2

I’m very impressed by the accuracy of the weather predictors in this region. It blew like stink all night and by 6:00 am the ugly black water and white caps relaxed and the water in Ramsay Pass went flat. No bright sunshine greets us today and the predicted fog is with us although it’s not impacting our vision YET. Can’t wait to gulp down that delicious bowl of oatmeal and MRE apples. Wondering if I add the coffee grounds to the oatmeal if that would make it taste any better. We are packed up and on the water at 9:15 AM this morning with a goal of the Watchman Site at Windy Bay as our planned destination. Paddling around the eastside of Murchison Island, then north, first through the Agglomerate Islands and Tar Islands that appear then quickly disappear in the thick sea fog. The thick fog is extremely disorienting and makes for tough paddling conditions. We are trying not to use our GPS’s at all on this trip. We discuss our planned route and the compass coordinates each day before we jump on the water. Today is the first exception, we did see a sailboat in a small bay close to where we thought Windy Bay was but overshot our destination by about a mile. We paddled just south of Fuller Point in the thick fog. We stop close to the shoreline to discuss next steps when we noticed that large black stump got up and walked away! Yikes. We got out the GPS’s realized we needed to head south back to Gogit Point which is where we saw the sailboat, so off we went. We arrive at Windy Bay at 1:00 pm and despite it’s name it was flat calm. The Watchman assigned to the site had just arrived late the previous evening so they were busy moving in for their 28 day stay and told us to make ourselves at home in the long house. There was a sailboat family and one small group of tourist visiting as we moved our gear into the long house. After 3:00 pm we had the long house all to ourselves, again what a treat. First order of business was to fire up the wood-burning stove and get all our wet gear hung to dry. Our gear is developing a unique fragrance.
Al, the Watchman told us he was a Polish-French Haida, what a character. He was married to a Haida lady who we latter found out is a world famous artist. She travels all over the world, recently to Paris teaching basket weaving techniques. Her basket art sells for thousands of dollars each. By now we have experienced three of the Watchmen site’s and as impressive as the sites are from a historical and cultural perspective it’s the Haida Watchmen and their stories are the most memorable for me. I would not want to play cards with these guy’s I suspect I’d be broke in a heartbeat. Late in the afternoon, Al the Watchmen and his grandson Jason take us on a tour of the magnificent cedar trees located on the site. They are towering cedar specimens many over a thousand years old. We also see many CMT’s (culturally modified trees) along the way. Windy Bay is significant to the Haida as this is the site where they stood up to the logging industry and the Canadian government said no more logging. From that incident Gwaii Haanas became many years later, a Canadian National Park Reserve which today is co-managed by the Haida’s and the Canadian Park services. Anyway, lots of history at this site and well worth the stop, plus it's not everyday you get to sleep in a Haida long house.

Thursday, July 3

The wood stove kept us toasty warm and very comfortable all night. All our gear is dry, packed and ready to go after that scroumpous breakfast of oatmeal and MRE apples is consumed. Windy Bay is located on Windy Bay creek, which is a fast flowing body of water about 20-30 feet wide. Home to the largest salmon run in the Charlottes I later discovered. This morning the low is early in the morning so we load our boats and walk them a ¼ mile down the creek to Windy Bay and deeper water. That was a nice morning workout, got us sweating before we started to paddle. We shove off at 10:15AM for today’s destination of Tanu Island and the Watchman site at Tanu. It’s only 9 ½ miles from Windy Bay to Tanu but again the heavy, thick sea fog is with us. The weatherman said little wind; lot’s of fog and less than one-meter swell in Hecate Strait with a promise of things will change tomorrow. We pass Fuller Point where yesterday we saw the big black stump (bear) get up and amble off, then Dodge Point on our northerly path to Tanu. We stick close together as we paddle today with the only sounds the paddles entering the water, porpoises inhaling and what I guess to be salmon jumping. The fog is so very disorienting to paddle in. We take the long way to our campsite as we paddled around the east side then north side of Kuna Island over to the Watchmen site at Tanu. One group, who we have seen a couple of times on the sailboat are just completing their tour as we arrive. The Watchmen told us groups rent the sailboat and driver who sails them to each of the Watchmen sites for roughly $300-$400 a per day per passenger. Actually, you motor from one watchmen site to the next was my observation. At Tanu, Haida Watchmen Paul who is I’d guess in his early 70’s tells us stories mostly related to the consumption of alcohol and his wife. Seems his wife enthusiastically supported his decision to spend two 28-day stints at the Watchmen sites this summer, go figure. Watchmen Steve is a 35-year-old Haida from Masset and provides us with a very informational tour. This is his first summer as a watchman and it’s obvious he had done his homework. Tanu was once a heavily populated Haida site where the people got rich from the fur trade. There is evidence of several very large long houses along with smaller family long houses and many standing totems. I had to smile at Watchmen Steve’s t-shirt, which read “Haida Homeland Security”. Couldn’t be poking a bit of fun at those neighbor’s to the south of Canada, could he? When I returned to Queen Charlotte City I looked all over for one of those t-shirts but none were to be had. After the tour we filled up our water containers and headed over to a big, flat black sand (yes I said sand) beach on the southwestern tip of Kuna Island. Similar to all the beach’s we camped on, this site I’m sure gets quite a few visitors but there is no evidence that anyone had ever been here. No campfire debris, plastic bottles, paper or any of civilization’s pollution is evident. We did have lots of neighbor’s in the trees surrounding our camp that kept a careful eye on us. The bald eagles line the trees above our camp as did a half dozen other large birds in the trees, I assume they are Golden Eagles as they are noticeably larger than the bald eagles. Interesting through out the afternoon, evening and as the sun set one variety of bird was carefully watching the other who was watching another right down the tree line. Every once in awhile one eagle would chirp at one another. When we got up the next morning they were all still in the exact same spot keeping a watchful eye on one another.

Friday, July 4

Another opportunity to have oatmeal and MRE apples drives me to be up at 6:00 am, enjoy my breakfast, pack up the gear and be ready to go by 7:30 AM. We have a long 15-mile plus mile exposed paddle and we’ll be crossing two large multi-mile bodies of water. First Laskeek Bay and then the eastern portion of Selwyn Inlet . The weatherman cautioned that there are gale warnings forecast for later this afternoon with southeast winds in the 25K-35K range. Winds from that direction will be a challenge for us. On the water at 7:45 AM for our planned ‘ as the crow flies’ paddle to Skedans and the Watchman site there. We take advantage of both the current and the Hecate Strait sea breeze that aids our journey north. We paddle to the east of Flower Pot Island, Porter Head the northern boundary of Gwaii Haanas , then past Heming Head to a rest stop on the west side of Limestone Island. The wind is steadily rising and as we are leaving the protection of Limestone Island it’s a true 3-½ mile storm paddle. We experience three-foot + wind waves, two-meter swell and waves rebounding from the rocky face of Louise Island. I remind myself to relax and let this awesome boat do its thing but find myself firmly gripping the Werner paddle in my hands. Arriving at Skedans around 12:30 PM and gladly set foot on tera-firma. One of the protocols is to call the Watchmen before you land but they understood and were actually surprised to see kayakers out in these conditions. There was one group of tourists who had just completed their tour and were now chowing down on lunch and drinking copious amounts of hot tea and coffee. Soon they were headed back out to their tour boat, into the wind and cold rain for a ride back to Moresby Camp. The Watchmen offered us their warm home and we readily accepted their hospitality. We were asked to wait for a second group of six tourists who were on their way from Moresby Camp so we could all take the village tour together. After an hour the second group arrived and out we went into the wind and rain, oh yeah by now the temperature had dropped into 40’s degree range and it’s the 4th of July! It took all of about 10 minute before my kayaking partners and I were on the verge of hypothermia. We had gone from sweating during the long paddle over to quite cool once out of the boats to nice and warm in the Watchmen’s home to now freezing. The Hiada’s stayed in their cozy cabin and allowed a 23 year-old young lady from Moresby Explorers to do the tour. She was by far the most knowledgeable tour guide of all the Watchmen sites that we encountered. Had we not been freezing it would have been a much more enjoyable experience. After an hour in a cold downpour the folks in the tour decided they had had enough education and trotted off to the Watchmen’s cabin for their lunch and hot beverages. We poor, freezing kayakers stayed out in the wind and rain until the tourists were done with their lunch. One of the Watchmen suggested they might just allow us to stay in their almost completed, brand new cabin but we would have to wait for all tourists to leave and then the three Watchmen would discuss it and make a decision. The wind by now at full gale force, howling through the tree’s and it’s raining sideways. We were not looking forward to a 1-mile paddle back to the closest campsite. We could see the waves were much larger and continuing to build then they where when we arrived and the current off the east end of Skedan’s Point was chaotic and actually quite scary looking. As soon as final tourist boat of the day left the Watchmen let us know we could stay in their new building, which by the way was complete with wood burning stove. What a wonderful place to spend a stormy afternoon and evening. From the window in the room I spent the night I looked directly out onto a potlatch pole with 13 rings and a mortuary pole, quite a view. We drag all of our gear up to our luxury suite and begin the drying process once again. Two of us decide to paddle our now empty kayaks from the south beach where we landed around the east end of Skedans Point to the north beach. A short but dynamic ride to say the least. With the kayaks emptied and firmly secured for the evening we relaxed and thawed out in our cabin. At 9:30 pm there is a knock on the door and one of the Watchmen brings us a tray of just baked cookies, what a tasty treat. Again it’s the people we meet that really enhance the experience and the Haida’s are warm, sharing folks.
Read “Born at Kuna” and you will have a much better understanding of the history of this site
If you travel to the Haida Gwaii, Skedans is another must see destination, rugged yet beautiful.

Saturday, July 5

It was so stormy last night we could not get a radio signal to hear the weather forecast for today. After a night in our warm cabin all is right with the world this morning. The wind has subsided although there are still measurable swell crashing on the beach below our cabin. Looks like we’ll have an opportunity for a surf launch today. But first, oatmeal and MRE apples need to be consumed, then the ritualistic packing process begins anew. Our dry gear is packed before we trudge down to the water and load the boats. The rain really came down last night, there was a metal roof on the cabin and we could hear each drop drumming on the roof. The weatherman tells us the wind will be out of the southeast in the 15-20K range today, subsiding later in the afternoon. Swell will be 2 to 3+ meters on the eastern end of Cumshewa Inlet. We will be traveling westerly in the wind shadow of Louise Island so after getting on the water and paddling about a mile we should be fine. With the boats getting lighter we don’t have to be so precise in using every available inch of space. After thanking our gracious and generous hosts one more time we safely execute our first surf launch and are on the water by 8:30 AM. As predicted the swell was quite large but it was a blast paddling in, we had the wind, current and swell pushing us smartly towards today’s destination of Mathews Creek and logging ‘ghost village’ of New Kluu.
We paddle 9 NM in bright sunshine with a plan to set up camp on the high banks of Mathews Creek. I’m not sure what designates a creek, vs. a stream, vs. a river but this creek was probably 30 feet across and had a very strong current. After arriving we had to spend about an hour waiting for the tide to rise which eased the unloading of the boats process . There are miles of long flat sandy beaches and dragging heavy kayaks up to the campsite was not in our plans. Should you stop here be vigilant as once the water starts to rise it does so in a hurry. A lesson to always tie up your boat was again re-learned by the three of us. We had waited the hour and paddled up Mathews Creek to our campsite and while lugging our gear ashore and putting up tents we had three kayaks floating off by themselves. Fortunately with the flow of the creek going in one direction and the flooding current going in the opposite direction the boats did not go far. This is the location of a long abandoned logging site. There are at least 20 marble grave markers in the sunken, moss-covered graveyard. The grave markers are still fairy easy to read, most noting the name, age and year of death. Several, like Captain Skedans gravestone noted that he ‘tried to be a good Christian’. There are also the moss covered, decomposing remains of 12 to 15 ‘steam mules’ their Firestone tires look good as new on crumbling wooden wheels and spokes. You could easily see the brakes and clutch peddles of these machines under the thick layer of moss. On one of the ‘steam mules’ there were a pair of boots, kind of eerie sight. It appeared to me the 5:00pm whistle blew one Friday evening and the work crew went home never to return. All of this equipment ran on wood rails and was used in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s to haul logs down to the water, corralled into log booms for transport to Queen Charlotte City and eventually the mainland.

Just down the beach there is a seal that washed up on shore, I count 18 eagles taking their turn at the carcass. If you are observant you will see a large spruce tree at this campsite with what looks to be a 1-ton eagle nest in it. We build a big beach fire on the final night of this grand adventure to commemorate the successful conclusion of a great trip.

Sunday, July 6

Up at 6:00 am to another pretty morning, the rays of sunlight are forming streaks as they shine through high clouds. The oatmeal and MRE apples taste almost as yummy as it did yesterday but today is the last time for that breakfast as tomorrow it will be a restaurant with eggs and bacon and many cup’s of brewed coffee ’s for me.
I am packed and on the calm water at 7:30 AM this morning for the 10nm paddle back to where this journey began, Morresby Camp. I arrive at 11:30 in a cold down pour, a fitting end to today’s paddle and this trip. The trip ends far too quickly, I guessing it’s a 120 – 130 miles of paddling we did on. I’m happy to have successfully accomplished this trip after months of planning, happy for the wealth of new experiences, knowledge gained and wonderful people I both paddled with and encountered along the way. I must also admit that resting sore muscles, not sleeping in a tent, hot showers, cold beers and a greasy hamburger that I won’t have to share with bugs is also appealing at this time.

My list of things I might/should do the next time:
1) Try on ALL your cloths before you go, I took 2 left hand paddling gloves
2) Be aware of the QC weather reporting stations, didn’t have a clue where most of the reporting stations were located.
3) Kept better track of barometer readings

Smart things list:
1) Good skilled partners are great for long trips( 14 water days )
2) Get a promenade cabin $60 especially for the QC-P Rupurt run
3) Plan for non-paddle day’s
4) No need to drag along tons of water
5) Bug spray will come in handy
6) Stop at all the Watchmen sites
7) If you take Moresby Explorers they will offer you a rain coat – take it!
8) Get all your reservations set as early as possible, we made ferry, Haida orientation, hotel and Moresby Explorers reservations is late February to early March.

Rough costs for this trip:
1) Ferry with cabin US $680.00
2) Gwaii Haanas Park Permit US $125.00
3) Moresby Explorers US $325.00
4) Gas to/from and around the Queen Charlottes US $525.00
5) Food is quite expensive in the Queen Charlottes as are groceries

Additional pic's can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29042198@N05/

References:
Rob Robinson and Chip Queitzsch Trip Report from 2002.
Shawna & Leon of BBB presentation of their QC circumnavigation 2006
Gwaii Haanas – National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site visitor guide

Haida Gwaii Journey Through the Queen Charlotte Islands by Ian Gill
Spirit Faces by Gary Wyatt
A Guide to the Queen Charlotte Island by Neil Carey
Ninstints by George MacDonald
Raven’s Cry by Christie Harris
The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
Haida Gwaii by Dennis Horwood and Tom Parkin
A Haida Potlatch by Ulli Steltzer
Masks of the Northwest Coast by P. Macnair R Joseph and B Grenville
The Weather of the Queen Charlottes

Those Born at Kuna

Hummingbirds and Wild Roses Paddle

2008-05-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

May 16-19, 2007

Rob and I launched from North Beach on Orcas Island, WA for the 9 mile paddle to Clark Island State Park. We planned on a four day trip spending Friday and Saturday on Clark then jumping on the flood Sunday morning for the trip to Succia Island. We followed the shoreline on Orcas taking full advantage of the back eddy that runs close to the shoreline during the flood. This is a full moon weekend so the currents were nice and strong. We arrived at Clark in early afternoon and set up our camp, as you can see by the attached picture some of the local residents turned their backs on us. The weather is absolutely beautiful with blue skies and 75 degrees. My formerly white skin is a now a nice reddish color as I forgot to apply sunscreen before jumping on the water. Due to the late spring and very cool weather the wild roses are not in bloom yet ( darn) but there as still a lot of hummingbirds buzzing around. If you do this paddle when the wild roses are in bloom you will see hundreds and hundreds of hummingbirds on this small island.

We spent two days here in the sun, visiting with boaters and fellow kayakers who were enjoying our areas first taste of summer. I did bring my fishing gear along and managed to catch ( and release) several beautiful rock fish.

Sunday we jumped on the flood at 12:30 for the 10.5 mile paddle arriving on Succia Island at 3:00ish. Along the way we were twice surrounded by large pods of hunting porpoises.. very cool... When we arrived at Fox Cove on Succia we were the only two campers. A few sailboats were spending the night in the next bay but we had peace and quiet except for the crows, seagulls, eagles, cormorants, blue herons and many varieties of song birds that call the island home. Sunday evening a group of eight paddlers arrived, they were a group of friends who paddle over from North Beach just to have dinner ( wine and cheese ) then paddled back home. After all was quiet we saw a river otter which is now the third year in a row we have seen that family, they seem to be doing well.

Monday we were up at 5:30 to the call of the pesty crows, this day dawns cloudy with a few intermittent rain sprinkles. A beautiful rainbow has formed over the Canadian mountains to our west, very nice. After coffee and oatmeal the boats are packed and we are headed back to the 'real' world arriving back at North Beach at 8:15am and we have plenty of time to pack the car and catch the 10:20 ferry back to Anacortes.

Go visit the San Juan Island before or after the busy the summer months, you will enjoy...

Magnuson Park Paddle 4-20-2008

2008-04-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

Nice (?) spring day in the Puget Sound ! It's snowing again today, when will we ever see the sun again ? Paddled today from Holmes Pt Park across Lake Washington to Seattle Raft & Kayak then north along Sand Point and Magnuson Park. Took some pictures of the nuclear sub fins which are now part of a peace park. If you get a chance visit the park it's pretty cool. The local raccoons seem to enjoy the park..

Mercer Is WA. 4-18-2008

2008-04-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

We planned to paddle on the Sound today but 25K + winds and heavy rain mixed with snow changed our minds. Rob, Dave and I paddled from Lincoln Landing on Mercer east to the I-90 bridge and back. This is APRIL and it snowing in the mountains, even have 1-3 inches on the ground at sea-level, crazy! Turned out to be a beautiful day to paddle, as they all are. Saw a couple of immature eagles patrolling the water which is always a pleasant sight to see. Post paddle discussion continued at the Roanoke tavern over fish & chips and a pitcher of Fat Tire.

Lake Sammamish WA 4/11/08

2008-04-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Feels like spring is finally making it to our great state of Washington. Paddled today with my mentor and good friend Rob R. on Lake Sammamish. Rob has turned into a Harley ridding snowbird for the winter months so today's paddle was a slow easy paddled followed by a couple of Dead Man's and a cheeseburger at the Issaquah Brew House. Took a couple of pictures which would indicate the local beaver population appears to be recovering quite well which I suspect is much to the dismay of some of the local landowners. Was a beautiful sunny 55 degree day. Another indication of spring is the Great Blue Huron rookery on the southern shore of the lake which was very active with expectant parents working on their nests.

April 12 WKC Paddle

2008-04-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I lead a WKC (Washington Kayak Club)trip ( see 3/29 post) and it snowed, rained, hailed and even had sun breaks on the group of nine paddlers. On today's paddle most of the same paddlers showed up and we were greeted with 75 degrees and bright sunshine. We paddled into a 10-12K breeze as we headed north after launching at Seahurst SP in Burien WA. Our goal was to paddle north to Anderson Park in Seattle which is right next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock. All went smooth until we attempted to paddle under the ferry dock at which time the local Homeland Security enforcer threatened us, so we had to paddle out and around the dock. We had the opportunity to watch a peregrine falcon work the shoreline in search of lunch, always a very cool spectacle. At Anderson Park a lone bald eagle was perched high in a dead tree along the shoreline keeping an eye on all the happenings below and of course dodging the pesty blackbirds that was dive bombing it.
With the breeze and current aiding our trip back to Seahurst this leg of the trip only took an hour and twenty minutes.

March 29 WKC Paddle

2008-03-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

This was first WKC (Washington Kayak Club) paddle which I lead this 2008 season. Last night we had wind and snow in the lowlands plus the usual ton'o'snow in the mountains. I was kind of surprised Saturday morning that there where 8 out of the 10 paddlers who signed up for the trip present and accounted for, hardy souls! The forecast was for diminishings winds (10k max), a stray rain/snow shower or two and conditions improving over the next 2-3 days. Launching at Salt Water SP @ 10:00 am for a paddle west along the shoreline down to Redondo. With the sun shinning brightly across the water on Maury Islands Pt. Robinson we paddled thru some bright sunhine followed by a stray rain/hail shower before stopping for a lunch break. The wind and current aided our 45 minute trip back to Salt Water. We were greeted by a pair of eagles, one adult and a juvenile eagle searching for a salmon lunch on our return trip. We got off the water just as a another rain squal passed over us. A good spring Puget Sound paddle, rain, sun, hail, wind and calm.

Mercer Island Circumnavigation 3/8/08

2008-03-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

Jumped on the water at Lincoln Landing which is located on the north end of Mercer Island, WA. The day is overcast, it's 48 degrees and the time is 11:45am. A great Puget Sound winter day to paddle around the island. Headed south down the west side of the lake then back north along the east side. They keep building bigger and bigger houses along the waterfront, guess the recession hasn't got this crowd. Rounding the south end of the lake it looked like the Boeing plant was busy cranking out 737's there where four of them in the their bright green skin setting on the run way. The Seahawks new training facility on the Renton side of the lake is a very large addition to the shoreline, can't say it adds any aesthetic beauty.. Sun pops out as I near the I-90 bridge to make the last few miles an opportunity to soak up some vitamin D.. I don't see many wintering birds today. Note the cormorants are on guard duty perched on the 'No Wake' buoys that dot the shoreline. The bright yellow daffodils and the redbuds along the shoreline are blooming, the flowering plum and crab apple trees are not far behind. Yep, looks like spring is on her way. That reminds me I have to spring the clocks forward today too! It took me 2 hours and 35 minutes to paddle the 12 1/2 miles today, not bad for a spring tune up paddle.............

In honor of Mary Paddle

2008-03-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

One of my kayaking buds, Mary is nearing the end of a beautiful, productive life. Her family is hosting a 'share and laugh, story, a memory' party for her. I figured I would jump in my boat and as I paddle note everything I experienced on the water today which would be my story to share with Mary. I left from Salt Water SP paddled west past Redondo, WA and towards the Narrows bridge. Sunny calm morning, 55 degrees some fog over the Sound. Took this picture of a freighter headed north towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca..... a ship disappearing in the fog, kind of like a long friendship moving on to the next stop..

Borrow and Allen Island Paddle

2008-03-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

Just another winter day in the Puget Sound ! Today the temps were in the low 50's with a little hazy sunshine. Three of us launched from Washington Park (which is close to Anacortes, WA.) and paddled down along the west side of Burrows Island. We stopped at the abandoned light house then proceded south down along the west side of Allen Island. From Allen we ventured down and around Williamson Rocks which is protected and is part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness Area. There we saw lounging seals, eagles and many species of birds. Be aware the currents can make paddling in this area!

Jan1 2008 Happy New Year Paddle

2008-01-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today was the third annual New Year's Day paddle I have organized and what fun we had. It was a balmy day for these parts and when compared to the last two New Year's day paddles is was down right tropical. 48 degrees, 10-15k winds out of the south and we even had a few sun breaks. Eight hearty souls launched at Alki Beach in West Seattle and paddled the 12 miles over to and around Blake Island. A nice stop at the Washingotn watertrails park on Blake for hot toddies hit the spot. There were several paddlers we talked to who camped out to watch the Seattle fireworks. They had a great view..

December 2007 Sucia Island paddle

2007-12-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Leaving from Orcas Island in Washington State the day after Christmas my paddling partner and I planned to spend three day's paddling around Sucia Island SP and Patos Island BUT the weather God's had another plan. Leaving on Wednesday from North Beach we paddled under a beautiful blue sky with a light breeze. What a day!! The Canadian mountains in the distance shone brilliantly wrapped in their beautiful winter coat of white. An easy two mile paddle over to Fox Cove on Sucia to set up tents on this sunny afternoon. Finding a campsite was no problem other than the ranger and his family we had the entire island to ourselves. If you ever want to see sand stone formations crafted by thousands of years of wind and waves this is a place to observe that beauity.
Well aware that the weather was going to take a drastic turn towards winter conditions later that evening we were glad to get the tents set up in the sunshine. We did take the opportunity to check out the 10,000+ year old fish, oyster and clam fossils on EV Henry Point. Well worth the hike if you get over to Sucia. Loads of oyster catcher were picking over the rocks on their never ending search for lunch. Eagles, seagulls and cormorants kept us company along with a couple of seals that seemed interested in our presence.
As advertised winter came with a vengeance that evening 30-35 knot winds, snow, sleet and rain as a deep low pressure system passed. Thursday was not a day to paddle so a hike from our campsite up to Ewing Cove on the northeast corner of Sucia was the order of the day. All during our hike the winds were howling and rain was flying sideways but it was a lot warming hiking then setting in a tent reading. Last night was cold and tonight will even be chillier ! Listening to the weather the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca had 15+ swell and 5 ft wind waves which was all heading our way for Saturday. A weather window of 15-20 mph winds was forecasted for Friday morning, checking the Washbourne tables also suggested the currents would be favorable around 10am so that was the plan. Friday morning as predicted the wind did subside after another extremely windy, cold night. A few patches of blue sky greeted Friday morning. Packed and on the water by 9:30 the wind was blowing 20 mph out of the west southwest which made the water quite jobbly as we passed between little and big Sucia Islands. Good to get the adrenalin pumping at the beginning of the paddle. A little planning, some warm clothing and a good weather awareness this paddle is a great winter paddle.

Deception Pass Dash

2007-12-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

The good folks at Seattle Raft and Kayak held their second annual "Deception Pass Dash" on Sunday December 2. An interesting weekend weather wise around this part of the country, 4+ inches of rain after it snowed 6 + inches Saturday, hurricane force winds with 38 ft swell off the coast and I was thinking no way the Dash is going to happen this weekend for the 104 paddlers who signed up for the race. Fortunately the kayak gods were smiling and gave the SRK folks a long enough weather window to get the event in. What fun, under overcast skies, 35 degrees, spitting snow flakes and 10-15kt winds ( and building ) in the pass 76 racers took off at 9:45am. I finished 44th in a death defying time of 88 1/2 minutes to cover the 6 1/2 miles..

Guemes Island Paddle

2007-11-09T19:05:00.001-08:00

Another picture perfect Puget Sound day to paddle. Took off this morning at 8:45 launching at a little park next to the Guemes Island ferry dock in Anacortes, WA. My paddling partner and I experienced 15 kt SW winds, dead calm, a lite shower or two and a couple of sunbreaks, a normal Mid November day for this part of the country. We paddled counter clockwise trying to take advantage of the currents on this full moon day. Took a break on Strawberry Island at the Washington Water Trails site which is a beautiful site. Next break we took was at Young Park on the north end of Guemes Island another beautiful park. The park is named after Vietnam war Congressional Medal award honoree. On this leg we saw a very large bull California sea lion fishing for salmon, several pairs of eagles, seals and loads of birds returning for the winter. After the break we headed south and back to our put in arriving at 1:30pm. The Olympic mountains were dazzling as the sun reflected off their new coating of snow. This paddle covered 15.75 statute miles..

Shaw Island, WA Oct 2007

2007-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

On this beautiful fall day a couple of paddlers circumnavigated Shaw Island in Washington State's San Juan Island group. We launched at the marina in Deer Harbor at 8:15 am under bright blue skies. With the direction of the currents we decided to take full advantage of the flow and head around the west side of Shaw. Not a lot of building on this beautiful island so the waterfront looks faily prestine. A land conservencey along the south and east sides of the island has prevented most development, very much appreciated. As we traveled around the north side of the island we stopped for a break at Blind Island SP which is another nice place for the paddle-powered community to take advantage of. There is also a WWTA site on the island so canoe's and kayakers can camp overnight. We finished our paddle 4 hours and 15 minutes after we started back in Deer Harbor. We traveled 17 1/2 miles.

Hat (Gedney) Island Paddle

2007-10-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

This is a nice 14-15 mile paddle you should try. In the ' off season ' which really never happens for kayakers. This is an easy location IE: short carry from your car to the water, to start a trip. On Sunday, Oct 7 the weather forecast was for 15-20kt gusting to 25 southerly winds so we timed our paddle during an ebb hoping for some big wind waves to play in. We were rewarded with some very stiff wind and waves on the east side of Hat. FYI you can sneak a landing on the north side of the island but landing is frowned upon by the islanders. On our return my paddling partner and I practiced some rolls and rescues for the beach goers who stare in wonder. Well actually they were wondering about our sanity ! One caution is to stay well clear of the Washington State ferries which run between Mukilteo and Clinton.

Successful Circumnavigation of Whidbey Island!

2007-09-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

The following post is from an email from Bill who is home safe and sound after what is in my view (Mike) a significant accomplishment.

Up at 4:45 am cooked the oatmeal, drank the coffee and packed all the wet gear as it had rained most of the night.

The boats were packed and we were on our way at 5:45 am with no breeze and a very fine mist falling. Paddling in the darkness they were surprised by the very bright luminescence, each stroke and the boat wake was outlined in a greenish/yellowish glow, How Very Cool !!
As the day broke the predicted 10-15K NM wind did kick in which rapidly propelled them south. The wind waves were 1-2 ft with an occasional 3 footer to aid our surfing lessons.
Stopped briefly at the end of Camano Island of one last refreshment break before we hit the final leg of the journey. We passed to the west of Hat (Gedney) Island and after dodging one big assed pleasure boat they landed at 9:40 am from where the trip started at the Mukilteo waterfront park.
They traveled just over 17 miles today. Test of the trip, the two paddlers are still good friends and planning the next grand adventure !

Camano Island State Park

2007-09-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Bill & Rob arrived at Camano Island after a long days paddle. They left at about 7:30 am and didn't arrive at Camano until 3:30 pm. They had to zig zag their route, to try to avoid paddling into the wind and current. They ended up doing about 25 miles. They crossed from Whidbey Island to Camano Island at Strawberry Point in the rain and fog. It was a very gray day with visability under a mile. They were concerned with all the large power boats traveling home after the weekend. On the east side of Whidbey adjacent to the Navel Air Station there is a long strech of undeveloped shortline which is inhabited by a very large colony of Great Blue Hurons that squawked their approval as Rob and Bill paddled by. All is well and the rain stopped long enough for them to setup a dry camp. They will be back at the starting point of their journey tomorrow.

Skagit Island

2007-09-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Bill & Rob had a great day of paddling on Saturday with no wind and no fog. They started out at 7:50 am and arrived at Skagit island at 1:15 pm. There was a bit of swell coming down the Strait of Juan de Fuca to keep them alert. The traveled through Deception Pass with some ebb current flowing and had to thread their way through fishing boats making sure they didn't get caught up in their lines. They saw their first kayaker on the water today, there has been little congestion on the water. They camped at the WWTA site on Skagit Island SP and enjoying a gorgeous evening. They assumed the locals were celebrating their arrival on Skagit as there was a polka band playing in the distance that evening and a short fireworks show. Nice touch the locals are friendly. I've included a photo of the Deception pass bridge.

Joseph Whidbey State Park

2007-09-14T17:46:00.001-07:00

Bill & Rob arrived safely at Joseph Whidbey State Park as planned and camped at the WWTA site. The plan was to leave the first campsite, paddle the 7 miles up to Keystone Ferry dock, take a break and grab a high fat sugar laced junk food breakfast with lots of coffee but the restrauant was closed..bummer!! Again it was foggy in the morning and then burned off about 1pm. On one stretch the currents were with them and they traveled 7 miles in an hour. Then the next 6 miles took them 2 1/2 hours. They are only about 8 miles from Deception Pass and plan to pass through during slack current. Other than the fog, the weather continues to be favorable with another day of ZERO wind. Fortunately there was a little swell coming down the Strait which created a bit of texture on the water. They saw another group of pelicans today!!( Starting to think Florida !). Bill attributes the mild weather conditions to his wearing his Body Boat Blade hat. I've included a satellite photo of their location.

Somewhere between Bush Pt. and Lagoon Pt.

2007-09-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Bill & Rob spent most of the day paddling in the fog. The Sound was absolutely flat not a breeze on the water. They could hear the ships in the shipping channel of Puget Sound but were safely on the shore of Whidbey, so it was not a cause of concern. According to Rob's GPS they traveled 21 miles today. They left Mukilteo around 7:40am and got to their camp between Bush and Lagoon Points about 6 hours later. They saw loads of shore birds, porpoise and seals on the trip. Also a first was several pelicans they paddled by today. On one occasion a set of sea lions put on a show, they were jumping out of the water attempting to catch fish.

I've attached a Google Earth satellite photo with a pin showing their approximate location.

Whidbey Circumnavigation

2007-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Planning Sessions: Sept 3 2007: We have had two planning sessions to discuss tides and currents, camping options, 'what if scenarios', shared responsibilities and of course that we are still both comfortable with the chosen route and the mileage required to keep on plan. This information will be captured and shared on our float plan. In preparation for this paddle I have worked a couple of 'on the water' rescues/recoveries sessions and paddled four consecutive days of 15k + paddles just to see how the muscles feel. I don't think the mileage will be a problem although I did feel some tender muscles after the fourth day. During my preparation paddles my focus has been the mental aspect of the paddle, attempting to concentrate on technique and form. Next week I plan a few long paddles, work another rescue/recovery session and finalize float plan details. I think I'm good to go!
I have packed and re-packed for the trip, focusing on minimizing weigth, just taking what's necessary and nothing else.

The Paddle Plan: August 20, 2007 Rob and I will launch from the waterfront park in Mukilteo, Washington on Thursday September 13, 2007 in the 07:00 timeframe and paddle up the westside of Whidbey Island. Paddling the westside first we will get the exposed and longer "trip legs" out of the way. The westside is a bit more tricky as there are a fewer places to camp legally, so we may just have to stroll in at dusk. The east side of the island offers more options to optimize travel should conditions become problematic plus we can take advantage of campsites and bailout points on both Whidbey Island and neighboring Camano Island. We plan on taking five days, enjoying the water, sites, smells and wild life and the freedom from the 'norm' this trip will provide for us. This is not a race (second largest island in the continental United States)for us as every day on the water is one less day parked in an office cube :) .
Day 1 Thursday paddle Mulilteo to Bush Point area.
Day 2 Friday Bush Point to Joseph Whidbey SP.
Day 3 Saturday Joseph Whidbey SP to (thru Deception Pass) Skagit Island.
Day 4 Sunday Skagit Island to Camano Island SP at WWTA site
Day 5 Monday Camano Island SP back to Mukilteo.

Vashon & Maury Island Circumnavigation

2007-08-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Departed from the marina in Des Moines at 9:45 a.m. on a 45 degree Friday morning February 16. Paddled the 2+ miles across the Sound to Pt. Robinson on the far eastern shore of Maury Island. Heading southeast along the shoreline we crossed Quartermaster Harbor before turning north into Colvos Passages. We arrived at our planned campsite, the Washington Water Trails Park at Lisabeula on Vashon Island at 2:00 p.m. Tents were up and everything made ready for the night just before the rain started falling. One of the locals shared the very interesting history of how the park was transitioned from an artist colony to a park. First days paddle was about 16 miles.

Saturday’s weather forecast was for a sunny and warm 60-degree morning. Conditions were predicted to change in the early afternoon as a storm front approached carrying with it 30 to 40 mph winds. Leaving Lisabuela at 9:00 a.m. in a light morning fog that almost obscures a brilliant sunrise. The water is perfectly flat as we paddle north. We arrive at the Vashon ferry dock at 10:45 a.m. for a break. The Mexican restaurant at the dock is closed so it will have to be another peanut butter sandwich lunch along the way. Turning south around Dolphin Point, Mt Rainer with two cap clouds hovering over it’s peak stands out brilliantly in the bright sunlight. Following a lunch break at Pt. Heyer, our next stop was at Pt. Robinson, which completed our planned circumnavigation. We arrived in perfectly calm sunny conditions back at the Des Moines Marina at 2:30 in the afternoon. The timing of the weather change was a couple of hours latter than the prediction. At 6:00 p.m. the weather bureau reported wind speeds of 45 knots between Vashon Island and Fauntleroy, was good to be off the water! Total paddle for the two days was approximately 32 miles.

A December Paddle

2007-08-08T07:10:00.001-07:00

Tuesday December 26 we arrive at Joemma SP and what luck, no parking problems at all, in fact the parking lot is completely empty!! We launch at 10:30am in a light rain. It is 45 degrees and a 10-15 knot wind is blowing out of the North, so far everything is working to plan. At noon we arrived at Bishop Point at the south end of Hartstene Island where the nice push we enjoyed suddenly ended. We had to put in some extra effort as we crossed Peale Passage to Squaxin Island paddling against the current and wind. As we rounded the south end of Squaxin there were large congregations of wintering birds. Arriving at Hope Island SP around 1:30pm we again were in luck as every campsite on the island was available. After putting up the tents in a steady rain, we jumped back in the boats and paddled around Hope Island and over to the west side of Squaxin Island for some exploring, again the number and variety of wintering birds was impressive. The afternoon and night proved to be a very good test for staying dry. The light rain turned into a driving all-night rain, (Boston Harbor reported 1.75 inches). The first day’s paddle covered 12.3 nm.

Wednesday morning broke with scattered clouds and a forecast of sun for the next two day’s, oh boy! our gear may actually dry out. It doesn’t get light until 7:30am at this time of the year so the boats were packed and back on the water just past the crack of dawn, 10:30am sharp. Today, we paddle into a light northerly breeze launching from Hope Island heading around the south end and up the eastside of Squaxin Island. Squaxin has been wonderfully protected by the Squaxin Indian tribe from development and is for the most part pristine. Eagles, blue herons, cormorant, gulls, kingfishers, ducks, ducks and more ducks abound. At 1:15pm we take a lunch break at the Lattimer Bridge in Pickering Passage. Back on the water at 1:30pm and off to Jerrell Cove SP we go, arriving at 2:35pm. Again we were extremely lucky to find every campsite available. The day is clear and sunny so tonight will be very chilly, temperatures predicted are for the upper 20’s, there is a light coating of frost on the dock and it’s only 4:30 pm!! Jerrell Cove is a beautifully well-maintained park, it had indoor bathrooms and water available but the HOT showers were unfortunately shut off for the season. The second day’s paddling covered 13.1 nm.

Thursday dawns a very cold, 25-degree foggy morning. The moisture from last night’s fog has left a frozen glaze on everything. With the aid of a hot breakfast and several cups of hot coffee to knock the chill off, we complete the hand numbing cold task of packing the tents this morning. We are on the water at 9:30am in a breeze-less foggy morning. Soon the fog begins to burn off revealing a bright blue sky. We arrive at McMicken Island SP at 11:15am for a quick break and a little exploring. At 11:30am we are back on the water heading for our starting and ending destination, Joemma Beach SP. Mt. Rainier is in perfect alignment with our destination and looks brilliant in the winter sun, a perfect ending to three fun filled paddling days. The final day’s paddle covered 11.2nm.

Paddling & the Blue Angles

2007-08-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Had a great day on Lake Washington Saturday August 4th. Ten Washington Kayak Club paddlers practiced our rolls, recoveries, rescues, wet exits and a variety of strokes for two and a half hours under 75 degree bright blue skies. This is a slice of heaven !! After our practice session we took a break and a quick picnic lunch then it was back on the water and a 1/4 miles paddle off the northwest end of Mercer Island to watch the Blue Angles perform their magic. I get goosebumps every time I see them perform and to be so close on their fly over's is a real noisy treat! Go America !!

Splash and Thrash

2007-07-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Kayakers,

If your interested in trying your rolls, recoveries etc there is a group of us meet every Thursday afternoon around 4 PM on the north side of Mercer Island (East of Seattle) at Lincoln Landing. Your most welcome to join us.
Here's directions to Lincoln Landing: heading west on I90,take the 2nd Mercer Island exit (Island Way). At theexit continue straight through the lights past thepark n ride, etc. until you come to the stop sign at76th (if you continued straight here you would go backonto the freeway). Turn right and immediately right again, then immediately left into the road end park(76th and 22nd).

July 14 Washington Park to Friday Harbor

2007-07-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

A group of WKC paddlers took off from Washington Park (Anacortes, WA) on a bright summer day. The current down Rosario Strait quickly took us to the southeast side of Lopez Is, WA. Three hours after we launched we were at Iceburg Point having lunch with another group of paddlers. After a nice sunny lunch on a log, the 7 singles and two double kayaks headed to Cattle Pass and it's 5.4 kt currents and whirlpools. We arrived in Friday Harbor at 3:15pm just enough time to grab a quick beer and jump on the ferry. Great day and a good first time experience for 5 of the paddlers. A first time event for me: as we passed Turn Island just outside of Friday Harbor my boat was mistaken for a mother by this just born seal pup.. " did have it's fathers eyes"...