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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Neat! Must be great to see in person! It makes me think of my first exposure to real sea kayakers. It was about 20 years ago and I was at a wedding in Laguna overlooking the ocean. The sun was going down and there was a group of three or so kayakers paddling close to shore along the rocky coast. I wondered where they'd come from and where they would go and I was just amazed to see them paddling there and at night! I wish I had found myself a kayak back then! Mark On 5/14/2010 10:09 AM, Craig Jungers wrote: > 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/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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