Came from Deception Pass.
Point Wilson Lighthouse, Port Townsend, WA, USA
Battled 15-20 knot headwinds, or more like trudged uphill, all day. Later 30+ knots - off my scale. Was forced to take a deep-water route, way off-shore to stay out of restricted zones, Whidby Island. Pretty damn snarky out there. 20 knot winds and three foot broaching waves and chop. This was the story for most of the paddle along Whidby Island, lumpy bumpy, and mile after mile of mud cliffs, which did provide a respite from the wind from time to time.
Partridge Point... has good surf.
The next big crossing...
On the last half hour or so of rounding Point Partridge, the winds dropped off. Nice, calm, pleasant - nothing but gentle ocean swell. I floated there, looking across the mouth of Puget Sound, to Point Wilson, debating whether to cross. Weather to cross. Good weather has been rare, and there have been afternoon respites where the wind stopped it's SE blow, and then went flat for a couple of hours before taking on a SW blow. I decided to go, a sound decision, and a long, but do-able paddle. Never assume...
The first quarter was pleasant, 3-4 foot swell... the other three were and are the most intense challenges I've yet faced in a kayak.
The wind whipped up fast and hard - 20 to 25 knots - the sea just kept getting bigger as I paddled on, with the flood tide coming on fast returning wasn't an option so I was committed. 3-4 foot wind waves cresting, tops blown into spray in my eyes. Then 4-6 feet, then 6-8 feet choppy cresting wind waves against current, white crests everywhere, and over a big swell. Combined seas must have been over 10 feet at the worst of times, I'm sitting here in a chair looking up at the ceiling above me and they were higher than this. I was taking them on the side and front quarter... they were my worst nightmare. This is a long crossing on a good day. Nice thing about waves this big is that when I was in a gulley I could get a few solid strokes in while I was out of the wind. The tops were... wow... I used my moments of air-time to get myself turned back on course-ish. Stay calm Daniel... stay loose... let the kayak roll and pitch... concentrate on a good stroke... Holy Shit. Holy Shit. Holyyyyyyyyy SHIT!
I slogged along for hours, talking to myself and telling Persephone how proud I am of her - she's an incredible beast, and seems to live for this stuff. I believed in her, and will continue to believe in her. That means a lot.
Two thirds across and I'm struggling across the inbound shipping lane... a freighter appears on the horizon... funny the things a guy thinks... I was wondering what they were thinking seeing me out way there... in conditions that swamp and sink boats. She was big, blue and passed me within seeing distance. I waved to the crew - thought it was kind of funny as a few moments earlier I was wondering how many hours were left on my VHF radio's batteries.
The Point Wilson Lighthouse is there - right there within my sight. Sadly unmanned and automated... I laughed at the irony... if something went wrong-er the buzzing and clicking solenoids that run her couldn't care less. They wouldn't see me, or hear me, or really care. That's what it came down to... I'm truly on my own. A tide race forms off Point Wilson, did you know that? I'd hoped by going into the lee of the point I could get some protection from the long fetch. I did, and now I got a powerful tide race, pushing up four foot standing waves, which the wind was pushing me into and worse, out to sea on. Horrendous off-shore winds... standing waves... thirty plus knots... land within reach but not able to turn my kayak upwind to get there... I was being taken off-shore and out into a hell that was even more furious than what I'd already experienced... As I was being blown past the red can that I had been staring at for hours I yelled NO!!!!!! YOU FUCKER!!! You're not getting me!!!
I paddled backwards as hard as I could to hold postion while I thought of options, searched for an option I had missed... nothing I can use to my advantage ahead... tricks... A drogue? Didn't have one... a line to the can? Couldn't get to it... Ride the wind? Not likely... It's getting stronger still... Can't turn around... The standing waves are getting four feet and cresting over me... wait a sec... back out of it? Backwards? BACKWARDS! I'll paddle this bitch (sorry dear) backwards upwind until I get nearer to the lighthouse on the point, maybe find a way out of this tide race so that I'm only dealing with wind, and possibly finding a place the flood tide is carrying me in... So I layed back on my deck to reduce my exposure to the wind and paddled... hard... and slowly I started to move... ever so slowly but I was moving... and in the right direction.
Took me half an hour to move a hundred feet - using every last bit of my precious strength... no reserve... give it everything or give up... I found a rythum in the waves, and started letting the cresting waves broach me, and when my bow came up, falling on my side into the sea and doing a huge backwards extended paddle sweep stroke to get me pointed towards the spit, a few degrees before the wind straightened me out again. I crabbed backwards towards the spit, a little here, a little there, until finally, FINALLY, I felt the waves soften just a hair. My chance! I bought myself a chance! I spun around on my best extended bow rudder - like a flag in the wind - just like Karl showed me - and gave it everything! No second chances, I had to do it. I was now able to keep my bow pointed upwind as I crawled closer... closer... closer... and then I could sustaing a few degrees to the port of the wind... towards the spit... and then a few more... I bought myself a ferry angle out of that tide race... degree by bloody degree.
Until I was out, out and heading towards a beach.
I did it. I did it. I had no idea I was enough. I did it. For hours and hours and hours, at the end of a long day of paddling... I did it.
Tonight I sleep. I learned about myself and my resolve, and my images of my end today.
Tonight I sleep... on land...
~d
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