On Friday we headed to Grayland to meet up with the crew at "The Whale Blow Inn" for a weekend surf trip. Chester, Setsuko, and Dave made it up early to check out the surf at Graylands and reported clean breaks at a gentle 3ft or so. Saturday morning, Meg and I fired up a warming breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the crew and we headed for the beach.
Naturally, after a few pleasant, sunny days at the office, we made it to the beach in cold, drizzly conditions...a fresh wind blowing from the southwest with a westerly 4-5ft swell. But, we came to surf, so out we went. It was a relatively uneventful time...the receding tide gave us a small zone near the beach to play in and a couple larger zones further out to practice in. Sean found a wave to snap his paddle in, leaving him with a long swim in from the surf zone.
Once we had Sean safely in, we decided it was time to break for lunch. Alex arrived fresh from the Tacoma news-scene and joined us in the water after lunch. The wind picked up over lunch and I spent much of the afternoon paddling into the wind to avoid being blown to Canada. A few paddles back up the beach into 20+ knot winds wore me out and realizing that I was getting to tired to handle the bigger waves, I moved into the smaller surf near the beach to work on skills in more manageable waves and work on maneuvering in the wind...good times were had by all in the afternoon and as we loaded our boats onto the cars and cinched down the last straps the wind petered out, cleaning up the surf zone considerably. It didn't seem worth dressing and pulling 50lb boats off the car and into the water though and most of us retired to the beach house for a pasta feed and hours of kayaking and wilderness talk.
A great weekend...thanks to those who came up, especially Dave, Bob, and John in particular for giving up their time on the water to watch out for the rest of us as we messed around in snotty weather!
Click here for Pictures (Thanks to John for loan of the camera for pics and video)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Kayaking Deception Pass
And finally, my day came...kayaking Deception Pass, a comfortable 6-odd knots on the ebb, a beautiful sunny day. Meg and I arrived at Deception Pass State Park a little early. As we pulled up, we found a dozen other kayakers gathered around...including one who looked vaguely familiar. "Kinda looks like Nigel Foster..." I remarked. After talking to some of the paddlers at the beach, it turns out that it was Nigel Foster; getting ready to teach a directional control class to the local kayaking club. As we walked down to the beach with our kayaks, I realized that one of the boats on the beach looked like the latest Nigel Foster-designed boat from Point 65N Kayaks. Seeing the opportunity...I walked up, introduced myself, and asked about the boat. Sure enough, Nigel Foster is as pleasant a paddler as you will meet, and the boat was the new Whiskey 16. Mr. Foster kindly offered to let us try the boat out during their lunch break, or in the afternoon after the class. We said we'd love to take him up on the offer and then parted ways so he could teach his class.
John, Dan, and Andrew showed up several minutes later, and after a quick duct-tape repair of John's drysuit, we paddled out from the park towards the pass. We made it to Canoe Pass to find a 4 -knot (-ish) ebb flowing out. Perfect for my first peel-out in the Pacific Northwest. I boldly paddled up the eddy, pushed my bow out into the current, waiting for the right moment to lean downstream on my trusty paddle and spin out towards the sea.
The right moment passes by without remark...I'm still upright, water is piling up on my left side, pulling me down...high brace! Ineffective!! Again!!! Failure!!!! I'm over! IN DECEPTION PASS! Quickly, I position for a sweep roll, and I'm up. Laughter from the crowd.
After that, things settled downed and we peeled out, ferried across, and eddied out for several hours. Taking advantage of the relatively calm conditions, I hauled out on the rocks to take pictures and videos. John executed a nice peel-out and roll...Dan exhibited some hot-dog surfing... Meg and Andrew peeled out calmly into the current. Then, in the distance, I see Meg swimming. I see the others heading for her. Realizing that they have the situation under control, I continue filming...for educational purposes...really. You can see the video on the associated Picasa album.
Once Meg has safely recovered, we paddled to the other side of Deception Pass to play in the larger pass. There were several other paddlers out, including a greenland-style paddler pulling off some spectacularly graceful rolls in the whirpools. Truly impressive to watch. After lunch, we paddled aroundCanoe Island and the island outside the pass before returning to Deception Pass State Park.
After loading the boats back onto the car, we stuck around to paddle the new Whisky 16. Evidently, there was Whiskey in the "whisky hatch," but we only got to try the boat...in the calm conditions of the park, I can say that the boat was extremely comfortable and handled very nicely. Once edged into a turn, it cranked around nicely and was easily rolled.
At the time of paddling, this was the only Whisky 16 in the United States...added a little to the experience, we're a part of kayaking history now, I suppose. Nigel Foster shared his thoughts on the design elements of the boat with us, and we parted ways after a great day on the water.
click here for Pictures and Video from Deception Pass and Whisky 16 test-paddle
John, Dan, and Andrew showed up several minutes later, and after a quick duct-tape repair of John's drysuit, we paddled out from the park towards the pass. We made it to Canoe Pass to find a 4 -knot (-ish) ebb flowing out. Perfect for my first peel-out in the Pacific Northwest. I boldly paddled up the eddy, pushed my bow out into the current, waiting for the right moment to lean downstream on my trusty paddle and spin out towards the sea.
The right moment passes by without remark...I'm still upright, water is piling up on my left side, pulling me down...high brace! Ineffective!! Again!!! Failure!!!! I'm over! IN DECEPTION PASS! Quickly, I position for a sweep roll, and I'm up. Laughter from the crowd.
After that, things settled downed and we peeled out, ferried across, and eddied out for several hours. Taking advantage of the relatively calm conditions, I hauled out on the rocks to take pictures and videos. John executed a nice peel-out and roll...Dan exhibited some hot-dog surfing... Meg and Andrew peeled out calmly into the current. Then, in the distance, I see Meg swimming. I see the others heading for her. Realizing that they have the situation under control, I continue filming...for educational purposes...really. You can see the video on the associated Picasa album.
Once Meg has safely recovered, we paddled to the other side of Deception Pass to play in the larger pass. There were several other paddlers out, including a greenland-style paddler pulling off some spectacularly graceful rolls in the whirpools. Truly impressive to watch. After lunch, we paddled aroundCanoe Island and the island outside the pass before returning to Deception Pass State Park.
After loading the boats back onto the car, we stuck around to paddle the new Whisky 16. Evidently, there was Whiskey in the "whisky hatch," but we only got to try the boat...in the calm conditions of the park, I can say that the boat was extremely comfortable and handled very nicely. Once edged into a turn, it cranked around nicely and was easily rolled.
At the time of paddling, this was the only Whisky 16 in the United States...added a little to the experience, we're a part of kayaking history now, I suppose. Nigel Foster shared his thoughts on the design elements of the boat with us, and we parted ways after a great day on the water.
click here for Pictures and Video from Deception Pass and Whisky 16 test-paddle
The Drive Across...
Well, our weeklong trip across the country was pleasant and uneventful...and yes, we survived a week cooped up in the Z without any problems. The highlights of the trip started after we made it through Texas. We spent a great night in Chandler, AZ with Laura...not long enough, but a good chance to catch up and drink some local brews. We left Chandler and made it to Joshua Tree National Park in time to hike out to the Lost Palms Oasis, about 8 miles round-trip from the campsite. We made it back in time to watch the sun set around the hills and cook up a nice dinner.
The following morning we drove into San Francisco's Mission District to meet with Kyle and Sara...then downtown the following morning to see Steve and Andrea for breakfast. That night, we made it to Ashland just in time to catch Coriolanus at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival.
The next day, we pushed north to Seattle, with a brief stop for lunch in Portland with Heather.
Pictures here.
The following morning we drove into San Francisco's Mission District to meet with Kyle and Sara...then downtown the following morning to see Steve and Andrea for breakfast. That night, we made it to Ashland just in time to catch Coriolanus at the Ashland Shakespeare Festival.
The next day, we pushed north to Seattle, with a brief stop for lunch in Portland with Heather.
Pictures here.
Boiling Creek
My last southern paddle! Meg and I met Fritz and Harriet, David and Tracy, and Jerry for a final paddle of Boiling Creek for me...a first for Jerry and Meg. The weather was beautiful, boats were swapped around...we alternately passed around, over, or under the bridge, and pulled out at the usual charming, fuel-soaked, garbage-littered boat ramp.
Pictures (of the beautiful, kayak/canoe accesible portion of the trip) can be found here.
Pictures (of the beautiful, kayak/canoe accesible portion of the trip) can be found here.
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