Living on the most eastern of the San Juan archipelago islands, Fidalgo island, the variety of trip & training paddle routes from here are endless. While strong currents do exist in nearly every channel surrounding our island shores, learning how to use these currents to travel in the back eddies, the mid-channel-river-like 'green tongue', along with harnessing the strength of the winds (with kayak sails), is what paddling the San Juans is all about to us... Efficiency. Speed. Using what Nature offers to help us achieve our paddling (distance travelling & racing speed) goals. Which sometimes mandates a combination of styles & skills from river and sea kayaking mixed in with occasional surfing and sailing. Adreline rushes. Personal Speed Records. Risk-taking. Innovation. ~Paddle the Islands and let Nature Inspire.~

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

"Sea Kayaking From Mountains to Ocean"

~Reflections on Watershed Ecology in the Washington Pacific Northwest~

A fantastically written & illustrated new book by Bellingham paddler, scientist and author, Dan Baharav, edited by his lovely wife Eva.
Dan's passion of exploring the natural world from his kayak, combined with his expertise in zoology and ecology, come alive in the pages of Sea Kayaking from Mountains to Ocean to create a journey through Washington State's watershed which will intrigue and enlighten all readers.
Whether you are a Washington State native or a recent transplant to our beautiful corner of the world, paddler or land-lover; reading this book is guaranteed to leave you unforgettably touched by the beauty and uniqueness of the marine environment surrounding us here in the Puget Sound.
Richly illustrated will 124 stunning photographs, pages full of science based research and touching personal anecdotes, readers will put this book down with a better understanding of the intricate connectedness of our watershed, the magnificent creatures which reside within, and the importance of protecting and preserving the health and integrity- from our Mountains to the Ocean....
~N.B.Z.
Purchase a copy online at
and
Meet the author on
Tuesday, February 23rd at 7pm,
in historic Fairhaven, Bellingham
for a free slide show presentation and get your copy autographed !

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Welcome in the New Year, au natural~

As we start out this new year, if you live anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, take a moment to have a good look in all directions... Nature abounds! Cascade volcanoes, Olympic mountain rain forests, San Juan island archipelago. With hundreds of miles of Puget Sound waterways and shorelines as a marine maze to get lost and found again and again and again. Mt Baker after a fresh snowfall.

Mt Rainier looming over south Puget Sound.

Sailboat in Admiralty Inlet and the cloud-shrouded Olympic Mountains.

Pleasure boat in glassy Skagit Bay with Cascade foothills

Migratory snow geese in Skagit farmlands
along with migrating trumpeter swans...
and miles and miles of sunny-rain shadow-skied-Whidbey beaches to zen out on....

~Now grab yer camera and get out there!