San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

These last two weeks have just flown by. We've enjoyed great kayaking out there on the tours. Lots of overnight kayak trips have been getting out Cypress Island. Although the weather has been "hit and miss", everyone has had a great time. It is hard to go wrong when you are kayaking around one of the most beautiful spots in the San Juan Islands. The Burrows Island kayak trips have also been seeing all sorts of great things. Lots of seals, eagles, and porpoise have graced us with their presence. We are getting close to the pupping season now, soon the water will teem with tiny little Harbor seals. Although it seems to make their mothers anxious, the pups are curious about us and often approach fairly close. Another large marine mammal was hanging around the island last week. A male California sea lion was spotted on several tours. Once it surfaced just a few feet away from our guide Brent. It was hard to tell who was most surprised. Apparently it lifted about half of its body out of the water, bringing it literally eye-level with Brent. According to his account, the sea lion could have used a breath mint!

Our training has been amazingly intense and productive these last four weeks. We've been hitting it hard nearly every day. Last weekend was Phase 2 of our formal classes with Body Boat Blade International. We had perfect conditions to practice skills and rescues in the swift moving waters of Deception Pass. It always amuses us to see some of the overstated claims of certain San Juan Island companies in regards to training. Having been residents of the island for many years, and full time kayak guides, we know all too well that a few sessions in a warm pond (and maybe a few days learning how to identify zooplankton) is not enough to prepare a guide for the rigors involved in rescuing someone in rough conditions. Although most days in the San Juan Islands are beautiful, and rescue situations rarely arise, we feel that a kayak guide should be trained to handle levels far exceeding the usual conditions encountered on a tour. (For example, as this report is being written, several of our guides are out in some local tidal races working on rescues in the rough water- we'll never take guests out there, but our staff can handle the conditions) . Hopefully these companies will eventually follow our lead and incorporate some professional coaching into their training program. Sure, it costs money, but the investment is a good one. Our reward for making the investment is watching our team develop advanced sea kayaking skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.

Every day gets warmer and warmer out here. Summer Solstice is just around the corner, and the days are nice and long. Pretty soon we'll be into the heart of the summer kayaking season and everyone's "smile" muscles will be sore.

Oh yeah, for those of you who have been following the Reports over the last few months, our new baby is coming in just three weeks (07/07/07)! The little guy seems anxious to join us, he's kicking like crazy. Keeps his mom up at night.