Skagit Island Overnight

Brian and Marcia had invited me to join them on a South Sound Area Kayakers kayak camping trip to Skagit Island. Dropped by Goat Island to hike up to the abandoned bunkers. Perfect weather--sunny, calm. Currents were just little ripples. There was talk of playing in Deception Pass, but all I wanted to do was chill out at our Skagit Isl campsite. Napped, hiked with the group round the island and enjoyed the sunset and evening stars.

Next morning, woke to blustery conditions. I was more concerned by the possibility of lightning, so I packed quickly and left with two in our party. Brian and Marcia stayed behind a little more. Turned out that the storms didn't happen, but that's ok. Dropped by some farms for fresh produce and indulged in salmon candy and ice cream at Snow Goose.

Photos here.

Rolling and Putzing round the lake

I needed to troubleshoot my regular screw roll after depending on the extended paddle for too long so I thought I'd work on it in the Jive. Seeing as I wanted to pick up a new drybag for the weekend kayak camping trip, NWOC would be the place to hang out. These new bags are really neat now that they have the valve that gets the xtra air out. Plus the material's softer--no more bulky bags. Could only afford one.

Launched from their dock and paddled part of the lake to warm up and then worked on my roll. Once I got it going, I decided to paddle up and down the lake with roll intervals. Paddle for a minute, roll, continue paddling, roll...repeat. Kept the paddling at a relaxed pace for now. Headed to the south end of Lk Union where John and Eric were teaching a basic kayak class. Took a short break and enjoyed watching the students work on wet-exits and self-rescues.

Headed back to NWOC before their class ended so that I could time their return w/ mine (sea boats tend to be on average...uh...a little faster) and use their changing room. Continued the paddle and roll exercise. Tried a sprint and roll towards the end but the regular roll failed and had to revert to the extended again. That's my next goal for sure--all-out sprints and roll drills--so I can execute rolls even when fatigued. All in all, a great evening. Warm air and warm water on a sunny evening.

Homecooked Indian Dinner

Our whitewater gang thoroughly enjoyed Sanjeev's Indian homecooking at his place. I had to restrain from overdoing his mango lasse so I could save space for the actual dinner. We stuffed ourselves silly of course. Now it's midnight and I wish I could have s'more.

Tuesday Polo

A bunch of us kickstarted bi-weekly polo at Lakewood Marina. A great workout--lots of sprinting after the ball and your opponent. It was 3 on 3 so no permanent goalies. Perfect weather too, and we probably churned up the greenish goose-poo-filled water even more w/ our boat wakes. Still learning the rules and finer points of strategy, plus my shooting range is still too embarassing to mention, but it's lotsa fun.

Roll practice

Headed out on Sat eve to Sandpoint to work on sprints and rolls in preparation for Tuesday polo. WW boat of course. Regular screw roll's still not bombproof, but that's what practice is for. Keep that head down, grasshopper! Cloudy with a bit of a breeze but water's warm enough for wetsuit.

Gaming Wishlist

I gotta get my own DS. It's been a week since I've played Puzzle Quest. Or should I just put my $ into a 360? I had considered the Wii but the 360 has way more games I wanna play, plus Halo 3 and Fable 2 are due this year.

Midnite Pool's pretty cool and addictive. I think it's improved my real game.

Then again I'd like to get a shorter paddle and some other yak gear. Hmm...

80's Flashback!

Dropped by SilverPlatters www.silverplatters.com after work to pick the latest Blue Scholars release. www.bluescholars.com Found some 80's goodies in the used section too. Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode and Basia. Oh, man--listening to TFF's 'Shout' just brought this major wave of nostalgia. Funny how these things sneak up on me. Punky Brewster and leg warmers yo!

Getting old...snort!

Powerhouse Practice

Joined a WKC session at the Powerhouse Tues. Ran through drills and snuck in some surf time. Met some new folks and reunited w/ familiar pals. Didn't stick the rapids too well so I'll need more river sessions to get back into the groove. Maybe it's because the emphasis was more on learning than chilling--but that's just me. Anytime I hear the word 'practice' I flashback to childhood "trauma" of mandatory piano practice and homework sessions. Definitely a mental quirk I'll need to address.

A bunch of us went for dinner afterwards. The kitchen was closed but Andree's local enough to be able to request pizza for us. It was karaoke night so we ate in the back by the pool table. Yummy pie!

I've got to bring more cash--the group was kind enough to spot part of my share. Got back home by 11:30. Unwound with a beer and the latest Splinter Cell game. Didn't sleep till 2. Hope I don't pay the price later. ';\

Consolation Prize

Perfect!

Slept in for a change since I didn't have to sing on Sun. Got up to a surprisingly sunny day...and darn breezy too. Had an easy morning--coffee, surf the web. Found that it was supposed to be breezy pretty much all day long. Yes! 20-30mph at West Point.

Launched at Golden Gardens round 1:40 or so. Lots of folks out there enjoying the sunny Sunday so I opted to park at the boat trailer lot...along with everyone else. Woohoo! Found a spot close to the small bridge that links the lot to the beach. Thank you Mother Cabrini (for helpin me park my machini)!


Thanks Mother Cabrini!

Didn't seem as windy when heading out but it still made for fun stuff, especially when you add swells created by the larger power boats and passing freighters. It's high tide so no major swells tho'. Got a good workout heading towards West Point.

Got there and hung out for a bit. Lots of sailboats closer to the shipping lanes. Wasn't feeling too spry so I didn't play there. Instead I decided to keep it short and sweet and turned around to surf the SW-driven wind waves back to the Golden. Got some decent rides.

Stopped by NWOC afterwards for some Sink The Stink. Chatted w/ pals. Then it was gear-clean time! I had lofty goals of vaccuming, cleaning the bathroom, and doing laundry but it turned out to be 1 out of 3. Unloading boats and washing gear sure eats up time. Good thing I went out earlier than waiting till the evening--the wind had died down by that time.

All in all, a lovely weekend. It's so nice not to have any agenda or anything scheduled. My only confession--I did skip Mass *ahem*...but I'm very grateful to God for being able to go out and enjoy creation.

Amen!

The Demo That Didn't

A wet start to the day


So I've been hankering for a real surf boat after demoing the Megatron and cutting my first real turns in it at the Hoedown. Tammi at Adventures Through Kayaking http://www.atkayaking.com/ had brought a Riot Boogie and a Valley prototype but I didn't get to try them out then. Since I didn't have anything planned for the weekend, why not make a day trip to Peninsula and demo the boats at Crescent? The swell direction wasn't super but it was just above 270 which usually works.


I love passing this spot in PA *teehee*snort*

Should've paid attention to the swell height too. CB was a bleeping lake! I got there w/ the Boogie at the start of high tide so I didn't expect anything major for a while but still...I don't think there was even any shorebreak fer crying out loud. It was option-weighing time. Stubborn me--I decided to wait it out. Tammi was cool to let me keep it after hours so I waited for high tide.

I should've gotten a clue from the surfer who came, tidepooled w/ his girlfriend to kill time, and decided to leave. Instead I waited and got to see just about NADA happening at high tide. This after waiting for 5 hours. Fine! I'll just get the boat wet. There was some 1-2 foot shorebreak further west so I eked out whatever I could get. I was too discouraged to bother rolling in the boat. On the upside I had a curious seal keep me company.

Ah well, at least it turned out to be a gorgeous day! Enjoyed the drive back and caught the second last ferry back into town.

Note to self--if the locals ain't there, it ain't happening.


CB: As flat as this parking lot

Early Boid Specials

Got up at 3:30am to take mom to the airport last Fri. Yep...that's pretty early for me alright. I couldn't sleep when I got back home so I went ahead and did some stretches and mowed the lawn. Actually the major culprits were the dandelions so out came the ole weedwhacker. That thing vibrates so much it leaves my hands tingling for an hour.

Man! There sure were ALOT of dandies. Took longer than expected. Had to wrap up quickly and go off for my hair appt. Got my hairstyle touched up. I found this cool organic hair salon called Mode--no pretense or attitude. http://www.modehairart.com/ Amy my stylist did a fab job. Love my do!

Coffee!!!!!

The Usual Paddles

Put in some overtime at work so I didn't paddle as much last week. Went out on Lk Union for another evening of the usual. Cooler weather made for a smaller Duck Dodge. Can't remember if it rained or not.

Another evening was spent out at Enatai--paddled to Medina and back. Worked on getting those tweaked lower abs back into form. Overcast with a slight north breeze. Passed a couple paddlers at a different park--looks like one was teaching the other braces and rolls. The weather began to clear up right at sunset, with the setting sun showing through and painting the sky in lovely orange salmon hues. Beeootiful! I usually prefer heading north since 405 veers away at that point. If I head south I can literally hear the roar of traffic. Ugh.

Piggy Parade on my B'day

My old hangout

Enjoyed a lovely low-key b'day with my bestest pal (mom) at Pike Place Market. This is its 100th Anniversary so there's lots of extra festivities going on there. Hung out, mooched free samples and then got some real bites and topped it off with some pastry goodies at our fav boulangerie, Le Panier. The Foodie Paddler was tres tres content! (Also check out Cafe Besalu in Ballard--croissants and quiche TO DIE FOR!)

Pooches on Parade

I'm usually not a fan of crowded venues but I had a lovely time people- and pig-watching. Check out some of these cool pigs:

Weather was hot and balmy, but a cool marine breeze started to blow in later. Felt like an August-ish day in early June. Summer weather doesn't usually come in till after July 4th, but we've been having some 'hot' spells this spring.

Went paddling later in the evening (launched at Sand Point). Not very peaceful what with powerboats all over the place. Wish I had earplugs. Kept it to an hour and had to high-tail it back with inclement weather threatening. I'm fine with high winds and gnarly chop but am a lightning wuss. I could see lightning flashes further south--cool to watch, not cool to be caught in. Then another flash just west of me and this time, I could hear the thunder. Paddle paddle paddle! Phew! Turns out nothing really broke where i was, but still...don't wanna be charbroiled, ya know.

Knob Hog

Pre-B'day Enjoyment

After a whirlwind of the Hobuck Hoedown and preparing my citizenship paperwork, I wanted a low-key birthday. Plus, the citz application set me back $400 (fees will go up to almost a grand after July).

FA and I just hung around our lovely Seattle backyard. Tried a new Ballard pizza place (Snoose Junction Pizza), did a little shopping at Olde Ballard and went to West Seattle to check out a new bakery--Bakery Nouveau. The owner used to be the head pastry chef at Essential--he was captain of the team that won the international baking championship. Tried the napoleon and eclair. I loved the custard filling of the napoleon but the eclair was too dense and heavy. We prefer our pastries delicate. Le Panier and Besalu are still at the top of our list. Still, we'll be back.

Went paddling--launched at Constellation Park, as parking is usually available even on a crazy day at Alki. Quieter too. Picture perfect, except for a little haze. Tide was more than midway in, so no long hike to water. Nice N wind too keep things cool. Paddled south, stopped for ferry traffic at Fauntleroy and continued another half-mile. Tide was still flooding so it'd take a little longer to return. Water was so cool and refreshing, I was tempted to roll but am still nursing tweaked abs, so no rolls for a while. Breeze kicked up some playful waves close to ferry dock so I tooled around while waiting for the ferry to leave.

Returned in time to pick up FA and head over to Maneki for dinner. Sushi!!!! :D