[Paddlewise] Port Townsend Sea Kayak Seminar - short report

The WCSKS (West Coast Sea Kayak Seminar) was held in Port Townsend, WA (as
usual) September 25, 26 and 27; slightly later in the month than usual but
that turned out to be a good thing. The previous weekend was rainy and the
one previous to that one was the Wooden Boat Festival. It's never good to
schedule a sea kayak event at the time of the WBF because lots of paddlers
go to both (some wooden boat kayak dealers exhibit at one or the other but
not both). This weekend was perfect if a bit chilly overnight. Only one
cloudy day and that burned off by early afternoon. High temperatures were in
the upper 60s and even low 70s for the event so wearing a drysuit was not
the heat issue it could have been.

The water was COLD. Maybe the low 50s. But aside from one day with some
interesting swells making their way around the point after coming down the
Juan de Fuca Strait (and the one tsunami of a ship's wake that cleaned off
the beach) the paddling conditions were perfect. The beach at Port
Townsend's Fort Worden (where the event has been held every year since about
1984) is steep for the most part (relatively flat at the top though) and
waves tend to dump. People (like me) who have difficulty exiting a cockpit
can really have difficulty at this beach but there are usually young people
around eager to give a helping hand. Currents were a minor issue as the
tidal range for the weekend stayed about 6-feet and in the afternoon were
only a couple of feet.

Pam Powell was an instructor for the first time this year and, I thought,
did a creditable job teaching several courses. Because so many instructors
work for the exhibitors, and because the numbers of exhibitors was down this
year, there were fewer instructors but overall I think they all did good
work.

Compared to the last four or five years the attendance by both exhibitors
and paddlers was down. It was severely down for the exhibitors who used to
occupy the second floor rooms in the main registration building; those rooms
had no one in them. But there were some new exhibitors including one who was
selling nifty poly fleece balaclava hats (Pam and I each bought one -
perhaps Pam can provide a link) and a brilliant system for adding ballast to
a kayak (http://www.paddlingpartner.com/productdetails.asp?ID=6) so it stays
low and cannot shift about.

Hot boats at the Seminar included Sterling Kayaks' new Illusion with the
skeg now mounted closer to the cockpit; lots of rocker and very
maneuverable. There were more Surfski boats than ever before with more
people trying them out and more people in the drink but not unhappy about it
from appearances. The Tahe Greenland was on display. The major brands were
well represented (Pygmy, Seward, Werner, Yakima, etc. - I did not see Nimbus
but they could have been there).

I thought it was interesting that even with lower attendance parking was
still an issue and the water seemed more crowded with boats and paddlers as
each day wore on. Quite a few people took advantage of the early morning
instructor-led paddles (they had both a short paddle and a long paddle on
the schedule).

Matt Broze, who hasn't missed a WCSKS since it first began (and he helped
organize it) was there measuring and making notes on the new boat models.
Dave Kruger and Becky showed up on Saturday and pitched a tent in our
"backyard". I took my 1972 Streamline 21-foot trailer out on its first
outing ever for this weekend. Some things didn't work (the valve on the
sewage tank is stuck shut, for instance) but overall the little trailer did
yeoman duty. We also camped for the first time in the campground adjacent to
the beach and this was wonderful giving us the ability to park a vehicle in
the main parking lot (with our gear and kayaks on them) but still able to
hike back to the Streamline for lunch (or, in my case, a nap). It was a long
hike for me and my cane so I made sure I had some recovery time between
them.

Several people managed to draw me into a chat (if you know me then you know
that's not hard to do) and I made the acquaintance of many new (to me)
paddlers. There was a plethora of friendly dogs to pet and compliment (dogs
like to be complimented). It's therapeutic to me to pet a new dog; I think
it's good for the dogs, too. There were Westies, Scotties, Pugs, Huskies,
Shelties, German Shepherds, a collection of retrievers, and a few mutts.
Many were (or had been) rescue dogs; bless those who rescue dogs.

So while the numbers were down they weren't down enough to notice while
standing on the beach. In fact there were many paddlers still on the water
on Sunday afternoon (while I was getting ready to leave for my 270 mile trip
home) than usual. It was downright crowded out there. I had a great time. If
you missed it be sure to go next year.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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