San Juan Island Winter Kayaking

By -
The weather has been so nice and mild for this time of year.  It makes it hard not to get out on the water.  Plus Jesse and I got our new dry suits in the other day and I was really wanting to get some salt on them.  They are great, custom all black with reflective lettering that says DISCOVERY on the arm.  It is the new Discovery Sea Kayak uniform.  Kokatat did a wonderful job on the suits. Really the highest quality dry suit for kayaking you can get.  I am still waiting for my new PFD, so I will get a review up on it after I wear it awhile.

But the paddle today was great.  We left San Juan County Park and headed south.  We decided to do a one way trip and get a pick up at the end.  We got to Eagle Cove and beached the kayaks and hiked to American Camp Visitor Center.  There we used the phone to call Richard and he came and picked us up.  

The water was still and quite today.  Visibility was good across the water, but you could not see the Olympic Mountain as they were covered with clouds.  Wildlife was minimal.  A few Common Murres, Cormorants, Mergansers, and lots of Bald Eagles.  More than anything it was just spending time with a good friend on the water.  Jesse and I both have a great connection to the water and the outdoors.  It is so much fun to be on the water with someone that shares the respect in the beauty around you.

I took a few images and here they are.  Some you will have to click on to view to get a better idea of the image.

This is a familiar view for some.  Heading down the coast of San Juan and you can see the Lime Kiln Lighthouse off the point.

Here I am facing towards the Olympic Mountains and San Juan is at my back.  Look how beautiful the water is.  It was so calm it was kind of spooky.

Here is a picture of me playing around.  I am sculling for support and enjoying the cold and crisp water.  Still it is the scenery that takes first prize.

Here I just finished rolling back up.  I finished this roll in a forward position.  I am facing the camera.

Here is the end of the day.  Just got out of the kayak and Jesse snapped this picture.  I have to say the dry suit looks pretty nice.

Well I still have not got my waterproof camera back yet.  So I have been using my Sony and it is starting to not do so well.  I am teaching private lessons tomorrow, but I do not think I will get any pictures.  But if I have a chance to get out for a hike or a run I will try to get a few to share.

I hope everyone out there is having as great a day as I am so far.

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