Day 3: Kayaking on the Juan de Fuca Strait
Friday, August 27, 2004

Today we went kayaking in Freshwater Bay on the Juan de Fuca Strait. We'd decided to go with a guide and we had the afternoon appointment, so we had a little time in the morning. We went back to Olympic Bagel Company for another yummy breakfast and then drove around the town a bit, exploring first the downtown, then along the water, and then around some of the neighborhoods. The houses varied a lot in terms of how well kept up they were, and most seemed to be built in the 1980s, maybe earlier. The town certainly feels like a real sort of place, not particularly touristy, but also not as well kept up as it could be. Still, it was pleasant enough. There was a truly humongous ship in the harbor, not a cruise ship but more of a working ship that seemed even bigger. It was about the size of a town. We also saw some logging ships and watched a crane loading logs into piles. Earlier, Walendo had seen a sign selling a cord of wood for $100, which is very cheap, at least for us. I guess you'd expect wood to be inexpensive here.

Scene on boat dock

Once again the weather was overcast but it wasn't raining and it was mild enough, in the mid 60s, so it was comfortable enough. After cruising around for a while, we parked by the pier and walked along a small bit of the Waterfront Trail, which I've read goes for many miles all along the coast. We walked down onto the pier and wandered among the boats. I took a bunch of photos of the boats and the reflections — for some reason boats make for good photos. It was really nice that they allowed access to the piers. The sign said it was limited only from 6am-8am (not a problem for Walendo and me), and open the rest of the day. They even allowed dogs on leashes, how nice.

Scene on boat dock

Everyone we passed said hello to us and generally seemed friendly. Walendo had fun dreaming about owning a boat, something he's wanted to do for a while. I asked him what he'd do if he had a boat, expecting him to tell me about trips he'd want to take, and how it would feel to cruise along the water. Instead he said he'd buy gadgets for it. Meantime, I had a blast just walking along and taking shots. I liked that it was a much lighter weight experience than most other photo sessions. I didn't bring the tripod, so I didn't have to set it up for each shot. The sky was overcast, which made for nice lighting, and I had my Image Stabilization lens, so I was able to get fairly stable shots. Even with the other lenses, there were plenty of things to brace myself against, so I felt like I might have gotten a few nice shots. I love when that happens.

Walendo paddling in Juan de Fuca Strait

Walendo picked up a quick lunch and we headed out to Olympic Raft and Kayak, about 8 miles out of town. We were the only one on our tour, which we'd been hoping for. Our guide was AJ, a good guy who was knowledgeable about the marine life and eager to share it. We got geared up and he loaned us dry bags. We drove this 1970s-era van down to the launch point (he called it the Duct Tape Express), and put in. We were on sit-on-top kayaks, which made Walendo happy because they're the most comfortable for him. They're colder, though, so I was a little concerned. It was in the 60s and the water was definitely nippy, but it worked out okay once I got moving. We put in at Freshwater Bay, which is called that not because it has fresh water but because the Elwha River flows into this area and the ships would come in and fill up with fresh water. The bay where we put in was very quiet, but once we went around the bend, it got choppy and we paddled into a headwind. We went at a fairly leisurely pace, though, hugging the shore and going into various coves as AJ pointed out the sea life — anemones, sea stars, muscles, barnacles, jellyfish, and various birds — explaining how they feed and fit into the ecology of the area.

AJ & Walendo paddling among seaweed

He could spot different birds from far away, pointing out cormorants, a kingfisher, a blue heron, and a few others I don't remember. We didn't see any eagles, but we saw a few harbor seals playing in the waves. He even plucked a sea star from a cliff and let us hold it. It has about a foot wide and had a very hard shell, harder than I expected. He explained that the outside is its skeleton and the whole underside is its stomach. It will crawl over a group of muscles or barnacles and basically squeeze and crush them so their shells crack and then it can insert its stomach inside to suck out the food. Wow. Some sea stars can move a few feet per minute, which is downright bookin'! We kayaked through tons of seaweed beds, some of them so thick you could barely get your paddle inbetween the strands to the water. They were long stems with a knob on the end that bobbed on the water. Apparently, they anchor themselves to the floor of the ocean at shallow rocky areas, and the bulbous top is the "float". (When you see them, you know the water isn't very deep.) AJ said they were good places to go in a storm because you could burrow in and not float away. He said parts of them were very tasty, especially in the spring, though I've never found seaweed all that delicious. I suppose if you needed to eat, it would be okay.

AJ also told us a little about him, and it sounds like he eeks out an existence guiding kayak trips and teaching kayaking. He lives in a tent and doesn't have a cell phone, so he has to stay pretty close to the area to find out when tours go out. He works pretty much every day during the season (April - Sept) unless no tours get booked, and he doesn't get paid unless he works. He sometimes fishes from his kayak and told us ways you can cook the fish by wrapping it in seaweed or roasting it on a bed of seaweed. He's originally from Alaska so we talked a bunch about that. We gave him a nice tip at the end, feeling good that it would make a real difference to him.

On the way out, we chugged along slowly checking out the marine life and then on the way back, we were going with the tide so we boogied along. In a way it was harder to paddle on the way back because the tide kept pulling the boat to the side, so you had to keep adjusting. AJ explained that when you're paddling into the wind, the wind automatically keeps the boat aligned with the wind, so steering isn't a problem. On the way back, the wind will push the stern around, so it's harder to stay straight. Eventually I got into a groove and just enjoyed the paddling. I had one little adventure on the way out. At one point we stopped at a little beach for a quick rest, and then to head out, I got in the kayak and AJ pushed me out into the waves. Just as I got out a few yards, I was hit by a big wave just at the right (or wrong) time, so I got soaked. AJ had a pump, so we pumped out the seat area of the kayak and after we got moving again, I warmed up and was okay for the rest of the ride.

We had left the kayak place around 1pm and we got back a little before 5pm, so we were out for about 3 ½ hours, going about 2 ¼ miles each way. We both enjoyed it quite a bit. Walendo loves being on the water, just listening to the sound of the water and checking out the shoreline. It made him want to kayak more, and to live on the ocean.

We'd asked AJ about restaurants and he recommended three: Thai Peppers, the Indian place, and the Bushwhacker for seafood (although he hadn't been to the latter, he'd just heard about it — I gather it's expensive). We were going to go to a Chinese place but we decided to go to Thai Peppers instead. We were both a little chilled, so the Tom Kah Gai soup tasted especially good. We had two specials, the Dungeness crab fried rice and a mango prawn dish, both of which were fine but not great. So it was a decent meal but not special, at least if you live in an area with lots of good Thai Restaurants. We then walked a couple of blocks back to Buzz's, hoping that they'd have gotten in some chocolate ice cream, but again they were out. The guy said they hadn't had it in a long time either, but he said this was the small shop, that the main Buzz's was in Sequim, a town 17 miles away (and pronounced Squim for some reason — probably just so they can tell locals from tourists). Since it was pretty early in the evening, we decided to head over there. First we checked out a bookstore and picked up a couple books, and then checked email at a coffee shop.

The drive to Sequim was pretty quick. The town is pretty small, much smaller than Port Angeles, but the downtown was in nicer shape. We found Buzz's and I got my ice cream, but it turned out to be not that good. So much for that. There was a live "band" there, which consisted of a guy on electric keyboards and a girl (she looked like she was in high school) playing the sax. Not your usual combination. They weren't bad, though.

After walking around just a bit, we drove back and settled back in the hotel. I've uploaded my images and there are a few boat shots that I liked. Cool!

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