Orcas Island Final Day

Day 3

Our final day was off to a very relaxing start.  We were in no hurry because the currents were not in our favor till the afternoon.

Before breakfast we watched a family of River Otters along the rocks.  The mother was bringing fish to her young.  It was so cool to watch the little ones scurry across the rocks to get the fish.

We enjoyed a nice cooked breakfast at the cafe at Doe Bay.  The idea of veggie sausage seemed so wrong, but it actually tasted pretty good.  The fresh brewed coffee was so much better than the Folgers instant coffee I had been drinking.

A view of Mt. Baker from Rosario Straight later on the ferry

The weather had been perfect for kayaking.   No wind and slight overcast to keep the temperatures cool.  Well today was different.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky so as I was putting on the dry suit I began to bake.  While waiting for Ed to finish getting ready I waded out into the bay and went for a swim in my dry suit to cool down.  It felt so good to cool off, but I got a lot of weird looks from people on shore.  Our original plan was to leave at 1pm to hit Pt. Lawrence near slack.  We had heard that Pt. Lawrence can get some pretty nasty tide rips.  However after looking at the ferry schedule and realizing how busy Orcas Island was this weekend we thought it best to get started a bit earlier.  Unfortunately I had to work the next day so I couldn’t afford to miss the last ferry.  We were on the water fighting a bit of current at 11:50.  We had to stay pretty close to shore most of the way to try to minimize the current against us.  Once we got past Pt. Lawrence the current began to fade, although it was against us most of the way.  The views of Barnes, Clark, Lummi, and other islands were wonderful.

What are these buildings?

We stopped for a break directly across from Barnes Island and came upon this old structure.  I saw one just like it on the west side of Orcas as well.  It doesn’t look like it could have been a home because the way it is buried into the hillside so I’m not sure what it was.

We finished the day at about 3:00pm.  This day was about a 10 nm day, yet some how it felt easier than the other days.  I think I was getting more used to paddling.

We made it back in time to get the second to the last ferry.  While waiting for the ferry we ran into the family with the delightful kids we met on Blind Island.  Then once on the ferry we met all the drunk girls from the campfire at Doe Bay.  They looked a bit hungover.  They didn’t remember our names, but remembered us as their kayaking friends.  I’m impressed they could remember anybody after the vast quantities of alcohol they had consumed.

Overall trip stats:

• Total distance paddled 34.8 nm
• Max speed 7.3 knots (coming out of Obstruction Pass)
• Average speed 3.0 knots (I’m sure it would have been higher had we not fought the currents so bad in  Wasp Passage.
• Total paddling time 11 hours 29 minutes.

It was a great trip.  I got a chance to get to know Ed a bit more and we are already thinking about a future trip through the San Juans.  Early ideas are a San Juan circumnavigation or a multi island trip.  We learned from some mistakes and were very thankful for the practice we had at Deception Pass.