Isn’t It Spring Time?

Fresh snow in my yard before sunrise 03/29/08

Off to Deception Pass again this morning for a paddle on a fine Spring Day. Well that was the plan. It is Spring right? I woke up this morning to fresh snow in my yard. Well a little snow wasn’t going to stop me so off I went. A little slippery roadway slowed me down a little, but I still made it in time to meet a friend for a great day at the Pass. The current was mild today (5.13 max ebb) with minimal wind. Perfect conditions to shake the rust off after being away from the rough conditions for awhile. Not another boater in sight. It was very peaceful having this wonderful place to ourselves.

We took our time paddling along the shore and I saw an arch that I have never noticed before. It looks like if the tide were high enough one could paddle all the way through. I think it is pretty cool that every time I go back I see something new.

Although the current was predicted at 5.13 it didn’t really appear to be that strong. I feel kind of crazy for feeling this way, but I wish the conditions were a bit stronger. It was hard to play in the current and do eddy line peel outs since the current wasn’t moving enough.

We had a bit of everything today. The waves stacked up with the wind opposing the current allowing us to do a little bit of surfing. Then a short while later the wind completely reversed making the water absolutely glassy calm. We had rain, sleet, snow, and at the end sun. A little bit of rolling practice at the end in Bowman Bay which just made me feel like I chugged a Slurpee giving me a massive brain freeze. I nailed several offside rolls. My new Werner Ikelos was wonderful. I love this paddle!

Many great plans were made for future paddles. We hope to head back to Deception many times this year to really refine our rough water skills. We want to work on rescue practice amongst the currents. Nothing beats real world experience. This will make us far better than any lake practice session could.

The only downer of the day other than the cold snow was that the parks were nice enough to raise the launch fee. I still don’t understand why kayakers have to pay a boat launch fee when most of us don’t even use the boat ramp, but instead use the beach itself.
I’ve ranted about that before so I’ll shut about that for now.

I love that this wonderful place is within an hour of my home. I feel very fortunate to have such world class paddling so close. A great reward for many hours of overtime I’ve put in lately at work.