It's been a while since I've been out in my boat, so when the weather forecast said 57 and mostly sunny for a Wednesday in January, I just had to get out! It didn't end up being 57, maybe closer to 50, and it was a little more windy than I'd hoped, but it felt great to be on the water again. Gretchen and Stephany joined me. Unfortunately Brooke was too busy, and Mariann still hasn't recovered fully from her c-section.
I really wanted to explore Miller Bay, which is a short jaunt (at least it looked short on a map!) across from Agate Pass past Suquamish. There's an interesting rip tide where the currents change near the Suquamish dock. A man on the dock called to us and said there are sometimes harbor porpoises playing out there, which Gretchen actually saw when she went out with her friend, Sarah, a few months ago. Now that we have confirmation that Gretchen's experience wasn't a fluke, we'll have to make regular trips out there so we can see them!
This is the Suquamish Dock, so somewhere around here the harbor porpoises like to play!
This was Stephany's first time kayaking, and we probably should have picked an easier spot, like Port Madison or Manzanita Bay. But she worked hard and seemed to enjoy herself. It took us about an hour to get close to the entrance of Miller Bay.
The outside of the sandbar
Once we got there, we realized we were fighting the outgoing tide. The mouth of Miller Bay is very narrow, with a long sandbar on one side. Gretchen and I really wanted to see what was on the other side of the sandbar and spent about 10 minutes paddling hard against the current, feeling like we were going nowhere. Stephany wisely chose to stay back and soak in the little bit of sun that was filtering through the high clouds. Gretchen and I caught a glimpse of the inside, and rested for a minute while the current pushed us back out.
and the inside of the sandbar, which doesn't look much different than the outside,
except fot the yachts moored at their docks!
You can see the mouth of Miller Bay formed by the sandbar on the left and the shore on the right,
with beautiful Mt. Rainier in the distance.
The paddle back was much easier since we were going with the current and the wind had died down. We caught a few moments of bliss when Mt. Rainier showed her face and the sun cooperated.
My imitation of "socks and sandals guy." I'm a true Northwesterner.
We saw this beautiful creature flying overhead, then he landed in the tree and watched us for a while.
It looks like Stephany had a pretty good time, doesn't it?
Maybe she understands the call of the water a little better, anyway.
Even though we were stiff and cold by the time we got back to shore, I'm so glad we got out on the water again. I'm going to keep watching the forecast and seize the next sunny day I can! Hopefully I'll be able to go out at least once a month.
So fun!!
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