WHERE DID YOU PADDLE - April 2012

[Peter-CKM]

Went long boat surfing off of Pillar Point, California today with some friends.

The waves were big:

Sometimes the surf would win:

Overall, good fun.

 

[Dan_Millsip]

Cool. Just curious, what's the water temperature there at this time of year?

 

[Peter-CKM]

52F, based on the report for the Farallon Islands (the closest monitoring station). You can see water temps for many places in the US at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/wtg12.html#top

 

[chrischowaniec]

Went out to Mayne and paddled the north sides of Mayne and Saturna. Good spring training in some biggish conditions. Especially in Tumbo Channel and near East Point on Saturna. Spent some time with the sea lions on the Belle Chain. They make the trip worth it in and of itself. Highly recommend to anyone to go and sit out there (at a respectful distance) for a while and marvel at their existence. It is truly one of the most impressive wildlife viewing experiences I have ever had.

Some rough footage of them:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOXmP9ORos[/youtube]

I apologize for the quality, I was pretty far away and this is really zoomed in on choppy water. But wanted to post mostly for the audio.

They will be there for the spring and then they head to their rookeries for the summer to breed.

 

[Teknoviking]

We finally had a break in the weather this last Saturday and I took the boat up the Columbia River Gorge for a birthday solo paddle. Stopped for lunch on a lovely little sandy island named... wait for it... "Sand Island". After watching the Ospreys fish while I ate my lunch, along with a celebratory Black Butte Porter, I hiked over the island to find this sign facing away from me toward the main channel.

As luck would have it, I had the place to myself and encountered no actual "wildlife"... :shock: