I have been lax about posting to my blog. Facebook is much easier from my phone, but many friends do not have Facebook. I will try to catch up on some of our trips on the blog over time. Last summer one of our big trips was a canoe trip down a section of the Green River in Utah. This summer of 2019 Bobbe agreed to go on a sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands. This was an outfitted trip lead by Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe from Portland, Oregon. I have found that many of Bobbe's concerns about the trip are reduced by having an outfitter. We took our double sea kayak that Joshua and Jenna were using. I left them our old town canoe in trade. Here are a few photos of the trip.
First day was an 8 mile crossing from Orcas Island to our base camp on Jones Island. Everyone was required to wear a dry suit or wet suit due to the cold water. My dry suit is "yummy yellow". It is called that do to the fact sharks are attracted to the color yellow. I chose yellow because I am less concerned about sharks then having the Coast Guard see me if I am in the water.
One calm evening we did a sunset paddle. Like so many sunsets it was beautiful. I took too many photos to share but I do like this one of Bobbe.
The second day we paddled to Yellow Island. It is a Nature Conservatory preserve. It was interesting to see how they were managing it for different habitats on a very small island.
Our group was eleven guests and three guides. Most of us had some paddling experience but not to my knowledge had paddled in San Juan Islands before. Before the trip I had Bobbe nervous (I have a reputation) about the water state in the San Juan Islands. In reality the water was for the most part calm with only one short section with chaotic waves due to boat traffic and reflecting waves from a headland. Even then the waves were not more than 2 feet high.
I have so many photos of Bobbe from the rear of the kayak. I want to thank Matt one of our guides for this photo of both of us. We had the only double on the trip. A double is less maneuverable than a single but much more stable. This helped Bobbe relax a little bit.
Jones Island is a Washington State park site and is well know for its wildlife and I do not mean the parties. The deer were quite friendly and the raccoons were know as ninja raccoons. We had to chase one out of camp on the first day and it did not want to leave.
There was enough time between paddling to relax in camp and share stories. We enjoyed meeting so fun people.
The group site had a nice pavilion and picnic tables. There was lots of room for our group equipment and food. We only had a short drizzle the second day other wise the weather was great.
Four days was not enough and I hope to return and spend more time in this great location for paddling. There is always NEXT YEAR.
The only mishap on the trip was when I did not see a rock in the water on the trip back to Orcas Island on the last day. I high centered on the rock and it took some doing to get off of it. It was mostly gel coat damage in it is now repaired. I had planned on putting sacrificial layer of fiberglass to the entire keel of the kayak. Now the repair has been made and it has one layer of fiberglass the full length of the keel and a second layer along the more vulnerable portions of the bow and stern.
