Sea Kayak - Deception Pass

We will meet at Conner Waterfront Park at 8:00am sharp. This is the park just south of La Conner and located under the east end of the Rainbow Bridge. We will be launching from the kayak beach at the south end of the park.

We will have a lot to do unloading boats and gear, shuttling cars, and preparing to launch. So please plan to arrive on time, or a little early.

The plan is to unload all boats and gear at our launch site then shuttle as many vehicles as we can to our end point. I'll hand out instructions for shuttle drivers at that time.

Once we have all the drivers back to the launch point we'll put in and paddle south down the Swinomish Channel to an area where we'll practice self and assisted rescues. When we're done with rescues, we'll continue to Goat Island for lunch and a hike around Fort Whitman. Hope Island will be our last stop before we take off for Bowman Bay via Canoe Pass on the tail end of the afternoon ebb. I expect we will be done for the day by 4:00pm.

Note: Two knots is typically the maximum current speed for a student paddle. The maximum current speed on this particular trip is expected to be under two knots, all going in our direction of travel (as long as we keep to schedule and there are no significant deviations from the current predictions).

My plan is to arrive at Canoe Pass before the afternoon Slack Before Flood and go through on the last of the ebb at around a knot and a half or less. Timing can be tricky at this pass so the plan is to get there a bit early in case the current reverses sooner than predicted. Waters there tend to be a little confused at slacks but we should be fine as long as we all keep paddling. In other words, do as you aughter, keep a blade in the water!

For this activity, participants are expected to demonstrate self and assisted rescues. Each participant will also be expected to bring their own basic trip plan, including a chart marked with routes, tide, current, weather notes and other planning considerations for the conditions on the day of the paddle.  Extra points for including magnetic bearings, distances, and times between waypoints.

Registration to be a participant on this student paddle requires trip leader approval. Please wait until this trip opens for registration before requesting to be added to the roster as a participant. Requests made prior to the opening of registration will not be processed.