I recently moved to a lovely island in Northwest Washington. I have begun exploring the waters from my new home. Last Saturday, I put my Current Designs Solstice GT on wheels (a Primex cart), & loaded it up with day trip goodies in the front yard. Wearing my farmer john wetsuit, spray skirt, paddle jacket & PFD - everything else stowed in the boat, I set out walking down the road, pulling the boat & gear behind me, until I reached a nice pebble launch beach about 1/8 mile away on the west side. The beach is private and not generally available to yakkers, but I learned that being a "local" makes all the difference! After no more than 5 minutes fiddling with gear on the beach, I set off to the west toward Destination Island. The day was sunny & calm, wind waves under 1 ft, both current and wind coming from the south. Last year I got a deck-mount compass & decided to try David Burch's ferry angle formula. It was about a 2.5 Nautical mile crossing, with a northerly current of 1.5 kt. I generally paddle about 3 kt when I'm not in a hurry, so I set a ferry angle of 30 degrees & paddled out into the spectacular day. I reached the south end of the island in about 45 minutes - the ferry angle worked perfectly, with some minor adjustments en route - & then headed north up the west side. There's a nice lunch beach on the west side - with anchorage for sail & power boats. There was a sailboat there when I went by, so I kept paddling to the north end & then south along the easterly shore. Directly across from the lunch beach is another terrific beach that allows camping. They have camp sites, pit toilets, no water. I stopped for awhile for lunch & a nap. Upon awakening, the wind had picked up a little, and the current was nearly shifting against the wind, so I decided to head back home. I made the crossing with no difficulty, pausing now & then to listen to the wind and watch the bald eagles, then landed at the put-in point. Another 1/8 mile walk down the road pulling my kayak & I was home! The official for tourists story about this place is that: "The ferry is a real drag; it rains all the time; nobody lives there but old hippies & Indians; and the power goes out a lot! It could be nice, but it's just too much bother!" Craig Olson *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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