Sea Kayak - Freshwater Bay

SIGHTED: SEAL, OTTER, EAGLE

We had all paddled together on Saturday and in the late afternoon decided to meet at the Freshwater Cove boat ramp the next day and decide from there what to do. Everybody was on time and the tide was way out.  Tom had wisely brought some wheels and kindly volunteered them and himself for all of us to move our boats down the beach to the water.  The water was smooth with little or no wind and the waves were negligible.  We launched and headed straight over the large rocks exposed at Observatory Point.  There were a few hikers exploring the tide pools and while we were certainly observed by some birds as we did likewise with a much better advantage of being in our boats.  After spending some 10 minutes there we headed east towards the mouth of the Elwha River.  The waves were stacking and washing up the shoreline a bit as we approached the river.  Lori and Jerry chose to explore the waves at the mouth with Lori reporting that there was at least one large rock in the wave train that would make it dangerous to spend any time there without a helmet.  Most of us weren’t wearing one so after a bit we left the waves for the always hopeful surfers and continued threading the long way around Angeles Point.  We chose a spot where the waves flattened out a little approaching the beach to land and have our lunch about halfway to the west end of Ediz Hook.  It was nice in the sunshine and we spotted an otter in the waves just off the beach in front of us! The embankment on the east side is steep and there were several houses along the top that are the western part of Port Angeles. 

After about an hour we packed up and headed back west, this time choosing to move along the shore and admiring the scenery.  The backdrop of the snow covered Olympics was stunning at times as the clouds cleared out. The waves and swell were about as small as you can get here and the water was clear with good viewing down below.  We arrived back at the boat launch about 1600.  We loaded up, changed and had our huddle with no complaints.  We met at the Longhouse Market & Deli in Blyn for a bit to eat before heading off to homes.  A nice paddle on a beautiful day that is beginning to feel like summer is just around the corner!  All paddlers performed well with excellent group dynamics.