Re: [Paddlewise] Summer on Whidbey Island

On Nov 26, 2007 3:33 PM, Jordan Engel <jengel_at_gmavt.net> wrote:

> Hello all you NW kayakers.  I am planning on workamping in the
> Seattle area next summer.  I have a chance to volunteer at one of the
> three state parks on Whidbey Island and will have plenty of time to
> paddle.  From my visits there, though, the waterways seem pretty
> busy.  I've spent alot of time in Newfoundland and, of course, you
> can see no one except a few fishing boats for days at a time. How far
> would I have to travel to find more tranquil conditions?
>

As a former resident of a Whidbey Island community (Coupeville) and a
frequent returnee, I guess I can answer this.

Part of the answer depends upon what you mean by "tranquil". Do you mean a
near-wilderness experience or do you mean a quiet 2-hour paddle without a
lot of power boats going by.

The Puget Sound (USA) and Georgia Basin (Canada/BC) has a combined
population of nearly 8 million people; many of whom spend time on the water.
Add a few hundred-thousand-odd tourists to the mix and you can have a real
crowd. Because the waterways are relatively constricted and also protected
from ocean swells it stands to reason that for all these people who love the
water there really is not that much water area. It certainly isn't
Newfoundland. But even at the height of August vacation season I've paddled
the north shores of Orcas Island and out to Sucia Island and back with nary
a sign of another boat nor more than a ripple on the water.

First of all, avoid weekends. Most of the residents of this area work 9-to-5
jobs Monday through Friday and get their recreation in on the weekends.
Friday and Sunday evenings in the summer season see a parade of boats almost
all moving the same direction. It can be like a freeway during rush hour.

The "passes" into and out of the various archipelagos and waterways tend to
force boaters to take the same routes to and from their cruising grounds.
Add to this the "marine park" system where no skills at anchoring are
necessary. So boats in the San Juan Islands (USA) and the Gulf Islands (BC)
have a tendency to flock to the same places at the same time.

Even so, by going "against the flow" as it were, you can still find peace
and quiet within a 100 mile radius of Anacortes. It just might take you 200
miles of traveling and perhaps an international border and/or a ferry ride
to get there.

The south shores of Lopez Island and San Juan Island, for instance can be
more tranquil in terms of boating activity simply because they're more
exposed to the open waters of the Straits of Juan de Fuca to the west and
Puget Sound to the south and have no state park mooring buoys or docks. For
paddlers, however, this is a difficult place to reach requiring either a
launch near Anacortes and a long paddle across tide-swept Rosario Strait
(where one might have to avoid an oil tanker) or a ferry ride to Friday
Harbor and a paddle south through Cattle Pass which can have some tidal
races and rips. But you can choose your tides and ride the tail-end of the
ebb from Washington Park (west of Anacortes) down Rosario and south of
Lopez, play around in the rocks there, and then ride the flood through
Cattle Pass to Friday Harbor where it's a free ferry ride back to Anacortes.
(San Juan ferries collect fees only at Anacortes.) This is very possible
during long summer days.

The western shore of San Juan Island is also less frequented because of the
open waters of the Straits of Georgia. Or they were until the advent of
whale watching tours, at least. But these waters are often peaceful and
tranquil in the summer; especially in the morning. Reach this area with a
ferry to Friday Harbor and then paddle around the northern edge of San Juan
Island (taking a short-cut through Roche Harbor) or south through Cattle
Pass and then west. Again, watch the tides and winds.

Westward along the US shores of the Straits of Juan de Fuca from Port
Townsend and especially westward from Port Angeles you can find miles of
water with few boats of any kind except the odd fisherman. I'm not sure I'd
call this area "tranquil" although it can certainly have its tranquil
moments. From Whidbey you can reach this area by ferry from Coupeville to
Port Townsend.

West of Victoria, BC (also easily reached by ferry from Anacortes, WA or
Vancouver, BC) there are good paddling grounds, but again the boat traffic
is less because of the open water.

In British Columbia once you get north of Nanaimo (on Vancouver Island) the
boating traffic thins out considerably simply because it becomes more
difficult to reach these areas during a two-day weekend. And Nanaimo is
easily reached by ferry from Vancouver, BC. You can even walk on with your
kayak.

There are lakes in the Cascades with almost no one around. And there are
even peaceful mornings along the shores of Whidbey Island when there will be
no boating traffic even in the summer.

But to find a wilderness experience that is also tranquil you may have to
venture north of Campbell River (on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island
north of Nanaimo) and into the vast archipelago there. But watch the
currents. BC ferries cover this area extensively but you will almost
certainly have to change ferries.

I recommend that you read the Wavelength Magazine (
www.wavelengthmagazine.com) back issues all the way back to 1995 and then
forward for tips on where to paddle BC waters for a tranquil experience.
There are also excellent articles on native cultures. When you have 8
million people living not much farther than 30 miles from the shorelines in
an area that stretches barely 150 miles, you can't expect it to be like
Newfoundland. But you can still find tranquility if you avoid the places
they all want to go. Or go there when they have to work.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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