Sea Kayak - Puget Sound: East Passage

The trip was originally planned to paddle a northern route but due to wind predictions, the route was changed. It included 4 students in the Tacoma Basic class and 4 experienced paddlers, including the leader. We met at Redondo Beach at 8:00. Everyone was able to find street parking. We  prepared for launch and went over the trip information with the students. We paddled south with a gentle head wind, staying close to shore to catch some wind break. We made a brief beach stop near the retreat center on one of the points and  arrived then at the pier area of Dash Point County Park where the wind had died down. We had lunch and then played and did some paddling exercises in calm waters. Then we headed back north. We went into  Dumas Bay for the students to practice self and assisted rescues. One of the students had a boat that was so large she could not reach across to complete her self rescue successfully and then one of her deck lines broke. We went into an assisted rescue. Because the boat was so large and high volume it took two of us to hold the boat so she could get back into it. She was able to complete her assisted rescues successfully. The other three students completed all their rescues successfully. All students did well in paddling in the wind and waves that we had. They all were able to keep a pretty good pace. When we got back to Redondo there was reflective water from the sea wall which was fun to experience.