:::YAKLOG:::
:::the paddling adventures of rick doucette:::
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to the best of my recollection, using whatever random digital camera files i've found lingering on a computer or 3, these are the different spots i've been kayaking so far this year. pretty sure i'm missing a trip or 2, but if i don't take at least 1 picture, chances are pretty high i won't remember later. to atone for this, i'll toss some hikes/walks in for good measure :)

12.31.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint around Alki & down to Seacrest Park, then to Jack Block Park & back. saw a bald eagle chillin' in a tree at Alki Beach
12.30.06 walked around Discovery Park - down to the beach trail & back to the loop trail... and then... my pal Chip found a shortcut back to the parking lot
12.17.06 walked around the Discovery Park loop trail .
12.2.06 Duwamish - from the boat ramp under the Highway 99 overpass all the way down to the I-5 overpass abused the tidal goodness to get a little further than usual...
11.25.06 Larabee State Park - south of Chuckanut Bay w/a bit of snow on the trees...
11.18.06 Magnolia - 32nd St. beach up around Discovery Park enjoyed a rain-free saturday...
10.28.06 Tillamook Bay, Oregon - paddled along the north shore of the bay until the wind/waves/current got too tough, then played around the NE corner for a while. followed by a grilled cheese sandwich + tomato soup at the Tillamook Cheese Factory
10.21.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint down past Lincoln Park was followed by a harbor seal for about a half-hour
long break busy with video stuff for a youth conference... and stuff. long story(s).
9.23.06 Jones Island - paddled from Deer Harbor on Orcas Island up to Jones, then down around Yellow I. + the Wasps lookie here! or here!
9.16.06 Golden Gardens .
9.10.06 Dash Point SP around Browns Point to Tyee Marina saw some eagles & seals
9.9.06 Saltwater State Park down to (almost) Dash Point hit some NASTY waves
9.7.06 Seacrest Park down the Duwamish Waterway & around Kellogg Island... and back .
9.6.06 Alki-ish - paddled from Richey Viewpoint out about halfway to Blake Island, rode some waves towards Lincoln Park for a bit, then back to Richey Viewpoint .
9.5.06 Alki-ish - paddled from Richey Viewpoint over to Alki Beach, turned back to watch the sunset, and went back around to the other side & followed the shore for a bit .
9.4.06 Mountain Lake - paddled counter-clockwise around the interior of the lake - also at Moran State Park on Orcas uh... see also photos
9.3.06 Sucian Islands - kayaked around a cluster of islands about 2 miles north of Orcas Island - photos .
9.2.06 Hiked around Cascade Lake & up to Cascade Falls at Moran State Park on Orcas Island - photos Parker was with me
8.27.06 Elliot Bay - Magnolia to Pier 66 .
8.26.06 Blake Island [circumnavigation, yo] - took the ferry over to Southworth to make it an easier trip my kayak book SUCKS!
8.20.06 San Juan Island - Fourth of July Beach to Cattle Point solo paddle on the south end
8.19.06 San Juan Island - guided Orca-watching tour from Smallpox Bay to Deadman Bay, plus out from the shore to float for a while... for whale-spotting purposes w/some Mars Hill peeps - saw at least 3 orca - woot!
8.19.06 San Juan Island - Smallpox Bay to Lime Kiln - basically took the same route on a solo paddle in the morning as the guided tour we took in the afternoon. that, and i... ...lost my waterproof digital camera - ho hum :(
8.18.06 San Juan Island - Roche Harbor to English Camp solo paddle on the north end
8.15.06 Tampa Bay, Florida - a channel by Mad Paddlers down into Old Tampa Bay - across to Ben T Davis Beach & over to where it ends & the causeway continues. rented a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 170 for the journey. saw some crazy-huge pink pelican here - plus a bunch of heron, flamingos, etc. - was out for about 4.5 hours
8.14.06 Haulover Canal, Florida - took the Bioluminescent tour from A Day Away Kayak Tours - crazy-cool glowing water, yo! they put me on a fairly lame sit-on-top (bleh.), but the fish, etc. darting around in the water was very, very cool. think: glowing bottle rockets underwater, yo. visited some Manatee & got about 40 mosquito bites before paddling - woot!
8.14.06 Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida - this probably shouldn't count as a kayak trip, but it was fun to paddle thru their fake African river for about 20 minutes. saw lots of fun aminulz. duh. it's a zoo.
8.13.06 Key West, Florida - rented a kayak (a Perception rec.) from Lazy Dog Kayak Tours & paddled over to the Gulf of Mexico [k, so i just went under a bridge & about half a mile out], then back to the Atlantic side to play around in the mangrove channels, etc. also explored under a bridge, thru a canal, and into lots of more mangroves & a salt marsh thingy in the middle of the island. yes, this was the second trip that day. but hey--when will i ever be in the keys again? saw some manta (?) ray action... um... and lots & lots of fishies down in the water. this was a 3-hour tour...
8.13.06 Key West, Florida - rented a kayak (a Hobie sit-on-top) right at Smathers Beach & paddled right around the beach area. was out for just under 2 hours, but didn't go very far. the rental peeps were anal, and wanted me to stay close to the shore. plenty of stuff to look at under the water... saw a small [2.5ft?] hammerhead shark very close to where everyone was swimming & snorkeling :)
. . .
ho hum. took a bit of a break from kayaking. partly depression, partly getting junk ready for the fine arts festival in orlando :(
. . .
7.22.06 Ballard - 14th St. ramp towards the locks, then back & over to the west side of Lake Union, then back walked around a lot too - around Greenlake, etc.
7.21.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint to Duwamish Head .
7.16.06 Blake Island back up to Eagle Harbor at Bainbridge (with peeps from Mars Hill)
7.15.06 Blake Island - did a bit of "hiking" around the island - mostly on the Cross Island trail + Main Jeep Road (all by my sel--el--elf)
7.15.06 Bainbridge Island - re-attempt, this time we actually made it from Eagle Harbor down to Blake Island - woot! (with peeps from Mars Hill)
7.14.06 Bainbridge Island - tried to paddle down to Blake Island, but the waves got a tad large for the liking of some... ended up turning back & camping at Fay Bainbridge SP (with peeps from Mars Hill)
7.9.06 Lake Union > Portage Bay > Arboretum (Travis stalked the Ducks)
7.8.06 Duwamish - Seacrest Park down the west waterway & around Kellogg Island (ho hum)
7.4.06 Woodward Bay to the head of Henderson Inlet down in Olympia (not quite as weepy)
7.3.06 West Seattle - Cormorant Cove down past Lincoln Park (all alone & weepy)
7.2.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint over to Alki Beach (Travis joined me)
7.1.06 Everett - paddled around the north end of Jetty Island (Nevin joined me)
6.27.06 Duwamish - Don Armeni Park down the west side of Harbor Island down to Kellogg Island (today was still toasty-warm, but not quite as bad as mon.)
6.26.06 West Seattle - Cormorant Cove around past Alki Beach (today was hot! in the 90's)
6.25.06 Tacoma - put in about halfway up Ruston Way & paddled up to Point Defiance Park (went a bit past Owen Beach at the state park - where i was hoping to launch) (tip: the beach gets crowded! i launched from a small beach next to CI Shenanigans)
6.24.06 Larabee State Park - south of Chuckanut Bay .
6.22.06 Cormorant Cove to Lincoln Park (for some reason, i thought it would be cool to cover different stretches of the west seattle shoreline over several days) (now that i think about it,
it's actually less cool and
more neurotic. oh well.)
6.21.06 Lincoln Park - south-ish towards Seahurst Park (saw a bald eagle)
6.20.06 Burien - Seahurst Park (icky, icky goo!) (saw a few heron, 1 harbor seal, and 5-6 otters)
6.18.06 Bellingham Bay - Cornwall Ave. Beach thru Squalicum Harbor & about half-a-mile past it. (saw a heron & around 5 harbor seals)
6.17.06 Drayton Harbor - Semiahmoo Park "clockwise" around the harbor; up Dakota Creek; back around to California Creek. It's right along I-5, just a tad south of Canada. (saw about 5 bald eagles, a coupla hawks, several dozen heron, and 10+ harbor seals)
6.15.06 Magnolia & Elliot Bay Marina .
6.14.06 Lake Union - Sunnyside ramp > around the lake .
6.13.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint > south D'OH! forgot my camera
6.11.06 HIKE - Wallace Falls .
6.6.06 Harbor Island circumnavigation - Seacrest Park around the H.I. marina to the East Waterway & then around H.I. & back (saw a pair of bald eagles perched on top of a cement ship)
6.5.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint around Alki Beach .
6.3.06 Golden Gardens - down past the lighthouse at Discovery Park; back up around Magnolia & around the bay towards the locks; back around the marina .
5.30.06 West Seattle - Don Armeni to Cormorant Cove .
5.29.06 Duwamish Waterway - South River St. ramp > south - as far as the current would let me get... .
5.28.06 HIKE - Fragrance Lake (with my nephew Ryan)
5.27.06 WALK x2 - North Lake Whatcom Trail; Boulevard Park (with mom, niece, nephew)
5.21.06 Golden Gardens - up beach, down past sea lions & towards the locks; then back up along the marina (with my co-worker pal Travis)
5.20.06 HIKE - Lake Serene (with co-workers LeAnn & Parker)
5.18.06 Golden Gardens - up beach, down past sea lions & around the marina .
5.17.06 West Seattle - Cormorant Cove to Lincoln Park .
5.14.06 Chuckanut Bay - Marine Park up along the shore, over to Chuckanut Island, around & back .
5.13.06 Lake Washington - Madrona to Seward .
4.30.06 West Seattle - Don Armeni to Cormorant Cove .
4.23.06 Golden Gardens - up the beach & around up north .
4.22.06 Duwamish Waterway - South River St. ramp > south .
4.21.06 West Seattle - Don Armeni down to Harbor Island .
4.16.06 West Seattle - Lowman Beach - south past the ferry .
4.8.06 Chuckanut Bay - didn't get too far - the wind picked up & i had to turn back .
3.26.06 HIKE - Discovery Park .
3.25.06 West Seattle - Seacrest Park thru the Duwamish to Kellogg Island (with my pal Jerry)
3.11.06 Ballard - Ship Canal to Locks & back via south side of canal to the 14th Street boat ramp .
3.4.06 Ballard - Ship Canal to Lake Union (circumnavigation) & back to the 14th Street boat ramp .
2.19.06 Lake Washington - Magnuson Park > north .
2.12.06 Magnolia to Elliot Bay (to Pier 66 i think) .
2.11.06 West Seattle - Richey Viewpoint to Lincoln Park .
1.15.06 Golden Gardens - up the beach & around up north .
1.8.06 Ballard - Ship Canal to Locks to Fremont Bridge & back to the 14th Street boat ramp .

thanks for paddling by! >:O)