[Paddlewise] Washington Coast paddling

Yes, the photos of the WA coast are gorgeous and make it seem a very
tempting paddle. Unfortunately, it is rare to see the swell so small there
that you can easily paddle in among the channels and caves near Cape
Flattery as those on this trip did. In numerous times there I've seen it
like that once. It looks to me like they had some wind waves one day but
relatively small swell during the whole trip. I'm afraid these photos might
be giving the viewer the sense that this trip could be very easy. And it
could be with conditions like in the photos, but that low swell condition is
relatively rare even in summer.
I would advise anyone thinking about paddling on the Washington coast to be
an expert kayaker practiced and prepared to land in at least six foot high
surf (and through lines after lines of breakers going out a half mile or
more on shallower beaches, or the probably less desirable choice, dumping
shore breakers where all that wave energy crashes down all at once on the
steep beaches). They would be advised to also pay very close attention to
the swell forecast so when the swell does suddenly get bigger it won't catch
them on the outside of the breakers with no where to go but further out to
sea to spend the night or more. I carry a sea anchor to better hold a
position miles out from the breakers if faced with that situation. I hope
I'll never have to use it in earnest. From Cape Flattery south is almost
entirely exposed coast and even the very best landing areas can disappear or
close-out when the swell gets a lot bigger. One of the most reliable landing
areas on the entire WA coast is up the Quilliute River mouth at LaPush (this
journeys end). Read chapter 5 in Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble about a time
when a day paddler was closed out of that normally passable entrance by big
swell that arrived suddenly and couldn't get back to the safety of the shore
even up the river.

One of the Gotcha's on an exposed coast is that the biggest swells travel
the fastest and therefore arrive first to a distant location (from the storm
that made them). This means that if you don't know the swell forecast on an
open coast you might find yourself in conditions that change from benign to
extreme very suddenly (even on a clear windless day) and then have no way to
get back to shore for fifty or more miles each way. If you are on the beach
when the big ones arrive it may also be many days before the swell gets
small enough again that you can paddle. Be prepared to wait it out stuck on
some small beach with no easy way out, even inland.  I think the west coast
of Vancouver Island is generally a much more benign coast than the WA coast
as it has far more inlets and reliable landing areas when the swell is
bigger. Relatively few paddlers paddle either coastline except in certain
areas, such as island filled Barkley Sound, that are relatively benign
because the islands scatter and dissipate the swell (except on the outermost
islands).

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com

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