Sea Kayak - Whidbey Island West Shore

Tidal currents through Deception Pass were conducive to play and learning on the weekend of March 16th and 17th.  As a result, several groups of Mountaineers kayakers planned trips and classes around Deception Pass State on the 16th, 17th and 18th of March.  They were rewarded with some of the best March weather in recent memory!  

On the 17th a group of 8 kayakers paddled south from Bowman Bay along the coast of Whidbey Island.  The 13 nm paddle required a car shuttle to Libbey Beach County Park.  After an 8:30 meeting we had the cars in position and our paddle began at 10:45.  Those who waited in Bowman Bay appreciated the beautiful view and conversed with other paddlers as they departed to play in the ebb current through Canoe Pass.  

We left the bay and headed towards Deception Island then south past the exclusion zones of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.  

There's a long stretch here where you are not permitted to go shore, so our first stop was at Joseph Whidbey State Park.  The water was so flat that we practiced edging our kayaks with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.  

After lunch we continued south enjoying views of dramatic cliffs to the east.

Across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the south we could see the snow capped Olympic Mountains and to west, Vancouver Island.  

By around 3 pm we were enjoying some of the best views of the trip and arriving at Libbey Beach County Park.  

Several of the kayakers on this trip were doing it for a 2nd or 3rd time.  The first-timers will probably likely return.