Nice Area –
My youngest son is thinking about Evergreen State next year for College. Looks like I will have to come visit once in a while. When I googled for a pic this is what I came up with … does not look as friendly as your aerial images …
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1094101
Like I said, forecast dependent ; )
The coast this summer seemed rougher on average than in years past. If your kid goes to Evergreen and you want to come up, backchannel me.
Dogmaticus
aren’t looking to seaward enough
?!?!
When I paddle in the ocean, some
of the things I’m conscious of are what is happening on the horizon. If there is a big black smudge on the horizon, I read, “large swell” and get the funk out of there. I also time sets, meaning the largest waves come every minute, two or they can’t be reliably deciphered, so I’m going to be ever vigilant on my horizon line.
When I enter an area that has foam in the water and breaking bits on the rocks and see wrap around surf I automatically assume it will change up and down and time my entry and exit. Think of it this way, when you are out on the green waiting to catch a wave back in to surf, how many times have you run out to sea to avoid a bigger swell that will rain hell on your parade if you stay exactly where you are? Hence, I look to seaward, often. I watched a friend get speared into a cliff when he didn’t do so a year or two back and he wished he did.
Dogmaticus
ditto
when I lived in the S.F.Bay area I joined in on a few club paddles on the coast that went to areas I’d paddled solo. Paddling around the rock outcroppings and 1/4acre sized islands with tunnels through parts of them you had to be damn sure about the sets and time in them if the tide was too high or too low.
Then on the impromptu group paddles things devolved into a total follow the leader dynamic,with no designated leader.
“this is the A group paddle, this is the B group paddle”
The A group was going to go down the coast in and out of the rocks, the B group was going to stick to the put-in and play behind the protected outcroppings and look in the caves.
The group A paddle ended in the first 1/2 mile because one guy in a ww.boat decided to take the inside route thinking he couldn’t keep up with the long boats on the outside,except he didn’t tell us that and two guys wondered if he got caught in the white stuff against the rocks so they went to look for him. Trip ended and then became a s&r without the r. They guy paddled down to the take out having the best of time with no clue he’d eff’ed up the trip.
I then joined the B group paddlers and stayed outside watching the sets as folks crowded into narrow openings and caves. It’s an area I have gone in solo or with a couple of friends but I knew most of the folks couldn’t roll or maneuver their boats in close quarters.
Nothing happened, everyone had fun but the groups were too big with too much “follow the leader” going on.