Island Paddlers: December 2008

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.~

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

~Happy Holidays!~

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

~ San Juan ORCA Whales ~

~In the waters of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, with the Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula as the backdrop, this male Orca breached a few times, as he playfully made his way by us and through a bed of bull kelp...

*Want to stay connected to the Southern Resident Orca whales? (We sure do!) When you can't be on the water with the whales, get reports from those who are!...

~Go to http://www.orcanetwork.org/ and click on "Join our Sightings List" to receive regular email updates of local whale sightings mostly around the Puget Sound and occasionally from different locations along the West Coast- including residents and transient Orcas, Grays, Humpbacks and Minkes...

~You can also LISTEN to real Orcas in the wild- live via the internet- http://www.orcasound.net/ whenever they travel past underwater hydrophones strategically placed around the Salish Sea...