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Trip Report    

Sea Kayak - South Puget Sound: Olympia to Titlow Beach

While the originally forecast tail wind did not materialize, this was a great tour of the southern sound with a strong group of paddlers.

Will Greenough Will Greenough
April 12, 2026
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Mostly calm or a slight tailwind all day. A little light rain/drizzle occasionally, but sunny at the take out.
    A low exchange flood in the morning did not impede our progress as we were able to stay out of the main flow and take maximum advantage of eddies along the way. The mild ebb in the afternoon helped us along for the last half of the trip.

    The image shows the planned route in black and the actual route in dashed red.Screenshot 2026-04-12 104133.jpg

We accomplished the shuttle in light rain and were able to launch pretty much on time at a little after 10am. The forecast wind did not materialize - it was dead calm at launch and we only had 2-4kt of wind during the day when it was blowing at all.

In spite of the incoming tide, we made great time down Budd Inlet and arrived at Boston Harbor at 11:30. Apparently there was a race going on and there were a large number of boat racks on the beach and cars with surfski/OC1 racks parked in the marina lot.

After a short break, we headed out again, staying close to the south shore of Dana Passage to keep out of the last of the flood current. We still made great progress crossing the mouth of Henderson Inlet, past Johnson Point and across to Devil's Head, arriving at 1:30pm. We took our lunch break here with only a slight drizzle coming down occasionally.

After lunch we crossed Drayton Passage and arrived for our last break at Eagle Island at 3:05pm. Leaving Eagle Island after a 15 minute break, we crossed to follow the shore of McNeil Island briefly before heading out around the buoy at Toliva Shoal. Being observed by a large sea lion basking on the buoy, we turned north and headed to Titlow Beach with a nice 1-1/2kt current push. We arrived at Titlow Beach ahead of schedule at about 5:10pm.

Total distance: 22.87nm
Average moving speed: 3.9kt with some current assist for the last leg.IMG_2002a.JPEG