NSSKA

Conditions: Sunny day, some forest fire smoke, winds SW 5-10 Five NSSKA paddlers launched at Bowman Bay SP and paddled out to Deception Island to check out this rugged chuck of rock. Leaving the kelp beds surrounding Deception Island we crossed over to West Point and followed the expansive sandy beach eastward towards the bridge. Under the bridge we had the opportunity to experience the effects of the "Room of Doom" on our boats. Paddling on eastward we stopped in Cornet Bay for a break and to wait for the flood to end and ebb to begin. Continuing around Ben Ure Island then to Strawberry Island on our way to Canoe Pass and for a lunch break. Following lunch, we played in the standing waves and did some eddy line crossing receiving a standing ovation from the multitude of tourist high above us on the Deception Pass bridge. Today's paddle was approximately 7 miles. Thanks Dorothy, Bonnie-Lynn, Karen and Jon for a great day on the water! More pics o

Conditions: bright sunny day, winds SW 5-10  The group of 7 NSSKA paddlers met at 7:30 am at Washington Park, unloaded boats then moved a couple of our vehicles over to the Washington State Ferries (WSF) Anacortes parking lot. We took WSF free ride on our return.  Once back at Washington Park we reviewed the trip plan for our journey to Friday Harbor. We got on the water at 8:30 am, called Seattle Vessel Traffic to get a status of shipping traffic and to let them know we were crossing Rosario Strait. We took advantage of a 3-knot ebb at times our speed hit 7 knots.  Once safely across the shipping channel we again called Seattle Vessel Traffic as they requested to let them we had crossed over to Lopez Island. Stopped at Pt Colville on Lopez for a quick 5-minute bio, stretch and electrolyte break. Next stop was at Iceberg Point for lunch. This is the jump off point for our journey thru the challenging waters of Cattle Pass.   Cattle Pass at a max flood current of 4.7 kno