Leadership Training Trip Report
May 17: Launched from Washington Park at 9:45 am under overcast skies and 65 degree temps. After
dealing with a parking issue with a construction worker who told us we could not park in the long term parking lot. The park ranger was contacted and he resolved the issue, this however put us 45 minutes behind our planned 9:00 am launch. Crossed Rosario Strait on a heading which took us towards Bird Rocks, once safely on the west side of Rosario we paddled along the islands and bays on south end of Lopez Island to our stretch/lunch break at Iceberg Point a distance of approximately 13 1/2 miles. Next up was the exciting waters of Cattle Pass on our way north to Turn Island. We had the entire island to ourselves. Arrived Iceberg Pt 12:15 and Turn Island @3:05 pm. Total miles paddled 23 .7 miles. This was a stamina test for the class.
May 18: After a pleasant raccoon attack free night (note: there were a lot of deer roaming around our
camp site) we decided to head over to Friday Harbor for a big, hot breakfast before another long day on the water. Nice to be in Friday Harbor on a beautiful albeit very rare tourist free morning! Today was a class focused on paddling long distances with the water flowing against us most of the way. Eddy hopping, using islands and land points to our advantage, chart reading and on water decision making where the emphasis of this day. Stopped on the south side of Obstruction Island for a lunch break then on to our second campsite on Doe Bay SP. A bit of a challenge to get to our campsite on Doe Bay due to slack water but landed then let the water rise before setting up camp. We had the entire campsite to ourselves. Left Turn Island @7:45 am arrived Doe Bay 2:45 pm. Miles paddled 17.9.
May 19: Wanting to take advantage of slack before the ebb, we left Doe Bay at 7:15 am and paddled over to Pea Pod Rocks nature preserve the middle of Rosario Strait on our way to Cypress Island and the third and final campsite of this class. Loads of nesting birds from the rare Canada geese to auklets, oyster catchers and lots of other sea birds nest on this nature preserve. The focus for today was planning on how to take advantage of the waters flow direction, piloting, way points and sighting. First stop was Pelican Beach SP for a bio break. The hiking trails were closed due to several species of birds nesting so we decided to paddle on to the Cypress Head campsite. Loads of great hiking trails on this end of Cypress and ample room for tents. There were a couple of groups camping there mostly hikers and a couple of fellow paddlers. Left Doe By 7:15 am arrived Cypress Head 11:45 am. Miles paddled 8.5.
May 20: Darn birds sure start singing early! Up, packed and ready to go at 7:00 am, once we lugged all our camping gear down to the beach and chatted with our fellow paddlers who were preparing to head back to Guemes Island we headed to the southwest corner of Guemes Island then crossed the shipping channel to Anacortes. Once safely out of the pleasure and tug boat traffic we waited for the loading ferry to depart from the Anacortes ferry terminal before heading towards our Washington Park destination. Today the southwest wind of 10 - 15K was opposing the ebb flowing down Bellingham Channel made for interesting paddling in conditions event for the final day of our class. Left @ 7:15 am arrived at Washington Park @ 10:45 after a 7.3 mile paddle.
On this trip we saw seals, sea lions, ravens, crows, eagles, river otters, harbor porpoise, oyster catchers, auklets, gulls just to name a few.
dealing with a parking issue with a construction worker who told us we could not park in the long term parking lot. The park ranger was contacted and he resolved the issue, this however put us 45 minutes behind our planned 9:00 am launch. Crossed Rosario Strait on a heading which took us towards Bird Rocks, once safely on the west side of Rosario we paddled along the islands and bays on south end of Lopez Island to our stretch/lunch break at Iceberg Point a distance of approximately 13 1/2 miles. Next up was the exciting waters of Cattle Pass on our way north to Turn Island. We had the entire island to ourselves. Arrived Iceberg Pt 12:15 and Turn Island @3:05 pm. Total miles paddled 23 .7 miles. This was a stamina test for the class.
May 18: After a pleasant raccoon attack free night (note: there were a lot of deer roaming around our
camp site) we decided to head over to Friday Harbor for a big, hot breakfast before another long day on the water. Nice to be in Friday Harbor on a beautiful albeit very rare tourist free morning! Today was a class focused on paddling long distances with the water flowing against us most of the way. Eddy hopping, using islands and land points to our advantage, chart reading and on water decision making where the emphasis of this day. Stopped on the south side of Obstruction Island for a lunch break then on to our second campsite on Doe Bay SP. A bit of a challenge to get to our campsite on Doe Bay due to slack water but landed then let the water rise before setting up camp. We had the entire campsite to ourselves. Left Turn Island @7:45 am arrived Doe Bay 2:45 pm. Miles paddled 17.9.
May 19: Wanting to take advantage of slack before the ebb, we left Doe Bay at 7:15 am and paddled over to Pea Pod Rocks nature preserve the middle of Rosario Strait on our way to Cypress Island and the third and final campsite of this class. Loads of nesting birds from the rare Canada geese to auklets, oyster catchers and lots of other sea birds nest on this nature preserve. The focus for today was planning on how to take advantage of the waters flow direction, piloting, way points and sighting. First stop was Pelican Beach SP for a bio break. The hiking trails were closed due to several species of birds nesting so we decided to paddle on to the Cypress Head campsite. Loads of great hiking trails on this end of Cypress and ample room for tents. There were a couple of groups camping there mostly hikers and a couple of fellow paddlers. Left Doe By 7:15 am arrived Cypress Head 11:45 am. Miles paddled 8.5.
May 20: Darn birds sure start singing early! Up, packed and ready to go at 7:00 am, once we lugged all our camping gear down to the beach and chatted with our fellow paddlers who were preparing to head back to Guemes Island we headed to the southwest corner of Guemes Island then crossed the shipping channel to Anacortes. Once safely out of the pleasure and tug boat traffic we waited for the loading ferry to depart from the Anacortes ferry terminal before heading towards our Washington Park destination. Today the southwest wind of 10 - 15K was opposing the ebb flowing down Bellingham Channel made for interesting paddling in conditions event for the final day of our class. Left @ 7:15 am arrived at Washington Park @ 10:45 after a 7.3 mile paddle.
On this trip we saw seals, sea lions, ravens, crows, eagles, river otters, harbor porpoise, oyster catchers, auklets, gulls just to name a few.
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