Sea Kayak - Eld Inlet

There was a high marine fog that was burning off moderately fast when I arrived at the Boston Harbor boat ramp about 0700.  All the other paddlers had cancelled so it took a little longer for me to unload my boat by myself.  The whole place was deserted except for the familiar friendly little Siamese cat that I spent a few minutes saying hello to. I’d brought my wheels so I saved time/effort to get everything moved down to the empty waterfront.  Not quite empty because two ducks got on either side of me within an arm reach, obviously expecting a handout.  They didn’t get one but I did say goodbye as I shoved off at 0740.  I could see Hope Island to the west and the Capital dome to the south as I headed west across the top of Budd Inlet before turning the corner to head south at Cooper Point.  In spite of the flood tide the water was flowing against me as it barely cleared the long spit at the point.  The water and shoreline were quiet as I made my way down the east side of the inlet, stopping for a break under some beautiful sheltering trees with a large convenient rock to sit on as I enjoyed my snack bar and tea about 1000.  Then it was on down to the bottom of the narrowing inlet, going to the right as I approached the south end.  There are two bridges to go under to reach the bottom and sloughs in the back.  With no worries for anybody else’s time tables I was able to explore all of the fingers until either snags or lack of water stopped me.  Bright sunshine in the rapidly disappearing fog revealed beautiful farms and pastureland that are not easily visible from the road.  Fall colors dotted the hills and along the shorelines as I paddled along, admiring the scenery reflected on the water surface and above it.  I also got to go close up by one the house sized metal cow art pieces in a pasture.  I don’t know how anatomically correct it is but I’d hate to have to milk it, heehee.  The water level had dropped 4 inches by the time I came back to the bridges; in another few hours this area would be a mud flat again.  The slight cool breeze in my face felt welcome as the inlet began getting wider again but didn’t last very long.  It was a little after noon when I pulled over on the east side close to Flapjack Point for a ½ hour lunch in the now bright and warm sunshine and to say hello to a passing kayaking couple.  The water movement had increased slightly so I headed to a favorable path towards the middle.  But the water got still again in places and among the occasional beautiful floating leaves I must have seen thousands of jelly fish on the north side of Flapjack. It felt like I was paddling in polka dots as they loomed like white headlights out of the darker water as far down as I could see on both sides of my boat.  I pulled out for another quick bio break on the west side before reaching Cooper Point and heading back across Budd to arrive at the boat launch at 1500.  All day I saw maybe three power boats, one sailboat and a handful of kayakers in Boston Harbor. I hadn’t had to pick up a single piece of trash either. What a perfect and peaceful day it was to be in a kayak in our lovely South Sound!!