Cypress Island

Ricardo and I joined Tom and Dubside for an afternoon paddle in the San Juans the other day.  Ricardo brought along his latest (his fourth) Greenland skin-on-frame.  He built it as a “guest boat”, meaning something fairly beamy, comfortable and stable for friends who might not necessarily be experienced paddlers.  It turned out to be more stable than his previous boats but still a little tender on rough water.

Dubside is living on Guemes Island now.  He has good access to water, by walking on the country roads with his Feathercraft and assembling it on shore.  This was my first time on Guemes and I was pleasantly surprised by how rural it was.  There is this charming general store right off the ferry terminal called Anderson’s  which features live music in the café.  I told Dubside he should get his guitar fixed so he can make a few extra bucks playing there.  Or maybe he could find a gig in downtown Anacortes as a one-man reggae band.  Hopefully he’d make enough to at least pay for the ferry ticket.

We put in on a public access beach on the west side of Guemes and paddled across Bellingham Channel to Deepwater Bay and a little protected cove on Cypress Island, and then up to the public campground on Cypress Head.  The water in the channel was alive with an ebbing current, opposing a south wind and with a little bit of swell coming from the south.

I asked Dubside if he had seen the full version of Pacific Horizons yet and he said no.  Apparently he’s still waiting for Bryan to send him a complimentary copy in the mail.  Hey, Bryan -- don’t forget the little people while you enjoy your rocket ride to fame and fortune!  My guess is that Bryan is just busy, or maybe lost his address.  I know how it is -- I'll have to confess that I neglected to email Derek Hutchinson to tell him when I posted that interview of him at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium.  I really did lose his email address, but finally found it just the other day on the back of some dry suit care instructions.  Well, better late than never I guess!

Comments

[derrick]

LOL! that's right, give Bryan hell!! Get that DVD to Dubside NOW!!!! :)

Looks like a beautiful place to paddle. You're very lucky.