San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

Last weekend officially kicked off our summer season. Lots of folks braved the grey skies and light rain to come out sea kayaking. Those that did were treated to some truly beautiful scenery. The reality of sea kayaking in the San Juans is that sometimes the best trips are on the days that have what many people consider to be marginal weather. Maybe it is because no one else is out there and we get a "private showing", or maybe it's that Northwest colors come out better under cloud cover. Whatever the case may be, as long as the wind isn't blowing, we like the rain!

The wildlife viewing has been terrific. The seals seem to be getting more active these days, it must be getting close to pupping season. Lots of Harbor porpoise are being seen on all of our tours, and eagles seem to be everywhere. I should also mention that all three families of Orca whales are back in the San Juans for the summer. They were seen traveling down Rosario Strait every day last week. If the timing is right we may see them again today!

Our first multi-day kayaking trip of 2006 took off on Monday morning. Although the forecast was for sunshine.....it was raining. That was no deterent for the folks from Colorado though. They had driven all the way up here for some kayak camping and nothing was going to stop this show!

Luckily the rain let up early in the day and by the time they got to the campground at Pelican Beach (on Cypress Island) the skies were beginning to clear. Over the next two days they had picture perfect weather as they made their way down to Strawberry Island and eventually completed a circumnavigation of Cypress Island. Thanks to Mac, Terry, and the rest of the crew for kicking off our overnight kayak program! (All pictures posted here were taken by Terry).

The rest of the summer is getting pretty booked up for these trips. We've got some space this month, July is pretty much booked solid, and there are still a few dates available in August. If you are thinking of coming out camping in the San Juan Islands, and you'd like to do it by sea kayak, then give us a call soon!

Well, it's been a while since we've been able to get another report typed up. The weather has definitely shifted to a more summer-like feel. Our Burrows Island kayaking trips have been going out every day, and our tours down at Deception Pass State Park are heading out every weekend. Both trips have been fantastic, with lots of seals and porpoise sightings on nearly every trip.

This week our kayakers saw Orcas out in front of the Burrows Island lighthouse! J-Pod came down Rosario Strait and graced everyone with unbelievable views at close proximity. Although this is not something we want our guests to expect on every trip, we are now getting into the optimal time for these kinds of encounters. We are still waiting for L-pod and K-pod to show up from their winter feeding grounds. Any day now we will have all three Orca whale families in the area!

We spent all of last week up at Sucia Island with the great folks from the Mt. Bachelor Academy. The weather was hot, which naturally led to some pretty vigorous waterfights. As expected with waterfights, we had some capsizes as well. Those crazy kids seemed to enjoy dunking in that cold water! We were loving it because it gave us a great opportunity to practice our rescue techniques. With the great weather we were able to kayak out to Matia and Patos islands as well. We are looking forward to more trips with them in the future. Thanks guys!

Speaking of sea kayaking up at Sucia, we have set a few dates for our special extended Outer Island trip this summer. This trip was incredibly popular last summer so if you think that you want to join us then book your place soon. It is sure to fill. For more information about this trip go to our Specials page on the website, or follow this link: Sea Kayaking at Sucia Island.

How did time pass by so quickly? It seems that only weeks ago we were sea kayaking in the austere beauty of the short days of winter. Now the days are long, the air temperature is rising, and people are getting outside. We've had some incredible days out on the water. I love this these early days of summer. Not only do we get to share the joys of sea kayaking with our guests, we also get out a lot for training. We are very impressed with our staff this year. Everybody seems so excited. Not only for sharing their knowledge of the area to visitors, but also for their interest in developing their personal skills and become better sea kayakers. We will have a very strong team this summer! Most everyone from the last couple of years are back to enjoy another summer of sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands and the new guides are wonderful.

Our Deception Pass program is officially underway! Until mid-June we will be kayaking along those amazing shorelines on weekends. After that we will be out there every darned day until September!

Well the big training weekend happened last weekend. Two intense days of building skills and team building. Once again we brought in two world-class instructors, Shawna and Leon of Body Boat Blade International, to give our guides a deeper understanding of what it means to be a sea kayak guide out here in the San Juan Islands. These two individuals are part of an elite class of paddlers who possess an amazing amount of knowledge of rescue techniques, and sea kayak handling skills.

The first day was wet, cold, and rainy. Just perfect to test the mental toughness of everyone on the water. As we expected, not only did everyone maintain an upbeat attitude, they all did fantastic with all of the exercises that Shawna and Leon put us through (yes, I did say "us". What kind of owners wouldn't put themselves through the same training that their guides have to endure?). After the day was over Megan and I knew that we had a great team for 2006.

Saturday was completely different. It was sunny and warm. Thank goodness for that because our instructors had us in the water doing all sorts of crazy things! Once again every one of our new guides did an amazing job of polishing their sea kayaking skills. Our guests will be in good hands this sumer.

Our kayak tours have been picking up as well. The weather is warming up, the days are getting long, and folks are moving around. This Saturday (May 6th) we officially begin our tenure as Deception Pass State Park's exclusive kayak outfitter. Give us a call, we'll show you around the most beautiful shorelines anywhere!