Locations:

1. Whale Watching in the Haro Strait, the West coast of San Juan Island
2. East Sound, Orcas Island

Haro Strait

The only outfitter on San Juan Island that will let you rent a boat (we rented it for a 24 hr. period) without an escort is Leisure Kayak (www.leisurekayak.com) They have a variety of plastic decked singles and tandems, most by Wilderness Systems. We rented two Wilderness Systems Northstar tandems for $60/day, which included PFDs, spray skirts, Werner paddles, sponges, pumps, etc. and foam blocks for the top of our rental car (that's a separate and funky story - there ain't no Hertz or Avis on the Islands!) and all of the straps and other tie-downs necessary for safe transport. Everything was in good condition, the boats were in their first summer of use.

The owner, Susan Pierce, was extremely helpful and allowed me to question her extensively about local conditions, areas to avoid, times of day to paddle certain areas, avoiding landing on privately owned islands and where the Orcas of the 3 pods (I think they are identified as D, F and L pods) that have been identified as "living" in the Haro Strait "reside" and are most likely to be seen. Perhaps most importantly, she and I reviewed the tidal charts (the most detailed I have ever seen, including "speed" of the tidal flow), together with charts of the area and explained to me how the tides flow around San Juan Island (basically when the tide rises, the flow is North and East; when the tides ebb, the flow is South and West around the Island). Also, she identified for me where the eddylines flow so I could take advantage of the "counter-flow" if we got caught during a tidal change. Very interesting and helpful inasmuch as I have found tidal flows not much of a concern or problem in Southern California, but her advice proved invaluable.

We wanted to paddle with the Orcas (which hadn't been seen in the "usual" spots about a week) and put in on Sunday morning at San Juan County Park, at a bay ominously called Small Pox Bay, which has close-by parking, restrooms, a ranger station and a ramp paved to the waters edge, adjacent to a wide rock-and-log beach. The sky was clear, bright, warm sun, not a speck of wind in the bay and the water was like launching in a bathtub.

After launching, the first thing that impresses you is the clarity of the water - equivalent to the clarity of Kauai's Na Pali Coast when I paddled it on a clear, calm day in 2001. Having said that, the other thing that surprises you is that paddling along the West shore of San Juan Island in the Haro Strait, though you can see down 25+ feet, you don't see a lot of sea stars, urchins, small rockfish or other (non-mammal) sea life. We stopped several times to look for things in and among the rocks along the shore but nothing … not even in the ample kelp beds. The shore is quintessential Pacific Northwest --- rugged rocks and dense, concentrations of red-barked Madrona trees and a variety of pine trees down to the water's edge. Development has reached this island with several gorgeous view homes looking West over the Haro Strait towards Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of Canada. They do development right up here and the homes are unobtrusive and generally well integrated with the environment … you don't at all have the "cookie cutter" overly crowded development you have in equivalent Southern California venues so you really feel like you are paddling in an undeveloped area.

We paddled slowly Southbound toward Lime Kiln Point, which is about 4 to 5 mile South of the put-in. Along the way, we saw lots of mammals, from colonies of harbor seals to weasals on shore. The seals were not too wary and did not scatter readily. We continued to search the rock gardens (lots of rock structures but no wave action or even surge to speak of unless a large boat passed by) for undersea sea life but little to be found.

We paddled to Lime Kiln State Park, which is a State Park dedicated to whale watching. The Park is well appointed (restrooms, telescopes, lots of picnic tables and well marked trails through the Madrona trees) and has several lookout points just for watching the usually frequent Orca pods plying the West coast. We paddled within a few feet of the shore at Lime Kiln Point (there is a steep drop off from the 20 ft. cliffs) and asked anyone if they had yet seen any Orcas and no one had.

About another half mile South, we stopped at (also ominously called) Deadman's Bay, a very large, calm bay with a sandy beach and then rocks and logs further up. About 200' from landing, we were treated to a bald eagle swooping slowly and low over the water, very close just in front of us. In real life they really do look like the US Postal Service logo - very yellow beaks, the hook of the beak, etc. We stopped for lunch and rest. Perfect day for a Northwest picnic. During lunch, we saw numerous Whale Watching boats searching/waiting for the Orcas. Just as we were wrapping up to return, a large zodiac came zipping up the coast and we heard the call "They're coming this way!" Perfect timing - we hopped in the boats and paddled to about ¼ mile offshore and waited -- all of a sudden we saw over a several acre area just North of where we were 6 or 7 Orca dorsal fins bobbing up and down Northbound a la dolphins. We gave chase for several hundred feet (they are fast!!!) then they disappeared. We then looked around and they had reversed course and were now South bound. We turned around and were able to paddle about 200' directly behind the lead Orca and parallel to the others. I yelled to my wife to stop paddling and take a few pictures; unfortunately in our haste to hit the water, the camera was still in the dry bag and she had to fiddle with the Canon SLR to get it ready. I was really getting pretty tired paddling the tandem by myself after sprinting around for the last 10 or 15 minutes chasing the Orcas around (the Northstar is a heavy boat, but stable as a rock) and my wife was able to get only a couple of shots. My two teenage sons were more successful in giving chase for a little longer. But our mission had been accomplished… pretty exciting.

The paddle back to San Juan Co. Park was a replay of the southbound trip. The weather and sea conditions continued absolutely perfectly and the advice Susan had given me made the return trip very easy. A memorable day.

Orcas Island - East Sound

Orcas Island is East and slight North of San Juan Island and is a 20 minute ferry ride from Friday Harbor, the main town on San Juan. The island itself is shaped like a pair of human lungs and the main town (Eastsound) is located at the top of the island where the two "lobes" meet. I tried to find an outfitter who would let me just rent a boat but I only found two, both of whom rented boats that were frankly not in good shape. One was at a "resort" in Olga and one down the block in Eastsound at the water's edge from where we were staying. I chose the latter because it was closer and it had some closed deck boats. I rented a Wilderness Systems "Manteo" (the best of what she had) which I had used last year when I paddled down the Taneycombe River near Branson, MO in the Ozarks. It's an OK boat for a short paddle but not a great straight line tracker.

I had to wait for the tide to rise (at about 4:30 PM) so I could paddle over the oyster farm beds at the put in. I paddled around Madrona Pt. And was treated to a multi-colored sea star infestation all along the shore - beautiful sight very different from the Haro Strait. I also saw many large Dungeness Crabs in about 5 to 10 feet of water among the rocks. I hugged the shore of the West "lobe" going Southwesterly and was treated to much the same, except that as I rounded Madrona Pt. The wind picked up "big time" and the boat (without a skeg or rudder) was really hard to keep straight - I had to paddle solely on the port side for about a half mile just to go straight.

I finally got some protection from the lee of the West "lobe" and after about 2 miles crossed the mile and a half of the open sound at that point to the East "lobe" where I was told the salmon were "running" in a small cove. That too was "exciting" because the current required me to ferry at a very extreme angle to get to the house that was at the mouth of the little inlet where the salmon were. Also, the small wind waves - plus the incoming tide -- were nonetheless strong and I had to hit them at about a 45 degree angle and got "pushed" off course with every "hit." I finally made it across, turned North again along the shore and enjoyed the "push" of the seas and the wind. I headed toward the salmon cove but a local in a small boat was running around "shooing" away all watercraft … apparently too much traffic in the last few days had "spooked" the fish and they were concerned about the impact on their future use of the bay and on the "reproductive" cycle.

I paddled back to the put in. I was expecting a little more, but I think the inadequacy of the equipment took some of the enjoyment out of paddling a new area. Also, it was getting late and the with the setting sun the visibility decreased for much of the return trip.

Final Comments

Overall one "great" day and one "good" day of paddling. I wanted to paddle more but it was a family vacation and not everyone wanted to paddle more. There are terrific opportunities to paddle the San Juans - there are series of campgrounds on beautiful small little islands that are for boaters only; the stuff you see in the canoe and kayak magazines -- but it takes quite a bit of advance planning for equipment, food, campsite reservations, etc. We didn't do any camping but it would be a great place if one wanted to. The other outfitters have various options for guide-led multi-day camping expeditions to the various campsites around the San Juan Islands, and I think one of those would be a convenient way to camp the San Juans. We were only looking for day or hourly trips and the typical guide-led trips waste half your time trying to give basic instruction to the "first time ever" paddler-visitors to the islands.

Click on image to see larger picture
Orcas
Shoreline & water conditions
Harbor seals
The lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island

    Sandy Mayuga