Sunday, August 12, 2007

Round Shaw Tour


On Saturday, August 11, five people departed on a tour around Shaw Island, WA. Instead of racing in the Sound Rowers' Round Shaw Row this group decided to take their time, planning to sample the local cuisine, shop at the stores in Friday Harbor and Orcas, and generally have a good time.


At about 11:15 AM our group headed out. This was shortly after the racers had departed in an easterly direction going counterclockwise around the island. We decided to head in the clockwise direction since this would get us to Friday Harbor around lunch time. This also had us heading into a lifting fog which reduced visibility somewhat. Still, the water was pretty flat and the boat traffic was fairly light.


For the most part we stuck together, though at times the separation between the first boat in the party and the last approached a quarter mile. In general, Deb was out in front paddling her surf ski, while the rest of us pedaled our Cadence boats en masse as we crossed San Juan Channel towards San Juan Island.


Pedaling with moderate effort and with some assistance from the tidal currents, the group managed to achieve speeds of about 7 mph.

I was experiencing problems with the waterproof camera bag. The air inside the car where it had been stored apparently had been quite warm and moist. With the bag exposed to the cooler outside air the moisture condensed on the inside of the case as well as inside the camera. I did my best to dry out the bag, but was unaware of the condensation inside the camera until after returning home. Sigh...


We reached Friday Harbor shortly after noon. Using the marine VHF radio I carried along for safety purposes I hailed the harbor master on Channel 68. After identifying our group as "the pedal boat flotilla" I asked where we might be able to tie up for a couple of hours for lunch. The harbor master said we could tie up along the floating concrete walkways on pier "C".


We made our way to that pier and found a couple of spaces just barely large enough for our boats to fit. Deb pulled her boat from the water and set it on one of the adjacent docks. Todd and Lucia tied up together at one spot, and Paul and I tied up at the other.


After extracting our land essentials, e.g., wallets, jackets, etc., we headed over the docks to shore. There was an ice cream shop that looked especially inviting, but it was decided that it would be best to have dessert later.


Todd, Lucia and I decided to eat at Friday Harbor Seafood. They shared a sampler plate of shrimp, scallops, etc., and I had the fish & chips with a garlic caper saute. Deb and Paul decided instead to pick up some sandwiches at a nearby shop.

After eating our fill we headed up the main street for a little window shopping. Just after we had our photos taken at a viewpoint above the harbor we remembered that Paul and Deb needed to pick up some supplies for camp.


Back to the main drag, and up to the hardware store we went. On the way a couple of lattes were procured at a stand next door to a place that sold the most unique lamps. I took a few photos through the front window.

We returned to our boats to find them safe and sound. One of the larger boats that had been tied up next to Paul's and mine had been replaced by a much smaller one. The larger gap made it easier to pedal away.


As we left the harbor we noticed that there appeared to be a fairly large section of rough water in the channel separating San Juan Island and Shaw. Todd, Lucia and I generally kept towards the Shaw side, but Paul and Deb started heading across. As they seemed to be having no problems and were definitely moving quite rapidly along with the current I called out to Todd and Lucia and suggested that we head further out into the channel and do likewise.

The water in the middle of the channel was indeed moving rapidly northward. It also had quite a few waves and eddies caused by the tidal currents. This made it rather exciting and something of a challenge. I was worried about Todd and Lucia, as they did not have as much wild water experience, and they were falling behind.

I turned around to rejoin them, and found that they were handling themselves quite well. A paddle that had been stuck onto the front hatch of Lucia's boat had fallen off, but she managed to collect it and stow it in her cockpit. Well done!


Paul and Deb were pretty far ahead of us now, nearing the northwesternmost tip of Shaw Island. Seeing that we had fallen behind they slowed down a bit to let us regroup.


We entered Wasp Passage to find the currents against us and the wind pretty nonexistent. There were a few sailboats in the channel, slowly tacking one way and then another, trying to find a favorable wind. We quickly sped by, waving our greetings.

Paul decided to try to touch a few of the smaller islands on the way, just to increase his personal count of "landings" for the trip. He pedaled off towards the north side of the passage and made contact with a couple of them as we headed for the Orcas Island ferry terminal.

Lucia, Todd and I pretty much kept together in this part of the trip. As we passed Crane Island the currents seemed to be more neutral. A breeze arose, which helped to cool us a bit.


As we closed in on the ferry terminal I noticed what appeared to be a spout coming from the water not too far ahead of Paul. Could it be a whale?

The spout never appeared again, and Paul said later that he didn't see anything unusual.


We tied up at the floating dock just west of the ferry terminal. There was some grumbling about paying the $5 per boat fee required if one wanted to tie up, and the beach was pretty much under water. We decided to tie up at the dock anyway and handed the money to the young dockmaster in charge. Later on we found out that the dockmaster, a boy of perhaps 12 years of age, was working for free in order to raise money for medical treatment for his father's cancer.


After buying a few things for supper at the Orcas General Store and drinking some energy fluids (sport drink for me, beer for Todd and a latte for Lucia, plus animal crackers), we returned to our boats and readied for the final leg back to camp.

The skies were quite overcast and there was a definite chill in the air. I put on a windbreaker over my PFD. Paul switched boats with Deb, and off we went.


On the final leg the ordering was different. Todd and Lucia were out in front, with Paul and Deb generally bringing up the rear. The water was generally pretty flat, with the high tide covering most of the rocks and sea life along the shore.


On the east side of Shaw the only notable thing we ran into was a large block of foam floating a hundred feet from shore. Apparently a dock somewhere is missing a vital piece of flotation!


Eventually we rounded the point of land separating Indian Cove from the main channel. With the boat ramp of the county park in view Paul decided to have a final sprint to the finish. I decided that it would not do to have a paddled boat finish ahead of all the pedal boats, so I took up the challenge.


I pedaled faster and faster, catching up to Paul and soon passed him. He continued paddling strongly for a few moments and then gave up the chase. I continued on until finally reaching the boat ramp. Whew!


We landed on the nice, sandy beach, with the waves gently lapping the shore. It felt good to be back at camp!


For all of the photos taken, click here.

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