Kayak, Bike, Nature and Travel

Welcoming Emotion Kayaks to Discovery Sea Kayaks. To kick off the new line kayaks arriving at our shop we are hosting a Kayak Demo Day May29th. Starting at 9:30am we will have kayaks at Jackson Beach for test paddles. Bill Walker, the rep for Emotion Kayaks, will be here to provide in depth information on the different models. Discovery Sea Kayaks will have kayak packages for sale in the shop, 185 First St Friday Harbor Wa. If you test out a kayak you like just drop by the shop and take it home. We have great package deals in the works for the Demo Day. Demo Day will end at 5:30pm May 29th. So make sure to drop in and check out the kayaks. Emotion Kayaks are great for beginner kayakers, wildlife watchers, photographers, fishermen, and to toss on your boat for quick exploration of bays. You can pre order a kayak package before May 15th and receive 10% the package price. Contact for details: 360.378.2559 www.discoveryseakayak.com

Discovery Sea Kayaks is offering a Mothers Day Special. May 9th all Moms receive 50% Off West Side Half Day Kayak Tours departing at 930am and 230pm. Please check out the tour on the company website: West Side Half Day Kayak Tour . Limited Space: Book Now: 360.378.2559

Discovery Sea Kayaks was mentioned in Seattle Magazine May 2010 for Great Escapes for 2010. Here is a link to the article: We are mentioned in the "what to do" section http://www.seattlemag.com/0p135a2071/great-escapes-2010-friday-harbor/ Once again the Discovery Team is very grateful for being recognized for our hard work. We strive to provide the highest quality kayak adventures possible, not just in the San Juan Islands. The Discovery Team's passion for kayaking and the outdoors shines on every tour. Thanks to our great Guides and Staff we are able to share our vision with everyone who joins a DSK San Juan Island Kayak Tour. Thanks again.

Just wanted to share this video that is posted on the Canoe and Kayak Magazine homepage. It is a short video and will only take 5 minutes of your time. I hope you can take the determination of this one person and let it inspire you to take on the difficult tasks in your life.

Just wanted to post a quick announcement that Discovery Sea Kayaks took Second Place in the King 5 Best of Western Washington contest. We are always faced with touch competition here in the Pacific Northwest, where there are lots of outfitters. But we were please to see we made the mark at Second Place. Though First Place is always the hope, this leaves us a bit more room to improve and provide even better service than before. This is Discovery's second year making the list in the Top 5! Thank you to all who voted to help Discovery be recognized for all of our hard work. http://best.king5.com/discovery-sea-kayaks-san-juan-islands/biz/168553 So come back and join us on a true kayak adventure around the San Juan Islands...

I have had a few people looking to get more information on buying a kayak with a skeg or a rudder. I am not going to write a post and say you should have one over the other but I will give some simple facts and then my opinion. First I will start out with the skeg. For those who are not familiar with the skeg system, I will give a quick description. The skeg is located on the hull side at the stern of the kayak. It is deployed from the cockpit via by a rope system or a cable slider system. When deployed it moves vertically out of the hull and retracts the same. It can be adjust variably to reach the desired effect. The most common mistake people make is thinking that the skeg is just a different form of a rudder. A skeg is not used to maneuver a kayak. The skeg is used to create lateral resistance. So you might ask yourself, why do I need this lateral resistance? To answer this question we have to look at the design of kayak and a few terms. Kayaks generally will turn into the...

So I was at work yesterday day and the Marmot order came in. So it was time to open boxes and start getting it all in the computer, priced and then out on the floor. I decided to grab a quick lunch with my buddy Eduardo when my phone rang. It was my buddy Ivan who is the owner of Western Prince Wildlife Cruises . He got word there was a pretty good size group of Transient Orcas out in the Straits. He called around and wanted to see if anyone wanted to go out on his fast boat Western Explorer . It is nice to be able travel fast when the Orcas are pretty far away and the Western Explorer does just that, TRAVEL FAST. It was a great day out. There was a bit of rain when we left the harbor but the sun won the battle by the time we got on the scene with the Orcas. There were a couple different groups just traveling around. There was a few tail slaps here and again and we got an unexpected close pass by a small group. There were some great photos taken from the encounter. I only had m...

I am going to outline some basic steps to help find a kayak outfitter to take a kayak vacation. I will mainly use references to sea kayaking as that is what I am most knowledgeable about, but this advice could be applied to many kinds of outdoor adventure vacation activities. Through my years as guide and business manager, I have seen people put in unsafe situations and people spend money on vacation activities that was less than it could be - if not a bad experience. Therefore I thought I could provide some helpful tips to get the most out of your kayak vacation. Many regions have a different sets of guidelines for choosing and outfitter and it is important to understand the environment in which you will be heading out in. Being the in Pacific Northwest where the water temps are pretty cold, winds can be strong, the currents can be extreme. It is important that you know a bit about the situation and that you choose to go with guides that are skilled and tall all the extra precaution...

I was on the water leading kayak tours Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to be out and on the water all weekend. Saturday the tour started out with a bit of chop and following seas. The winds were out of the NNE at a steady 15kts. But the wind pushed us South pretty fast. We arrived well ahead of schedule at Deadmans Bay. We got out and took a short walk along the coast. Before long it was time to head back out on the water. The NNE winds were stiff so paddling was slow and choppy. My guest did well and had a great time being on the water. Today was a bit nicer with lighter winds out of the N. I had a group of students from the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs. It was a good size group and everyone did a great job. It was a nice time to be on the water. The winds faded as the afternoon turned to early evening. Tours are always fun when you have a large group that listens well and gets on the water quickly and on the flips sides gets things loaded quickly. ...

Well after work Robin and I decided to head out and get a bit of hiking in. It was a great walk. We headed out to the DNR land to explore the area. As we hit the trail head Guinness was excited to be outside as he sniffed and tugged at his makeshift leash. It was nice and windy but we had some protection as we approached Young Hill from the East and with the wind being out of the West, it was nice. The sun was warm and bright, though the trail was nice a muddy. Spring flowers were popping out of the ground everywhere. We managed a few off trail excursions though some nice thickets. But we always returned to the trails to move on. We poked around having fun along the way and finally got the to top of Young Hill. Reaching the top, we were met with lot of heavy gust of wind. It was still a beautiful sight. We did not hang out to long as it was getting a bit chilly in the wind. We headed back into the woods and down the hill. On our way our we saw a few deer starting to move a...

Well it is another windy day here on San Juan Island and luckily we do not have any tours out. There seems to be a good amount of people roaming about town, but I am sure that kayaking is the last thing on their minds today. I hope to get out for a short walk or run today. It will be a cold one out there, but I need to get out. I have a kayak tour going out on Saturday and there are spaces available. Stop by the DSK SITE or give us a call to join, 360.378.2559. Western Prince Whale and Wildlife Tours are operating tours as well. Enjoy a trip around the island looking for wildlife and enjoying the scenery. Plus if you book a tour with Discovery Sea Kayaks and the Western Prince you will get 10% Off each tour. **If you have a Washington State ID Discovery Sea Kayaks will give you 15% Off our West Side Day Tour till May 15th. Looks like the winds are forecast to ease up this weekend. So the kayaking should be good. So don't be afraid to travel on up to the island and enjoy the...

Well it has been busy over the week and I have been getting on the water for some guiding. I had a good 6 days in a row of Day Tours. That is always good, but not when the wind will not stop blowing. The sea state has been a bit cranky due to all the SSE and SSW winds we have been having on the island. Though the seas have been rough my groups have been having a great time. I have not seen any Orcas yet, but I have read reports of some Transients out near Race Rocks . Bald Eagles have been busy building on their nest and going through the motions of courtship behavior. Some of the summer sea birds are hear and a few loons are still around. We had a great encounter with a fox on the shoreline. The fox had to scale a pretty steep area to get down to the waters edge. But when we approached, it scaled the near vertical with ease. On one trip we had a great view of two different California Sea Lions swimming north in the Haro Strait. So there is plenty to see right now. Today I m...