Trip Report
Sea Kayak - Hammersley Inlet
An excellent paddle with a really nice crew on a beautiful—and highly variable--summer day!
- Sun, Aug 18, 2024
- Sea Kayak - Hammersley Inlet
- Hammersley Inlet
- Sea Kayaking
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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CONDITIONS: MOSTLY SUNNY THEN CLOUDY, TEMPS 60S-70S, LITTLE OR NO SSW BREEZE, SEAS CALM TO RIPPLED, VISABILITY EXCELLENT
CURRENTS: HAMMERSLEY WEST: -2.2 @ 0856 / S @ 1252 / +2.2 @ 1612 / LIBBY POINT: -3.5 @ 1008 / S @ 1316 / +2.8 @ 1627ARCADIA TIDE: 13.0 @ 0406 / 2.4 @ 1132 / 14.6 @ 1848
SIGHTED: GREAT BLUE HERON, MERGANSER, CORMORANT, SEAL, RACOON
While everybody met on time we were a little late getting started, launching at 0920 after a very brief pre-trip huddle. No radio check was done as it wasn’t needed with a small group and mild, if slightly humid at first, conditions. The water was emptying out fast and we immediately moved into the fast current bearing us east where we could admire the beautiful scenery along the way. Seals peeped at us frequently, a couple rather close. We paused at Cape Horn to review peel outs and wave surfing and proceeded to do some before continuing on to Hope Island. The shoal in front of Steamboat was too far from the waterline to appreciate any sea life viewing so we continued on to the south end of Hope Island to find it empty at almost straight up noon. Well, not quite empty, there were at least a half dozen raccoons wandering around and foraging at the water edge. They scattered when we landed but regrouped to come by to view us at the picnic table from a safe distance. We had plenty of good and interesting conversations over our leisurely meal. There is a nice covered Sanican in the orchard and we could hear some equipment signaling the grass was being mowed again. There was a park service boat anchored in the cove; they must store the equipment somewhere on the island. Another small party showed up as we were leaving; they had boated in on the other side of the island.
The tide has risen nicely under our once moved boats so we didn’t have to carry our them to the water for a nice change. We shoved off around 1315 and went up the pretty eastern shoreline viewing more raccoons along the way. There are many beautiful and large shells well worth collecting on this island although none of us did. We made our way back across the beautifully rippling channel and back into the inlet where we made steady and increasingly faster progress west. Unfortunately there were large ominous clouds also down at the west end so after Bill completed one practice roll we quickly got our boats out of the water onto the beach at 1500 that was a little lower than when we had left it. I was waiting for the others down at the beach after carrying up our first loads to the cars when I saw lightening flashing in the Olympics. Soon we could hear thunder and the wind was rising as excellent team effort was made to get the boats up. I was just beginning to tie mine down when I felt a tree drop something hard on my head followed by another. I realized it wasn’t tree bits…it was hail! We dove for our cars with Bill ducking under my boat’s inverted bow over the front of my car before he then ran for his vehicle next to me. The hail came down in noisy marble sized solid chunks for about 5 minutes. Then it was followed by a steady rain during which we finished our tasks. We gathered under a kiosk for a post trip huddle with no complaints and smiling thanks exchanged. We all joined in the task of looking for a missing fob which happily appeared just as we were all pulling out. Linda and I were the only ones who opted to go to El Serape in Shelton for a nice post paddle dinner before heading home. An excellent paddle with a really nice crew on a beautiful—and highly variable--summer day!