Paddling around San Juan Island - Part 1

When I first heard the stories about the return of Southern Resident orca pods to the area, I wanted to head out to the San Juans to get a glimpse of them in person. I was also getting restless and wanted to get out and do some paddling so I signed up with a local outfitter, Sea Quest Expeditions, for a 5-day trip around San Juan Island (the westernmost island in the San Juans). It was also a pragmatic solution because it was an opportunity for me to gather information for my own knowledge bank around the finer details of guiding and cooking for a group of people on multi-day trips for my own gig as an assistant guide for Tantalus Adventures.

Day 1 - My alarm went off at 2:30 am on Monday morning - the first day of my trip. I grabbed my dry sacks and drove up to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Friday Harbor and meet the rest of the group. On the two-hour drive up, I wondered who my traveling companions would be and why didn't I spend the previous night in Anacortes? What a dim bulb! I almost talked my friend from the Bay Area, Karen, into taking the trip with me but she didn't think she could make it through 5-days of paddling. So, it was a solo trip for me which was fine and I generally get along with anybody so I wasn't too worried. But, damnit, I forgot my little traveling companion, Pescado :-( (a little, greem, plastic fish that I take on trips with me).

Got to the terminal in plenty of time to catch the 6:20 am sailing - no traffic, no lines. Hell, it was so early the concession stands weren't even open. I threw my sacks up on the bench and closed my eyes. Later, I saw three men walk in, each holding a large garbage back filled with smaller bags. I surveyed their clothes and chances were good that they, too, were on their way to a multi-day kayak trip. My gut was telling me that they could be my traveling companions for the week but I was sleepy and it was too early to be social. Besides, if they were going on the same trip as I was, there would be plenty of time to get to know them. We landed in Friday Harbor and I proceeded to the rendezvous point by the big elm tree. I turned around, and there were the same three men looking as perplexed as I did. After a round of cordial introductions, we determined that we were going on the same trip. Turns out that it was a surprise birthday trip for Paul, one of the men in the group, and he learned about the trip just the day before. His wife secretly planned the trip and even got one of his friends, Allen, who Paul hasn't seen in 20 years, to come all the way out from North Carolina. Paul and Dave (the third member of the party) are both biology professors at Central Washinton University, and Allen is also a biologist and works for the government. I can't remember what he does exactly but let's just say that developers aren't big fans of him and his department. Sweet! Biologists on the trip! I am going to learn a lot and chances are good that they will want to spend a lot of time out on the water.

The van pulled up and we met Sandy, our guide for the trip. So, Sandy is a one-of-a-kind. Where do I begin?!? She's a hearty 61-year old woman who has experienced a lot in her life, primarily as a tracker and a guide both in the San Juans and up in Alaska. She has built kayaks with a local company, and....has lived in the big city and was a gopher for models (huh?!?). Do you see what I mean? In any case, she was hand-picked by the company to accompany the 3 biologists on the trip which made sense because she was the most seasoned guide and probably had the most knowledge about the wildlife in the area. But, let me tell you that by the end of the trip, we figured out who ran the show around San Juan Island. I liken her to a sheriff that you don't f*@# around with....respect Sandy's rules and all is good. If you don't, well, just get the hell out of dodge which I thought I had to do on our first day. Yeah, I made a comment that she didn't like and so I quickly backed off. It became my personal goal to break through and make a connection with this woman (thank goodness for all those debates and negotiations in the corporate world because it came in handy) otherwise it was going to be a loooong week.

We loaded up our kayaks - 2 triples (filled up the middle with camping and food supplies) and Sandy's single. How I wished I had a single because my last experience in a double (in San Francisco) was not good (do I have a control issue?...hahaha). So, yeah, the guide doesn't like me and I'm stuck in a tandem boat. Oh well, as they say, 'make lemonade' which I did from the back of the boat where I could match my stroke with the person up front and control the rudder.

We headed out from Roche Harbor, around Davison Head and across Speiden Channel to Speiden Island. We landed on Speiden for lunch though Sandy later told us that the island is privately owned by the owner of Oakley sunglasses. He doesn't like kayakers stopping on his island but, hell, we were with Sandy and it was her show (damnit). After lunch, it was one last push to Stuart Island and into Reid Harbor where we would spend 2 nights camping. Sandy was paddling like a bat outta hell....and, we found out why. We saw another group paddling out in the same direction and it was basically a race to the best campsites (close to the beach) otherwise, you had to unload your boats at another point further down the inlet and haul your gear a long ways to the other camp sites. From the stories Sandy told us, it sounded like she *always* won. I must say, she is one helluva strong paddler. Damn! We were in bigger boats but could never keep up with her. Once the other group found out it was Sandy, they backed off and we were the first ones to arrive at the campsite. By then, it was around 3:00 pm so we spent the rest of the day setting up camp and having an early dinner (spaghetti and garlic bread). The guys spent that afternoon/evening rattling off the names of all the birds that visited the campsite. I couldn't keep up! It was crazy....like a Jeopardy show on ornithology....I was just an audience member watching in amazement the way they could quickly identify anything that moved. But, you know what....the "sheriff" *always* had the last word. That's it for now...I'm going to have to continue on another blog.