Saturday was a terrific day here in Seattle. I met up with some guys from a Yahoo group and we paddled from West Seattle across Puget Sound to Blake Island, a marine park on the west side of the Sound near Bremerton. As you can see from the picture, the often turbulent Sound was as smooth as glass as we headed west. The Olympic Mountains loom in the distance. Seals spy-hopped us as we progressed, and a nesting pair of bald eagles entertained us with their peculiar, high-pitched conversation that sounds like whistling. The weather held for the return trip, though there was a little bit of chop. Total distance was 6 - 7 miles, not a lot, but quite enough for my first outing of the year.
My boat has a tendency to want to wander, or "weathercock", from left to right, and this was very pronounced on the return trip yesterday. In fact, I felt like the whole 3-mile crossing was one-armed as I fought the bow back to the left constantly. I could install a rudder to cure this, or something called a "skeg", which is a miniature centerboard-sort of thing that can be lowered from the hull when needed and is not as clunky - or heavy - as a rudder.
It was also my first opportunity to use my new carbon-fiber paddle. It's super light and a joy to use.
4:19:07 PM 
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Perils of Caffeine in the Evening
