San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

Ahem,
Well it's been a while since the last Report. But that's not because there hasn't been anything to report. With a two year old boy running around, a growing company, and a pregnant wife, things have been quite lively around here. Did I say pregnant? You bet that I did! It looks like we'll be welcoming our newest addition to the Schorr family on July 7th (07/07/07 -if he/she comes on time should we name the child "Lucky"?). If I feel that life is eventful right now, just wait until July. Peak sea kayaking season, brand new baby, and the brains of this operation (Megan) will be out of commission for a while. Well, nobody can say we do things the easy way around here!

On the water we've managed a few moments of glory in between getting clobbered by wind, rain, snow, and ice. Just last week we managed to sneak out to Cypress Island. The kayaking was great. It snowed a little, just enough to make kayaking through the Cone Islands feel like we were living in a "snow-globe". We landed at Pelican Beach and found our way to the top of Eagle Bluff. It was difficult to discern the trail due to the windblown trees and the snow on the ground, but we eventually stumbled onto the summit. Nearly six inches of snow coated the bald rocks up there. The views across to the whitened tops of Mt. Constitution on Orcas, and Blakely Island were humbling. I've always loved this view of the San Juan Islands, but that day it was even better. Snow adds a rare dimension to our temperate region. We seldom get much snow, and when we do it often melts away before we can get to the best vistas.
The rest of our day was perfect. Although the air temperature was cold, we were wearing our drysuits and managed to stay warm. The air was absolutely still on the return trip. Our kayaks were reflected in perfect symmetry on the waters surface.

That trip to Cypress Island wasn't the only snowy experience this winter either. Back before the holidays I took another course with Body Boat Blade International, our local sea kayaking instructional organization. I know that I've mentioned it before, but these guys are tops when it comes to kayak training. All of our guides are trained by them every year. Well, the class was called Incident Management and was held down in Deception Pass. The day started off under darkening clouds as we kayaked out of Bowman Bay and into Deception Pass. Instructors Shawna, Leon, and Matt would randomly give us different scenarios that we would have to deal with. Any potential incident was fair game; broken paddles, blistered thumb, caught in fishing line, damaged boats, damaged shoulders, hypothermia, ....guy suddenly unconscious with a heart-attack needs to be pulled uprightwhile still in his kayak (Hand-of-God rescue) towed across the main current in Deception Pass while being held upright by two other paddlers and brought to land. You know.....the usual stuff. And then it started to snow. And snow. During our lunch break we couldn't even see all the way across the Pass, it was a whiteout. We finished eating and kayaked out and under the bridge. The flakes were big, the air was motionless, and the surface of the water was a pefect mirror. The flakes reflected in the water appeared to be moving upwards just as other flakes hit the water and disappeared. The effect was as if they were bouncing off of the water. Weird and beautiful all at once.

Keep checking in, I'll get more disciplined at this as the season gets closer. I promise.