Sea Kayak - Lummi Island Circumnavigation

We met at Gooseberry Point at 730 am.  We parked our cars near the beach in the lot behind the store that is just north of the ferry dock.  It was easy and convenient to get boats on the beach and load them from that location.  However, it turned out that although you can park there overnight, there is a five dollar charge and the person who would collect that would not be there till 930.  We decided to move the cars to the road just south of the ferry dock.  There were no signs pertaining to parking there, and the cars were still there the next day without tickets on them!

The 0.8 mile crossing from the launch site to the island shore was quick and then we rode a current to Migley Pt. at the north tip of Lummi island, getting there a little ahead of schedule.  When we got around the point we encountered a headwind of about 7 knots.  Though we were riding the current, we only managed to paddle at about 2 knots for the next couple of hours.  Wind waves were only 1 to 2 feet, but a tide race created some bumpy water that covered about a quarter of mile.  Nothing we could not handle, but rough enough to make someone who is not comfortable in such conditions  feel nervous.  We got to Lummi rocks about 20 minutes behind schedule, so we shorten our lunch break.  The Paddle from Pt Migley to Lummi rocks is nice, but the pretty part of Lummi islands western side start at Lummi rocks.  

The wind died down, but we still had to push to get to the south end of the island prior to current changing.  We paddled pretty hard for about 45 minutes, but we got to the end on time and rode the current to the camp site, arriving 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  It was good that the current pushed us there so fast because we were going with the wind and it was pretty warm so i felt hot and tired by the time we landed. 

The beach has room for a dozen or more boats above the high tide mark.  We secured our boats there and move our gear up the stairs to the camping area.   Its a steep staircase, and requires some effort to ascend.   The camp sites are few in number, but each is big enough for at least 4 single tents.  There are lots of trees and it is good idea to hang food to keep it out of racoon clutches.  

Next morning we arose at 530 and left for Gooseberry at 710, 10 minutes behind schedule.   The current was strong and pushed us back to Goodberry Pt by 915 or so.  We landed on the beach near where our cars were parked.  It a little more of a walk to get from beach to cars than it was at the launch point, but not bad.  Wheels will not help with boat transport because the beach is covered in drift wood.

Overall, it was a great trip, but not one to take if there is a south wind and you are unable to paddle hard against for a couple hours at a time.