Surfski Knowledge Base

Larry Goolsby
06/19/05 #368

I want to hear from Reivers and Morris about their epic paddle that
was to go from Anacortes to Fairhaven this Sunday afternoon. Dean
and I needed to be home this afternoon so we did our own epic trip
starting at Fairhaven at 0830 Sunday morning and paddling out and
around Lummi Island and then back to Fairhaven. We wanted to catch
some of the out flowing tide and then ride the flood tide back in
(even the best laid plans blah, blah, blah). Dean was in his S1-X
with his 4“ rudder and I was in the R with my 4” rudder. The trip
out was uneventful except for a chop that was against our beam that
was coming from the south. It was tempting to turn and ride these
little waves north up through Hale's Passage but we wanted to travel
north on the west side of Lummi. Once around Lummi it was dead flat.
I was hoping to have the wind at our backs with a little wind swell
but suddenly the wind was coming out of the northwest (not in the
weather channels predictions). We had already stopped so Dean could
have a pee break on Eliza and as we neared Lummi Rocks, Dean needed
another pee break. Lummi Rocks is exactly 11.3 miles from the
Fairhaven boat ramp (in case you are looking to do a trip to there).
We had hit some current on that side just before the Rocks and had
slowed to 6 mph. We ate lunch there and then headed north again to
find Dean another pee site. I wish that Dr. Sullivan or Dr. Borgnes
could have been with us, it would have been beneficial to do a
prostate exam on my partner. Shortly after leaving Lummi Rocks, we
hit a current that took us up to 9 MPH for about a mile or more. We
was movin'. However, once we passed Legoe Bay, we slowed to a crawl
of about 5.7 to 6.0 until we hit Pt. Lawrence. The top of Lummi was
uneventful, flat and void of current but as we entered Hale passage,
the flood current was coming north through the channel. I had
thought that the incoming current went south through there. We
headed south and at times our speed dropped to 4.5 but we found that
the east side of the channel was almost current free. Coming around
Portage to go the last 5.5 miles home was the epic part of our trip.
The northwest wind was blowing a 1 foot chop at our beam and the
closer we got to Bellingham, the bigger the chop was. I teach
physics so I thought I knew enough about wave action (waves travel
in sinusoidal patterns or rather they curve as they go out) to think
that if the waves were hitting our beam at Portage, they would be at
our backs as we neared Bellingham. Made sense to me. The waves were
hitting my beam all the friggin' way back. Dean had taken a more
southerly route catching the energy from these waves while I stayed
with them hitting my beam and testing my 4“ rudder. I could barely
see him since he was about a 1/2 mile to my south and I thought that
I had the advantage for getting to Belligham first. There was even a
tug boat that sped past him with a nasty 4-5 foot wake but this did
not deter him much. As we passed the Post Point buoy, the water
really started to get nasty with 2-3 foot waves coming in different
directions and then bouncing off the shore and the drydock. The last
mile was pure survival paddling and the 4 ” rudders were holding up
great. I could have not maintained an upright position in that water
with my S1-X and was very happy to be in the R. Dean beat me to the
ramp and did park his boat about 1 or 2 minutes before I did. Our
total time out was about 5 hours and 20 minutes and our time
paddling was 4 hours and 35 minutes. Total distance was 29.6 miles.
Now I want to hear about how Reivers and Morris did on their
crossing…
Larry G

Morris Arthur <marthur@…>
06/20/05 #369

Reivers and I took a leisurely Sunday paddle from Anacortes to Friday
Harbor:

Yummy food, fine beverages, and “maybe-I'll-just-nap-here-on-the-beach”
weather…

Morris

Reivers Dustin
06/20/05 #370

It was pretty cool. We took two breaks, in fact on the last break at
Lopez, Morris slapped a tall can of my favorite brew in my hand. The
fish 'n chips at Friday Harbor was great.

We rode currents at first, then hunted for back eddies through
Deception Pass on Westward. Morris hooked up behind a little power
boat and found the stern wake rideable. I was trying to ride the bow
wake with less success.

I have got to get a GPS. The big flood was very deceptive once we
were in the middle of a long crossing. We had to ferry more than I
thought. Morris' GPS was a lifesaver.

The 6 - 7 mph cruise speed of these 'skis just blows my scale of
things away. I've had a touring boat perspective on the islands for
all these years. Things like this are easier to manage than I would
have expected.

We have more stories, but our throats are dry… perhaps if someone
were to provide us a beer?

Larry Goolsby
06/20/05 #372

OK Morris, just how many miles was this leisurely paddle. I tried to
look on my wall chart and it didn't cover that big of an area. Did you
have to change your watch when you passed through the different time
zones?
Larry G

Morris Arthur <marthur@…>
06/20/05 #373

20 statute miles of paddling.
The whole trip took 12 hours if you include all the driving, drinking,
eating and napping…

Morris