Trip Report
Sea Kayak - Penn Cove
Lovely area to paddle. This is where the Penn Cove mussels are commercially grown and harvested. The commercial facility is just east of Coupeville along the southern area of Penn Cove. Coupeville is also a cute town to view from the water.
Rene Buendia
- Fri, Mar 21, 2025
- Sea Kayak - Penn Cove
- Penn Cove
- Sea Kayaking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Conditions within Penn Cove were calm or with light ripples. At the entrance to Penn Cove from Saratoga Passage we experienced 1+ ft swells from the southerly winds - fetch. Temperatures were in the mid 40’s. Partly sunny. No rain. We were in a weather window of good weather after stormy days and just before the next weather system is forecast to arrive. High tide was 9.4 ft at 9.14 am, low 0.65 ft at 4:47 pm.
The plan was to either paddle to Windjammer Park at Oak Harbor or circumnavigate Penn Cove, depending on the conditions we see at Saratoga Passage. The four of us launched from Captain Coupe’s boat launch in Coupeville at 10:07 am. Since the light winds were from the west we paddled eastward toward Long Point. At Long Point we turned north. Right about here is the entrance to Penn Cove from Saratoga Strait. Winds were now from the south. About 1/2 way across towards Blowers Bluff we experienced 1+ ft swells. Those conditions looked like they extended all the way up to Oak Harbor. I decided to turn back and circumnavigate Penn Cove. Found a quieter spot to land further inland in the cove and had lunch.
After lunch, we continued westward following the perimeter of Penn Cove. Winds were now light from the east (tailwind) and water was either calm or light ripples. At the southern portion of Penn Cove and west of Coupeville is the mussel growing/harvesting operation. This was really quite interesting to check out (pictures attached). Closer to Coupeville a couple of the paddlers harvested mussels from the piers at the Coupeville waterfront. They live close enough to put them on ice fairly soon. They quickly realized they could have harvested closer to Captain Coupe’s boat launch. But one must be watchful of what’s flowing into the cove around that area.
Throughout the day we saw eagles, harbor seals, oyster catchers, herons, and plenty of loud hornets - of the F-18 variety from Whidbey NAS and flying into the training field just outside Coupeville.
One paddler was an equivalency candidate and they had to perform self and assisted (as rescuer and swimmer) rescues. They did a good job. We covered about 7.5 nm and were off the water around 3:20 pm and had the debrief at Toby’s Tavern. Awesome day with wonderful people, small but mighty group.
