Paddling into the sunset tonight, 
the wind came up suddenly and I found myself bouncing in 2-foot waves. Not to worry, I stayed close to shore, in about 4 feet of water, and enjoyed the ride. After paddling into the wind for a half hour I turned around and didn't have to paddle at all on the way back, courtesy of the tailwind and outgoing tide. I love being on the water!
It's surprising how fast our long days are disappearing.. sunset seems to be a good 5 minutes earlier each night. And although today was plenty warm, by sunset (now 8:10) I was wearing two extra layers and it really felt like fall.
Earlier today I picked up some friends at the ferry
and the four of us went up to Ebey's Landing to do the bluff hike. I had to stop and replace the rock "eye" in the dragon log.
Yesterday I biked up to Freeland, with the intent of getting a few groceries, but when I got there I discovered I'd left my lock in my other bag.... perhaps a sign of having too many bike bags???? So I made do with a quick run into the library to pick up some books on hold, and then over to the gym where I convinced them to let me leave my bike inside "just this once, I promise" while I got in my resistance training.
On my way home I decided to take the scenic -- and hilly!--- route down Saratoga Rd and through Langley. There is one hill on this route that is just a bugger, at least 400 feet of elevation gain and it seems to go on forever, with several of those cruel "false summits". My altimeter briefly showed a 27% grade, and although I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration, it has to be 10-15%.
I stopped for a snack in Langley and ran into Joel, a guy that I've kayaked with a couple times in WISK (Whidbey Island Sea Kayakers). He told me he'd had a close call here a few months ago: He and a friend went out for a sail ("...a three hour cruise....;-0")on his friend's Hobie Cat. After they'd gotten out aways and the boat didn't seem to be handling well, they realized they'd forgotten to put the plugs back in the pontoons! The boat rode lower and lower in the water, and they of course could make no headway and soon were in water up to their waists. Joel was wearing a wetsuit but not his friend. After SEVEN HOURS out there his friend was hypothermic and Joel knew he wouldn't last the night....finally at 10:30 pm another boat passing a mile or so away decided something looked wrong and came to the rescue.
Moral of the story (and memo to self) ALWAYS take your safety equipment with you! And I don't mean just a life jacket! Gotta take paddle float, pump, a light, some sort of communication device, as a bare minimum. I am good about the first three but am going to start being more religious about the others, honest I am.
I rode on from Langley and thought I'd take the bus from Clinton to avoid the last 8 hilly miles home. Sadly, there were already 2 bikes on the bus so no room for mine. I could've waited a half hour for the next bus but jeez, I'd rather ride than sit. So on I went, getting in a total of 40 miles and just under 3000 feet of elevation gain for the day.
Tuesday after work I drove up to the Everett Marina, intending to launch my boat there, which I've never done before. After finding out that (a) They want $5 just to use the boat ramp (b) The ticket machine would not take my credit cards, does not give change, and of course I did not have the correct change, (c) There were threatening signs prominently saying your car would be not just ticketed but IMPOUNDED if you didn't pay, (d) There was no provision whatsoever that I could see for someone just wanting to put a kayak in the water.... by this time I was pissed off so I left.
Drove on down to the ferry and was able to launch at the tiny 20-foot-long park tucked in next to the hotel there. I paddled northward for 45 minutes or so, but really not very pleasant scenery here. The railroad runs right along the water so it's all just ugly bulkhead, the new Boeing pier and another huge crumbling old pier of unknown origin. I did have a couple of harbor seals pop up to check me out.
the wind came up suddenly and I found myself bouncing in 2-foot waves. Not to worry, I stayed close to shore, in about 4 feet of water, and enjoyed the ride. After paddling into the wind for a half hour I turned around and didn't have to paddle at all on the way back, courtesy of the tailwind and outgoing tide. I love being on the water!It's surprising how fast our long days are disappearing.. sunset seems to be a good 5 minutes earlier each night. And although today was plenty warm, by sunset (now 8:10) I was wearing two extra layers and it really felt like fall.
Earlier today I picked up some friends at the ferry
and the four of us went up to Ebey's Landing to do the bluff hike. I had to stop and replace the rock "eye" in the dragon log.
Yesterday I biked up to Freeland, with the intent of getting a few groceries, but when I got there I discovered I'd left my lock in my other bag.... perhaps a sign of having too many bike bags???? So I made do with a quick run into the library to pick up some books on hold, and then over to the gym where I convinced them to let me leave my bike inside "just this once, I promise" while I got in my resistance training.On my way home I decided to take the scenic -- and hilly!--- route down Saratoga Rd and through Langley. There is one hill on this route that is just a bugger, at least 400 feet of elevation gain and it seems to go on forever, with several of those cruel "false summits". My altimeter briefly showed a 27% grade, and although I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration, it has to be 10-15%.
I stopped for a snack in Langley and ran into Joel, a guy that I've kayaked with a couple times in WISK (Whidbey Island Sea Kayakers). He told me he'd had a close call here a few months ago: He and a friend went out for a sail ("...a three hour cruise....;-0")on his friend's Hobie Cat. After they'd gotten out aways and the boat didn't seem to be handling well, they realized they'd forgotten to put the plugs back in the pontoons! The boat rode lower and lower in the water, and they of course could make no headway and soon were in water up to their waists. Joel was wearing a wetsuit but not his friend. After SEVEN HOURS out there his friend was hypothermic and Joel knew he wouldn't last the night....finally at 10:30 pm another boat passing a mile or so away decided something looked wrong and came to the rescue.
Moral of the story (and memo to self) ALWAYS take your safety equipment with you! And I don't mean just a life jacket! Gotta take paddle float, pump, a light, some sort of communication device, as a bare minimum. I am good about the first three but am going to start being more religious about the others, honest I am.
I rode on from Langley and thought I'd take the bus from Clinton to avoid the last 8 hilly miles home. Sadly, there were already 2 bikes on the bus so no room for mine. I could've waited a half hour for the next bus but jeez, I'd rather ride than sit. So on I went, getting in a total of 40 miles and just under 3000 feet of elevation gain for the day.
Tuesday after work I drove up to the Everett Marina, intending to launch my boat there, which I've never done before. After finding out that (a) They want $5 just to use the boat ramp (b) The ticket machine would not take my credit cards, does not give change, and of course I did not have the correct change, (c) There were threatening signs prominently saying your car would be not just ticketed but IMPOUNDED if you didn't pay, (d) There was no provision whatsoever that I could see for someone just wanting to put a kayak in the water.... by this time I was pissed off so I left.
Drove on down to the ferry and was able to launch at the tiny 20-foot-long park tucked in next to the hotel there. I paddled northward for 45 minutes or so, but really not very pleasant scenery here. The railroad runs right along the water so it's all just ugly bulkhead, the new Boeing pier and another huge crumbling old pier of unknown origin. I did have a couple of harbor seals pop up to check me out.
No comments:
Post a Comment