Looking for some of the best paddling in the Pacific Northwest? You really need to look no further than the San Juan Islands. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission manages more than 40 marine parks in the state. For our weekend getaway we visited
Sucia Island State Park and
Matia Island State Park and the paddling could not have been better.
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| Approaching Sucia Island State Park |
We planned to launch our kayaks from
Orcas Island, so that meant an early start in order to catch the ferry from Anacortes to Orcas. Of course, no paddle in Washington State is complete without a quick stop at Freddy Meyer's to stock up on supplies...especially Tillamook cheese!
We managed to arrive at the Anacortes ferry terminal at the same time as four huge busloads of kids departing for Camp Orkila. We chuckled as we watched them line up for check-in and go through the degrading, yet all too necessary, head lice check. Despite this embarrassing start to their day, by the time the gang loaded on to the ferry they were excited and raring to go! We made our way to the area where the campers were congregated...we just couldn't miss that kind of chaotic fun! A huge guy, with a booming voice welcomed the little campers to the ferry and then reviewed the rules of the boat:
Rule Number One: No running
Rule Number Two: No running
Can you guess what rule number three was? Of course, as with all groups of children there is always one spirited little monkey who needs to push the envelope. We burst out laughing as the "one" bravely asked, "what about hopping, can we hop?"
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| US Coast Guard patrols the waters |
Our ferry made a quick stop at Shaw Island and then docked at Orcas Island. We disembarked and drove to Eastsound, our designated launch site. Orcas Island is 57 square miles of gorgeous. We drove through forest, past farm lands and artist studios and on our return trip spent some time exploring
Moran State Park.
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| Moran State Park |
Upon arriving at Eastsound, we attempted to find parking near the beach. Being a busy, summer weekend parking at the beach was limited. We stumbled upon Brandt's Landing Marina and had the privilege of meeting Mr. Brandt himself. We chatted away and learned much about the local area and his plans for a marina and airport expansion. We just can't stress enough how valuable local knowledge is! After negotiating a price for parking our car and launching our kayaks, he recommended a campsite on Sucia Island.
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| Loading up at Brandt's Landing |
As we set off for Sucia, my nerves set in. Despite paddling for many, many years (I won't tell you how many), open water crossings still make me very, very nervous. Although we practice self-rescue and assisted rescue and are well equipped, I am always worried that I might not have the strength to help Rob should he dump. I have full confidence that he could rescue me...but....could I help him if we were in trouble? Rob is always patient with me, and in fact, reassures me that a healthy fear of the open water is good. He always points out that we make educated decisions about the wind and weather conditions and there is never anything wrong with deciding not to go. Mother Nature always gets the last word!
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| Open water crossing between Matia and Orcas |
I managed to get my nerves under control and as we neared Sucia we could see several Harbor Porpoises in the distance. The porpoise welcome and sight of the Sucia shoreline buoyed my spirits. We spent the day exploring the Sucia shoreline. It was fantastic....coves, crevices, sandstone cliffs!
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| Sandstone Cliffs |
The island is very popular with boaters and in the late afternoon and early evening the sheltered coves fill with sail boats and power boats of every shape and size imaginable.
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| Boaters drop anchor for the night - Sucia Island |
We found the perfect campsite on the beach and settled in for the night.
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| Happy Hour - Sucia Island |
As we were enjoying our evening glass of wine we met an old veteran strolling along the beach. We visited with him, and were fascinated by his story. He has been living on his sailboat since 1979! We politely asked how long he would be staying on Sucia and he answered OCTOBER! He delighted us with stories of his travels and the islands and we watched enthralled as he made his way back to his sailboat. He had paddled to the island in a little kayak which he had left on some driftwood while he was out on his walk. We were going to offer help, but figured if he had been doing this since 1979 he likely had a system and we selfishly wanted to see how he managed. It was ingenious. He used two pieces of a pool noodle to create rollers for his kayak and simply rolled the boat to the water. He then turned his kayak sideways, rolled up his sleeves and stepped in to the boat, without even getting his baby toe wet. It was perfection! As we watched the sun set, we tried to imagine what his life has been like.....the old man and the sea.
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| The crafty veteran paddles back to his sailboat |
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| Sunset from Sucia Island |
We had a great sleep and woke up to another warm, dry day. In all honesty one of my favourite kayaking moments is rolling out of the tent in the morning and savouring my first cup of coffee on the beach. We sat in silence staring out at the ocean as we contemplated the new day ahead. Conditions were once again perfect and we became paralyzed with indecision.
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| Morning coffee brews |
- Should we leave our camp set up and spend more time exploring Sucia?
- Should be pack up and move to a different cove?
- Should be pack up and paddle back to explore Orcas?
We couldn't decide so we did the only prudent thing - we decided to decide later!
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| Time to pack and depart Sucia Island |
We loaded up our boats and began paddling with no clear destination in mind. As we neared Fossil Bay, we met Paula and Mark, two kayakers from Bellingham. We floated together for quite a while sharing stories of past paddles. They had just come from Matia Island and highly recommended that we head there. Relieved to have the decision made for us we checked the charts and currents and pointed for Matia.
We were so thankful that once again we had trusted local knowledge. Matia was incredible! It is a 145 acre marine park and federal wildlife refuge. The nature viewing was fantastic...birds, seals, porpoises, eagles, crabs, mussels...the list goes on and on. As we explored the island, we paddled by numerous kelp beds. The kelp beds always make me think of the Day of the Triffids, a novel by Wyndham. In the novel, a monstrous species of plant dominates the world. Although, definitely not monstrous, the kelp do have a science fiction look to them.
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| Underwater shot of the Kelp bed |
After a long afternoon of exploration, we set up camp and found ourselves alone on the island.
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| Matia Island marine campsite |
A couple of boats were moored in the cove, but we were the only folk camping on dry land. As we watched, yet another spectacular sunset, we began to plan for a return trip to the San Juans.
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| Sunset - Matia Island State Park |
Giggle:
As we leisurely paddled up to the beach in search of a campsite on Sucia Island we were greeted by Jarrod, an active, happy, 4 year old who was out boating with his mom and dad. Jarrod excitedly rushed to our kayaks and quickly got to work. He helped us pull up our boats, unload and spent considerable time testing our bilge pumps. With Jarrod's help, we found a perfect campsite and set up for the night.
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| Jarrod helps us unload our dry bags |
We spent the afternoon on the beach with Jarrod and his Dad, both die hard Seahawk's fans. In fact, I think Jarrod's dad is
the 12th man. He relived almost every single play of last years' Superbowl and gave us a thorough run through of this year's team...injuries, salary negotiations, secret plays, depth charts, etc. etc. I suspect his blood is blue and green!
He also shared stories of the Islands with us, as he has been visiting the San Juan's since he was a little boy. His grandpa had given him lots of advice and marine tips:
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| Underwater Jelly pic |
- Re: Jellyfish...if they are clear you can go near, if they are red you might be dead
- Re: Oysters..only eat them in the months that have the letter R in them
...the stories and advice went on and on and we welcomed them!
Later that evening, long after Jarrod and his family had left, we strolled along the beach only to discover a huge GO HAWKS and 12th MAN carved into the sand! We are quite confident that Jarrod and Dad leave this mark no matter where they go!
Map and Route Tips:
Brandts Landing Orcas Island
Washington State Ferries
Marine Chart
Tides and Currents
Marine Forecast
Water Trail Campsites - Fees apply
Camping Rates for Marine Campsites - Washington State Parks
Water Taxi For those not interested in the crossing from Orcas, you can arrange to water taxi over to Sucia.
#kayak #nature #sanjuanislands #birding #sucia #matia #orcas
