Kayaking a Marathon

I kayaked from Alki in West Seattle to Kenmore at the north end of Lake Washington. It took all day (from 10 AM to 8 PM) and my GPS tracker said it was 26.5 miles. This was a trip in both salt and fresh water, and the experience of transiting the locks in Ballard that separates them is always interesting.

Melanie had a morning errand to do in Renton that day, so taking me to West Seattle was a short addition to the trip. That day Eli was with us so he came along. At Alki while I was getting ready to go, he found crabs in the rocks by the boat ramp. Melanie said he could do what he wanted as long as he didn’t get wet, so, I joked with him as I walked into the Puget Sound in my drysuit, getting myself wet, but not getting wet.   :-)

This trip was similar to another one I did in 2018 in the opposite direction. I had started a bit down Lake Washington at OO Denny Park in the afternoon. That day I did about 20 miles, so I was paddling into the night long before I was done. I enjoy paddling after dark - the light from the city to see where I am going has always seemed sufficient to me during night paddles, and I have a boat marker light for safety. At the end of that day Melanie picked me up at Alki a bit before midnight.

 

This time, I left Melanie and Eli at Alki on a bright morning with a slight breeze behind me. I crossed Elliot Bay with views of the Seattle skyline from the west. There were four cruise ships in port and you feel small in a boat like mine near to ships like that. (mi 1.5) It was my first time being near that type of ship in a kayak, so I had lots to look at.

At Discovery Park, (mi 6) I stopped near the lighthouse for a break and to eat lunch. A family group nearby was lining up for a picture, so I offered to take it for them. I then got into a conversation with one of them who turned out also to be a kayaker. They lived at Cape Cod, MA and were in town for a graduation.

The locks were a couple of miles farther, and this is where things stalled. (mi 9-11) This year the locks are severely understaffed and they seem to only operate one at a time. Usually the wait has been about 1/2 an hour, but this time it was 2 hours. (Next time I will probably bring wheels for my boat so I can get out and walk around the locks.)

My kayak is comfortable so I passed the time sometimes being lazy and sometimes doing things like practicing crossing water currents at the spillway. A barge and tugboat (a push-boat really) went through the big locks. I went behind him and when they said he could go in the chamber, I practiced paddling through the turbulent water he threw back. (Fun!) This way I added a couple of miles to my trip.

Consistently there were harbor seals near there (looking for salmon at the fish ladder). They were curious about me. One came up within 6 feet of me, watching for a while. It was interesting to see him open and close his nose as he breathed. His eyes were completely black, so I couldn’t quite see what about me he was looking at. Weird. They usually go under by moving backwards so their forehead and nose is the last thing you see, but occasionally they go forwards and you see the whole of their body curve over and then their flipper feet last.

Finally I was able to go into the (small) lock chamber. There are walkways along the top of the lock gates and people enjoy passing there and watching the boat activity. Someone called out to me, and it was the same guy I had talked to at Discovery Park! “You made good time.”, he said.   :-)   Well, maybe I did, but since then I had also had a long wait!

The ship canal (mi 11-14) is interesting for the variety of boats you can see: commercial fishing fleet, fish processing, almost-derelicts, tugs, recreational power, sail, house, huge yachts of the rich, and more. In Fremont you pass by SPU and tech company buildings. Finally it comes out at Lake Union and views of Seattle to the south. You pass right by Gasworks Park with its historic machinery and plumbing for gas-making and the wind-catching hill. Today a rock band was playing to a crowd down by the water.

On under I-5, around to Portage Bay and by the University of Washington. (mi 15-17) There seemed to be a lot of people out at the water on a (finally) warm day and a few students were even swimming. As usual the narrow Montlake Cut was choppy from the power boats (again fun!) and then finally to Lake Washington.

Now came the part that seemed longer because there was not as much visual entertainment and because I was starting to get tired. So, I changed up my paddles a few times. I usually have two paddles with me, one as a spare, but also because they have very different characteristics. Since I paddle differently with them I can use different muscles between them, and the muscles I don’t use after a change can rest while I am still moving.

I stopped off at Magnuson Park for a shore break, then it was across the lake to the east side. At OO Denny Park (mi 23) I was noticing the tiredness (a slight wind had also come up against me) and I considered asking someone to come get me there. However, I knew I would regret not doing my full planned trip and so I pressed on.

Finally at the end of the lake I entered the Sammamish River. It was quite beautiful and calm and I felt a small disappointment that the whole thing was to be over. Austin had just arrived to meet me at the boat launch and we had the kayak on the car quickly.

As the day had progressed, a plan had developed for the family to meet at our place for a meal. So I arrived to a full house, though they had already eaten. However, there was good food waiting for me so it was a great end to a good day.