Dog and I spent last weekend sea kayaking around the San Juan Islands. We googled a cheap place to rent kayaks on San Juan Island. So we just loaded up our backpacks and walked onto the ferry at Anacortes. Sue from Leisure Kayaks picked us up in Friday Harbor. We loaded up the kayaks and paddled out into the San Juan’s for the weekend.
Friday afternoon we paddle about nine nautical miles in about three hours. We timed it right to use the North flowing flood currents to carry us up to Jones Island. We found a cool campsite on the West point of the South Cove. Perfect for catching the sunrise early Saturday morning. Good thing too because we needed to be on the water paddling before 9AM to catch the South flowing ebb current back down to Turn Island. Saturday morning we woke to thick fog South of us. It was clear at Jones Island but thick fog was covering the channel just North of Friday Harbor. We needed to make it one mile South of Friday Harbor before the tide changed around noon. The currents can flow over 3 knots up there. And since you can only realistically paddle 2 or 3 knots per hour it is very important that you’re paddle with the current, not against it. We decided to cross San Juan channel at the widest point right off the Southwest corner of Jones. This way we could avoid crossing in the fog. After crossing if we stuck close to the San Juan Island shore we could “safely” slip around the point and into Friday Harbor even in the fog. The 2+ mile crossing was a bit scarier that we had hoped. The big Anacortes/Sidney B.C. ferry came charging out of the fog and sent out rolling waves - the wind was blowing opposite the current to create wind chop waves and a fleet of fishing boats and big motor yachts - all combined to nearly toppled us a few times. But we made it - and in blazing time too! The currents must have really been ripping because we covered in one hour what took us two hours the day before. Although, it might just have been the adrenaline charged paddling.
Saturday we set up camp on Turn Island. There is a nice state park on the Northwest shores of the island. It’s a small island. We walked the path around it in about 15 minutes or so. Like Jones Island, it’s uninhabited. It’s co-managed between the State Parks and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. We arrived and setup camp mid day so we had all day to lounge around on the beach and swam in the cold water. The sun went down and the temperature drop to a point were it was comfortable to enjoy the warmth of a campfire. I had forgotten how much I enjoy just sitting next to a campfire. Staring at the flames, feeling the radiant heat, and enjoying the nature flow of conversation that campfires tend to induce.
Sunday we woke up early to catch the favorable ebb current again back down to our take out at Leisure Kayaks. Then off to enjoy a late breakfast at the Downrigger in Friday Harbor. What a great weekend! I can’t wait to go sea kayaking again.