NSSKA

Another in the “Lakes of Snohomish County” series of paddles is in the books.  Five paddlers showed up for a quiet, relaxed Sunday morning paddle on a small lake. We spotted various waterfowl and one bald eagle.  If you have Google Earth, you may download our tracks here:   Lake Roesiger Paddle . Thanks for the   pictures   Don Erickson!

Werner Furrer Sr. presented the Werner Paddle Story.pdf at February’s club meeting.  We had a great turnout and Werner and his son, Bruce, answered many paddle related questions.  It is so nice to see a small, local family run business successfully producing the worlds best paddles. Check out some   Werner videos here . Credits: Werner Furrer Sr., Kayaking Made Easy Roger Rosenblatt, Kayak Morning

 Four crazy kayakers braved the winter elements on Port Susan to find 36 degrees F, 10 knot winds out of the South, light drizzle, and 1’ quartering seas on the way out. We paddled out of Cavalero Beach up to Iverson Spit, it was high tide so we tucked into Triangle cove along the way. We were head into the wind and waves on the way back. For another side trip we went down to the Camano Island Country Club to check out their beach. A kind lady with exquisite taste recognized us as kayakers and had to share a map of the island showing the public access beaches with us. She also mentioned that we were on private property and probably shouldn’t be there. Later Don commented that was the sweetest bum’s rush he’s ever experienced. With the quartering seas the paddle was slightly more challenging than with calm seas. The bigger challenge was trying to find reason to cheer this year’s Super Bowl. Pictures by   Harry Marx .

We spotted 31 eagles and heard 1 scream. That makes 32. It was a lovely if not frigid day on the Skagit River. 5 of us braved the cold. We covered 16.1 miles in 3 hours. Hauling ash you might say. We had an assisted rescue demonstration after I zigged when I should have zagged in some boils. Check out some   pictures here . Picture credits go to Bruce Farrar and Katie Level. 

20 paddlers in 18 boats braved the cold air and calm waters of Ballard’s ship canal.  We paddled up close to vessels much larger than ours - steel beasts of commercial fishing. Thankfully we did not become their “deadliest catch”. Check out some   pictures here . Picture credits go to Bruce Farrar and Katie Level. 

Good times paddling Lake Stevens with Don Erickson. We stopped for coffee at a club member's boathouse, then a brief break at Lundeen Park. Wind, chop, rain, sun, we saw it all, even a short lived rainbow. We saw plenty of ducks, including a flock that seemed to stay just ahead of us for the entire circumnavigation of the lake.  Great winter paddle, worth doing again. 

Lucky number 13 kayakers launched from Ebey Waterfront Park and paddled out to Jetty Island. We checked out the barge reef before heading to Jetty Island for a lunch break. The weather was typical Seattle; sunny warm and calm sea's. What could be better? Some    pictures perhaps ?