[Paddlewise] An Illusion in Deception Pass with 60kt Wind Gusts

A little backstory. My paddle pal, Pam, took a class on Orcas Island from
Body, Boat, Blade a couple weeks ago. Her last class was on a Sunday and my
plans were to drive over and meet her there and we'd spend a couple of days
noodling around the San Juan Islands. As luck would have it the weather
forecasts for that weekend got worse as the weekend drew closer and my
enthusiasm for driving 200 miles and paddling and camping in a SE'ly storm
began to wane. As the weather began to worsen even Pam's enthusiasm
disappeared so she decided to go home instead.

After getting off the ferry in Anacortes she decided to detour to Deception
Pass just to see what it looked like. When she stopped on the bridge she
looked down and saw a kayaker paddling the ebb in the full fury of the storm
so she broke out her camera and took a few shots.

The paddler was Warren Williamson and he was paddling his Illusion. Pam was
pretty sure it was him (hard to see from the bridge) so she sent her photos
to the manufacturer of the Illusion, Sterling Donalson, in Bellingham, WA.
Pam also has an Illusion and seems pretty happy with it. Warren is also
pretty happy with it. You can see from the photos that the conditions were
not for the faint-at-heart. Here is a link to Sterling's home page with the
photos Pam took displayed prominently: http://www.sterlingskayak.com/

I lived near Deception Pass for several years and have seen it in some
pretty nasty conditions but this is about as bad as it gets. The Illusion
looks pretty good in these photos. Not only that but Pam can keep up with me
in it so it's fast (an Illusion finished in first place in the Deception
Pass Dash last December).

Note: I have no interest in Sterling's business ventures other than he's
done fiberglass repair work for me in the past (my poor Coaster) and that I
think I want one of his kayaks.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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