Placeholder Routes & Places

Trip Report    

Sea Kayak - Fox Island Circumnavigation

I don’t know if it is the freshwater runoff and/or the lack of boat activity but winter time can be the best time to paddle in the south end. The water is so clear you can see at least 30’ down! It was hard to believe in the mild conditions that we are in the middle of January and a nice day on the water for the maiden voyage of Rohan’s new boat!!

  • Road rough but passable
  • WEATHER: MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A.M. FOG CLEARING IN AFTERNOON, LITTLE OR NO WIND, 40S TO 50S, SEA CALM, VISABILITY GOOD.

    TIDES/ CURRENTS: ARLETTA TIDES: : 14.8 @ 0819 / 6.5 @ 1424,  GIBSON POINT: S @0802 / -1.6 @ 1110 / S @1458 / 1.3 @ 1717  HALE PASSAGE: S @0438 / -1.4 @ 1118 / S@ 1410 / +1.2 @ 1541 TACOMA NARROWS SOUTH: S @0839/ -2.9 @ 1159 / S @ 1443 / +2.4 @ 1655

    SUN RISE/SET: 0751 /1649

    Boat ramp is in bad shape!!  Be careful on and around it!

SIGHTED: BROWN HEADED MERGANSERS, SCOTERS, BUFFLEHEADS, GBH, EAGLES, LOONS, SEALS, PORPOISES, DOG

 This trip was originally scheduled by Will Greenough but I took over after he was injured.

 Everybody arrived early at the decrepit Fox Island Bridge boat launch.  Care needs to be taken in pulling into the parking along side it with a tailpipe busting drop for cars built low to the ground. The actual boat ramp isn’t much better and from the tire tracks in the gravel alongside it made it obvious that everybody else thinks so too. After a condensed pre trip huddle—we were all trip leaders—we launched a little early at 1015 and headed around the corner under the bridge in the quickening current.  We were going clockwise as I wanted to take advantage of the currents that move faster on the north side of Fox.  We headed straight over to tiny Tanglewood Island to check out the few houses and other buildings on it in the well protected cove.  There is an active fish pen just south of it.  It only took a minute or two and we were greeted by a friendly dog wagging its tail from one of the docks as we headed around the lower corner and across the cove.  Just as we cleared the headland a large flock of flying seagulls hinted of a lot of marine life activity.  The gulls shrieked, eagles squeaked and Great Blue Herons squawked in and around the trees as we moved along.  I wasn’t sure if there were any actual sea lions but there were plenty of seals in the mix.  One spent quite some time watching me go by and for only the second time in my paddling career I was looking over the back and head of another seal.  It spent about 15 seconds in front of me and finally dove under the surface and I don’t think it was even aware I was there.  It was a tiny one and about 25’ away an adult appeared, looking in all directions that made me think she was its anxious mama. 

 We continued on in the current slightly spread out until we reached the northeastern corner and took a hard right.  Tom reported sighting some porpoises in the channel before arriving there.  We paused at the third dock which is next to the WWTA campsite at 1130 for a break. The decision was made to continue on around Gibson Point before stopping for lunch so after about 15 minutes we did that.  We were pretty much at max ebb in the Narrows Channel with less than a knot against us in the back eddy.  But the water was quiet and I could see the bottom of Mt. Rainier under the rising fog and all the way down to the Nisqually Reach.  After about five minutes or so the pull wasn’t so noticeable and we hauled out on the beach with some handy trees for benches beside a big rock in the weak sunshine.  We spent about 45 minutes there that included good discussions about boats, gear and camping equipment before shoving off at 1300.  We spread out a bit in the calm conditions but bunched up again at Nearns Point.  Nobody opted to get out although we did slow down to admire the sea life on the bottom.  I don’t know if it is the freshwater runoff and/or the lack of boat activity but winter time can be the best time to paddle in the south end.  The water is so clear you can see at least 30’ down!  Once around the spit it was a short hop of about 10 minutes back to the boat ramp, arriving at 1515 to find a few other kayaks already there.  Good teamwork was applied to get the boats back up to the vehicles. Once we were changed into dry clothes and the boats loaded up we had a short post trip huddle with no complaints and thank yous exchanged.  I got to watch Rohan bounce his truck back out of the potholes and Dave kindly signaled me to maneuver my way around them on my way out.  It was hard to believe in the mild conditions that we are in the middle of January and a nice day on the water for the maiden voyage of Rohan’s new boat!!  All paddlers performed well with excellent group dynamics.