Last weekend I was lucky enough to do a bit of bluewater cruising. That description might be a bit of a stretch if you are familiar with the colloquial description of "bluewater cruising." But I was on some pretty blue saltwater cruising to an island destination. I just happened to do it without the 42 foot long two-masted schooner and I certainly wasn't gunkholing through Baja. But kayaking across Bellingham Bay to a sweet campsite on Lummi Island came close enough this time!
On Saturday I set out to make the longest open-water crossing which I have ever tried. At first I wasn't even sure how far it was since both my map and my guidebook don't show the route I intended on taking. But once I got out the GPS and entered some coordinates for my destination I figured out the crossing from Marine Park to Lummi was at least 5.6 miles. I have to admit this made me very nervous. The longest crossing I had ever done before was probably 3 miles or so. I know that I can just as easily flip over my kayaking and succumb to hypothermia 100 yards from shore as 3 miles. But the farther out I go, the more I feel exposed. Oh, and of course the more likely it is that there will be huge wind-driven waves!
The trip out to the island was relatively uneventful if not extraordinarily beautiful. There was just enough breeze to cool me. Not enough to build any big waves. The absolutely blue sky melted into the slightly darker blue bay-waters. Fish were jumping and I was smiling:-)
When I got to Lummi Island I found the old DNR campsite deserted. I had the pick of all the camps!! So of course I found my favorite spot with arguably the best view and made myself at home. Although later on some power boaters took up a spot at another campsite, I felt like I had the place to myself. I never even saw the power-boaters.
I satisfied my inner geek by breaking out the GPS and kayaking to a geocache location on a nearby beach. I was actually surprised when I immediately found the geocache. I think I may have been the first to find it in nearly a year!
I spent the evening watching the water turn different shades of blue.
On Sunday morning I was woken up by the tent trying to catch flight. A stiff wind built-up all night long until most of the bay was covered with breaking seas. The wind and sea conditions close to shore appeared to be doable based upon my previous experience, but I was pretty worried about how bad the conditions were over a mile from shore. So I decided to be cautious and abandoned returning the way I came. Instead I kayaking north along the shoreline, crossed the relatively narrow Hale Passage and landed at Gooseberry Point. Fortunately, my dad was able to drive over pick-up me and my kayak and give me a ride back to my car. I think this probably worked out better than testing out how long I can tread water and fight off hypothermia in the middle of Bellingham Bay!
