Lower Inside Passage paddle journey

Ahhhhhh = First shower in 9 days. First sleep in own bed in 16 nights. First day our swollen, blistered, sunburnt, water-logged hands and/or sore shoulders get to rest since pushing each stroke of the watery way back

 from the north end of Vancouver island to Fidalgo island in two very loaded, kevlar Necky Nootka Plus tandem sea kayaks.

 And what now feels like a luxury most of all, the first morning without having to scramble out of a tent, over uneven rocks, driftwood, to find/ filter/ boil water for our morning coffee!

(photo credit Kathleen M.)

326 mostly sunny miles later, 4 t-shirt & sunglass-tanned Sound Rowers kayak racing friends happily return home a bit stronger and a few pounds each lighter.  

After 13 islands kayak-camped on (22 this year so far for Jim & Nadja:), humpback & gray whale blows, a false killer whale, a black bear,

Steve & Greg seeing 3 wolf, Jim & Nadja a pod of white-sided dolphin, and as always lots of up close curious eagles & seals...

 With only a few days of paddling/ getting swallowed by/in big seas-
fought some strong headwinds the first day in Johnstone Straits. 

Then one day we got caught unexpectedly by unforecast gale headwinds with accompanying big open fetch swells while trying to round Neck Point into Nanaimo

and our last day was big & messy while crossing Rosario Strait near Lummi island...

Inspiring encounters with people and nature while pushing the limits through high mileage in loaded boats at faster-than-average-touring speeds as we navigated through the unknown,

 more often than not against strong currents, through rapids, a few rainstorms, tide rips, reefs, shoals, rocks, gales, sunrises, sunsets,

to set up paradise home-for-the-night camps again and again each day at the next beautiful island destination,

which was always "just around the next point"...

What a freaking adventure!!!  For 3 of us at least, Steve is currently continuing on another approx. 40 miles solo from Anacortes to Tulalip Bay. While us here at Island Paddlers have already got next summer's adventure paddle journey planned... :)

Whidbey island circumnavigation

90.5 miles in 18 hours of paddling over 2.5 days.

 We had the time of our lives this past Memorial Day weekend, with the weather and current goddesses aligning for once and giving us the absolute perfect travelling conditions to accomplish our latest (big ass;) paddling goal in the least amount of pain possible- circumnavigating Whidbey island in our tandem Necky Nootka sea kayak, the largest isle in the Puget Sound and one of the longest in America.

The night before embarking on this ultra marathon paddle journey, I overheard Jim answering a friends inquiry as to why we would want to take on this uber endurance challenge.  I chuckled to myself as I heard him reply simply with the classic line made famous by early Everest mountaineer George Mallory, "Because it is there."

And so after months of training, the last few evenings of pre-departure gear pile-making and dry bag packing, we excitedly launched on Saturday morning a little later than planned at just after 8am from Cornet Bay, into flat water with a slight drizzle and gentle headwind breeze. Within a few miles we passed Ala Spit and began getting a good speed boost from favorable currents. We rode that for miles gratefully down into Saratoga Passage and kept going comfortably at a good pace until about 20 miles in, when we stopped for lunch next to Cama State Park.

Then as forecast we watched the seas start rippling and waves appearing (we didn't believe it could be happening since how often is our PNW marine forecast actually accurate?!;)  We sat on the warm beach rocks savoring our PBJ sandwiches as we watched the winds change direction and increase in intensity, giggling at the afternoon possibilities...

So we pulled out the sail and suction cupped it on the deck before launching again, for what would turn into the kayak sailin' ride of our lives, a freaking awesome 20 mile downwind sail & surf run! We flew by Langely, Camano Head, Getney island & Clinton, laughing away as we were connecting set after set beautifully at speeds of 7~9 mph!

 Tired as we were, we figured it was a no brainer that we weren't not going to use the perfect kayak-sailing conditions given to us, so we rode the winds all the way to the south end of the island for an incredible 43 mile first day!

We would have probably kept going another hour or two if we could have continued with the help of the sail, but rounding the south end of the island we were met with a wall of headwinds, so with our screaming muscles and roaring bellies we instead pulled out onto a ruggedly homeless beach and set up pirate camp for the night. Exhausted and giddy we enjoyed our instant jasmine rice and Indian curry while watching the most beautiful sunset over the Olympics and Mount Rainier.

Sunday morning we were woken early by barking sea lions near 5am, and jumped up to get water boiling and gear packed and on the water as quick as possible. Again currents were with us as soon as we launched, so the miles and hours flew by enjoyably...

Until we hit Admiralty Inlet just south of Fort Casey. The strong currents then changed and started kicking our tired tooshes.  By the time we made it to the State Park we'd already planned at stopping at for lunch, we were at 25 miles for the day, 68 miles total, and both ready to be done.

So we grabbed the second to last available campsite amongst a city of RV's, and treated ourselves to a lunch of hot sandwiches and Mike's hard lemonades from the Keystone Cafe. Then spent the rest of the afternoon napping in the sun in the grass on top off the bluff at the old military fort as crowds of tourists frolicked around us.

Sunday morning we again rose at 5am and got on the water just after 6am. Launching off of the beach next to the Keystone ferry, we got sucked right into a raging rip and up to speeds over 10 mph for a few miles. Not yet fully caffeinated I wasn't quite awake yet or as ready for the sudden bucking bronco raging rip ride as Jim was, but who needs coffee after that wave-slapping, coooold watered good morning!

We stayed offshore a half mile to a mile for a lot of the morning up the westside, as the military has restricted waters and we didn't feel like getting chased. The swells from the wide open fetch of Strait of Juan de Fuca were gentle and kind, and pushed up our speeds each wave as well, so we made it back to Deception Pass just after max flood and in time to get rocket-shot through the Pass at over 11mph to end our trip back at Cornet Bay by 11am on our third day!

We were so happy to get home early, get the salty gear rinsed and hung to dry. Barely back on land an hour Jim took off on a couple hour mountain bike ride.  Already getting into the zone for next weekends race while we'd both alternate smiling at each other knowingly over the next few days, overflowing with endorphin-fueled inner rainbows from this mega mission accomplished trip.  :)

Headin' to the Westside...

 Another fine fall weekend spent

paddlin' 45 miles 

while sea kayak expeditioning

& pirate camping

 from Anacortes to James

& San Juan islands

and everwhere

yet nowhere really

in between...

Expeditioning to Race

As naturalists addicted to the wilderness world,

paddling loaded boats around rugged islands

is definitely our most fun form of cross-training for races.

At times however, the cost of a personal trainer
and warmth of an inside gym may seem a better deal
than the cost of another life lessson brutally learned
 from Mother Nature....

On our first day up in Johnstone we made a few crucial mistakes

 leading to just such a lesson.  After a near sleepless night driving to

get to our planned launch site of Alert Bay, then hours of dealing

with the logistics of unloading & loading
the over-loaded boats (*we eat well! :) 

Spaced out from sleep deprivation

mixed with adreline and deceived by the
 flat calm waters the morning we arrive,
we forget to listen to the updated marine forecast on our VHF. 

We also launch uber late in the day for prevailing-wind-country,
unintentionally allowing gale winds to pick up while we were
in the middle of the biggest, most exposed crossing of the trip-

Blackfish Sound with merciless, funneling gusts coming down Queen Charlotte Strait...

And so within the first two hours on the water, we found ourselves getting our ***es kicked by 6 foot beam seas in extremely loaded boats. At the end of the nasty crossing an island reef was visible in our original route plan- but we could see it was kicking up some enormously mean looking refracting waves!

With me desparate to avoid a spinal fusion-beatin' from the seas,

 we decided to abort our original plan and turn to ride
out the steep swells for miles until we could find a tiny beach to
 haul out on next to an abandoned lodge.

(Unknowingly setting our top speed for the trip surfing the steep swells at 13.2 mph!)

We squatter camped on the outside deck in between two ol' lodges,

spoiled with constant, multi-species whale passings-

a humpback,
 then an orca, then a minke,

then a humpback, then orcas for hours well into the beautiful sunset

colors....Stimulus overload just on the first day!...
Needless to say the rest of the trip

was just as amazing...
  ~  ~  ~

Overall, the prevailing winds hit early this year and
threw gales at us about every third day.

Still, we journeyed well,

 did three 20~25 mile days,

 a few 10~15 milers,
and sat parked on a tiny rock of an island the last few nights
not paddling much, just enjoying 'Orca-smic' days

camped across from the Robson Bight Orca sanctuary.

We had the intense pleasure of meeting a few local legends,
including one of the world's leading whale research scientists,

Paul Spong, who gave us a tour of his research center, the Orca Lab.

~  ~  ~
As well as a 75 year old lifetime local

 Billy Proctor of Echo Bay,

who shared some unreal stories from his younger years....

While the Alert Bay race truly was the
 ultimate grande finale of the trip.

We already can't wait to return.