Sea Kayak - Skagit

Most excellent paddle around Skagit and Hope Islands yesterday! We started out at Cornet Bay after slack before flood and paddled over to Ben Ure Island for a warm up exercise. Next we took a peek in to Deception Pass from the northwest corner of Ben Ure then joined the flood headed toward Hoypus Point for a nice 2 knot assist that brought our speed up to 5.3 knots. We headed on past Hoypus Point to the north side of Kiket Island to explore the coastline there. After a lunch break on Skagit we rode the small southbound current east of it a short way then followed the south coast of Kiket then down the coast to Lone Tree Point. From there we crossed over to the north side of Hope Island to practice self and assisted rescues in the small bay there. Next we paddled around the rest of Hope clockwise and crossed between the west end and Ala Spit where we practiced ferrying across current using ranges. After rounding the spit we practiced sweeps and edging while slaloming through the pilings there then headed back around Hoypus Point to Corent Bay with the ebb at Yokeko Point. We experienced beautiful weather the entire day. Great fun! Congrats to Michelle and Rebecca on completing their first student paddle!!