Got back out on the water this am in the kayaks, after a couple-week break. Ever since we got back from BC (see earlier post re Tofino) we have been very interested in kayaking. So we got a couple used ones on CL not long after, and have since gone three times locally. Each day we learn something new – mostly in and around loading/unloading and storage, but eventually we will know how to KAYAK correctly too :).

The first jaunt was on Lake Union several weeks ago – we got in the water at the south end of the lake by the Wooden Boat Center – there is a small park and rocky beach where you can launch. We paddled up the east side of Lake Union almost to where it enters ‘The Cut’ – and then paddled back.

Then, we went to Mercer Slough (barely south of Bellevue) a week or so later. We got in the water literally under I-90 at Entiak Beach, and paddled around the bend into the Slough. We went everywhere arond in there you can go, saw a lot of wildlife – otters, ducks, big turtles, geese and some other unknown birds (I think one was a kingfisher as it kept diving into the water, seeming fishing) – very cool!

Today, we launched at Magnuson Park in NE Seattle. We paddled south from there around to the east side of the cut, right by SR-520 (which was apparently closed today, there were no cars on it) and saw a big rowing crew race going on in Union Bay there, just east of Husky Stadium. We turned back after mucking around a bit there and headed back up to MP.

I think this was the most challenging of the three local paddles we’ve done so far, probably the longest distance. It was about 4 miles each direction. There was a bit more current and breeze to battle out there today vs. in Mercer Slough (very quiet water there) and while Lake Union definitely has some chop, we simply didn’t go that far that first day.

But hoping the weather holds up for at least one more weekend attempt to kayak before starting to get really cold out there – the guide back up in Tofino said winter kayaking is among the best because far less people (we only saw one other today, when we were almost back to MP, she was going south) and more wildlife around. Today’s journey was far less on the wildlife, unless you count rich people’s houses along the shore of Lake Washington (Windemere and Viewridge neighborhoods) as ‘wild’ – they sure were big with obviously expensive boats mostly in drydock – we missed the blow-by-blow from Robin Leach. Hopefully we can include some friends on the next one.

candybowl

So we went up north to BC this past week. First for a wedding in Vancouver/Whistler, then over to Vancouver Island/Tofino for our own anniversary.

The wedding was great, as were all the surrounding activities (bachelor party, pre-wedding-day BBQ, etc.). It was great to meet all the relatives and friends that came out for the event, all such nice people and fun to meet/talk to. And the wedding itself was very nice – held at The Edgewater Resort just a few km up the road from the Whistler ski resort. The ceremony was on the shore of Green Lake (adjacent to the lodge) and then dinner/dancing/party in the lodge itself. And now the happy couple is honeymooning in Portugal – Jealous!

So then we drove/ferried/drove over to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Here we went kayaking in Clayoquot Sound, hung out on Chesterman Beach, and went whale watching the last morning we were there.

Kayaking in Clayoquot Sound is great – and we only scratched the surface. Our tour was guided, and we kayaked around about an hour and a half before landing on an island that has a still-standing, original old growth forest. It has a raised boardwalk to allow getting around and to minimize impact on surrounding vegetation. There are many HUGE cedars and sitka spruce trees on the island, and our guides were great in providing numerous places for history and natural information about the forest and the island, including the latest on the ongoing efforts to hold off the extraction industries (mining, logging, etc. – all the bad guys!).

The town of Tofino is pretty small, but there were some good restaurants there (Sobo) as also seen in nearby Ucluelet.

Finally, we went whale watching before we left to drive home that afternoon. We went with Ocean Outfitters, on an oversized yellow Zodiac boat. Words to the wise for future adventuregoers:

1) wear rubber boots if you have them (our shoes got soaked!) – they give you full-length body coveralls and a rain slicker, and boy do you need it, even on a bright sunny day like we had;

2) bring a waterproof camera. Ours didn’t get damaged, but after the first couple blasts (not exaggerating) through the waves at full throttle, we buried the cam in our coveralls to avoid it being ruined by constant splashing/salt water. So we missed out on a few pics I know I would have otherwise taken;

3) don’t sit in front if you don’t want to get (as) wet. This applies in whitewater river rafting for all the same reasons, and if you’ve done that, this is the seagoing version but with the boat also *leaping* out of the water like a Sea-Doo, then crashing into a ‘wave valley’ constantly. Not for the timid, but exciting once you get used to it.

It is pretty cool out there, although if you are an otherwise land-lubber like me, you begin to gain a likely-overdue respect for the ocean when bobbing around like a cork, sitting in what is otherwise a big inflatable raft with an oversized engine attached to it. I’ve been on hydrofoils before, which are pretty darn fast themselves, but since those boats are MUCH bigger, the sensation of speed isn’t near as close to home as on this thing. Plus when we were blasting around chasing the orca pod, we were out beyond the final ring(s) of islands, effectively open ocean. Again, pretty humbling.

I think the only other time I’ve felt that was when snorkeling in Hawaii several years ago and swam out a few hundred yards to the edge of the reef, to watch some scuba divers go down to the ocean floor about 30+ feet below to enter a cave down there. I just floated there and looked out to the open ocean. It gets a darker blue pretty fast and you can’t see very far – yet you know there are plenty of things swimming around out there, some of which can eat you!

Watching the humpback whale surface and dive again while he was looking for food was also a highlight. We were closer to him than the orcas, plus he’s much bigger than they are to begin with. Those Stellar’s Sea Lions were pretty darn big too, although they were mostly sleeping on shore when we motored around nearby.

All in all, what an amazing trip and definitely requires more return expeditions (to Vancouver Island as well as Whistler)!

candybowl