Kayak Clinic

By -
The Kayak Clinic was lots of fun.  We got an early start by meeting in the AM on Saturday.  Got everyones gear together and loaded the trailer and headed to the beach.  The day was great. The sun was bright and winds were calm.  The route took us from Griffin Bay up San Juan Channel to Jones Island.  Along the way we stopped to practice a few rescues.  Then off the water for lunch at Turn Island.  We arrived on Jones just before dark and set camp as the last bit of light disappeared.

It was nice to hang out and not only have a chance to get put names to faces of some of the local paddlers.  But to learn a bit more about them.  It is nice to hear about where everyone comes from. As night came the moon made its way over the water.  It was beautiful and illuminted the whole area.  Over night the wind picked up and fog moved in.  When I got out of my tent it was cold, foggy and a strong breeze.  But by the time we finished breakfast the fog was lifting and the sun was peeking through.  

We spent a lot of the day learning rescues and paddle strokes.  Staying close to Jones Islands as our base.  At lucnh we packed out gear and hauled things to the beach.  Before loading the kayaks we got on the water to do a bit more practice before heading home.  Time passed quickly and before we knew it the day had passed.  So we packed kayaks and headed for Friday Harbor. Arriving back in the cover of darkness.  

Tomorrow I have plenty of dirty gear clean and put away.  I am not looking forward that.  But in the end the trip was fun and the those that came along were really fun to camp with.

Here are a few photos.



A few picture from the first day of paddling.


Picture of San Juan Island at night.


Another San Juan Island night picture.


The moon with a few clouds in the sky.


A little practice goes a long way.


Yea I know I am not quite the most photogenic person.  But I was test my new kayak camera mount out.  I was watching some of the guys practice.



Well that is all I have.  Hope everyone is well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morning Kayak Lessons

By -
Image
A good start to the day when you wake up and see the sun and having to get on the water to teach kayak lessons.  Though it was cold outside, I could tell it was going to warm nicely once the sun had time to do its work.  After a cup of coffee it was time to meet Lauren (my student for the class) and load the gear and get on the water.  The water was perfect, flat calm and good for learning the basics.  Lauren has taken classes before and it pretty up to speed on self rescue.  So we were out to work on kayak handling skills.  Mainly driving home proper edging, body movement and blade placement. After the lesson it was off to grab a bite to eat and get back outside.  I of course headed out to check in the Red Tailed Hawks (RTHs).  I ran into Monika again,  http://orcawatcher.blogspot.com/  , who once again got great images on the RTHs in flight. She got some images of the pair together.  I was able to locate the Rufous Morph further south. There was a visitor with me in town from London
Read more

Astral Greenjacket Review

By -
Image
I have finally spent a bit more time in the Astral Greenjacket and I have decided it is time to go ahead with my finally review of the product. My previous jacket was a Stohlquist Brik .  Which is a side entry style jacket.  I was really happy with performance and fit.  I did have a zipper problem which was a not really taken care of by Stohlquist.  I was teaching a class and was performing a "Cowboy/Back Deck" rescue and the zipper broke.  When I contacted service dept to get it fixed they wanted me to pay shipping and charge for the repair of a new jacket.  I passed on the factory repair and did the best I could do. I do not recommend that.  Next issue I had was there is simply no storage on the vest.  Not that big of a deal since I try to not load myself with stuff.  Overall it was a good fit and a clean front making it snag free while messing about the deck of my sea kayak. On to the Greenjacket !   My use of the Greenjacket is for sea kayak guiding and personal kayaking
Read more

Friday Harbor Bike Rentals

By -
Image
It has been awhile since my last post. So I thought I would write a bit on the latest happenings. Spring has arrived on San Juan Island and I am back to work early this season. Kayak tours kicked off a bit sooner than normal this year. I assume the lack of good snow in the mountains and the early sunshine has something to do with it. So with Spring here we ( Discovery Sea Kayaks ) are open and running kayak tours. This is a great time to visit San Juan Island for a kayak tour. With less people on island there is a very charming small town feel. On the water the wildlife encounters can vary. Some days you might encounter killer whales other days watch as a pair of eagle fly over head. Last season we started renting bikes from our shop in downtown Friday Harbor. Our location is perfect for walking on the ferry and then renting a bike when you arrive in town. Being in the heart of town and close to the ferry makes it easy. I have all the bikes clean and ready to be rented. This se
Read more