 Sea Gull Nesting In Boat
This boat, moored in the marina on Bellingham Bay, sat unused for so long that an enterprising sea gull decided to build a nest on one of the deck chairs. I don't know the final outcome for the nest but I do know that the gull was still tending the nest when I checked back many days later.
  Whatcom Creek
Whatcom Creek's outlet to Bellingham Bay is another great place to see seals. They hang out on the log boom about half way between the end of the dock and the bridge. Seals have always followed us here and paddling backwards often gives you a close-up view of our curious friends and their oh-so-sincere expressions. I have seen groups access the creek at high tide from the sloping bank by the fish hatchery parking lot, but they were not worried about scratching the hulls of their plastic sit-on-tops. I prefer to launch from the beach at the end of Cornwall Avenue on the other side of the dock, giving me the added fun of paddling under the dock. This is a commercial waterway, as evidenced by the Foss tug, Pacific Explorer, in the photo above, so be extremely careful of boat traffic as well as prop turbulence from ships tied up at the dock.
  Drayton Harbor
Drayton Harbor is a great place to paddle in salt water, see seals, and feel sheltered from Puget Sound's wind waves. A nice place to launch is found at the public beach at the very end of Semiahmoo Spit, on the far side of the gravel parking lot behind Semiahmoo Resort. You do have to be careful during tidal changes, as standing waves can form over the shallows between the beach and the marina. Dozens of seals are found on the outer dock of the marina and one or two usually follow passing kayakers. (Be sure to remain at a distance and abide by the marine mammal protection regulations.) There is an old sunken boat that becomes visible at low tide and gives me the creeps when I'm paddling alone. At the far side of the bay you can paddle up a creek that empties into the harbor. We saw sandpipers and the muskrat pictured above as we paddled down the creek. We rode the incoming tide down the creek and fought it on the way back, something I would not recommend unless you are looking for a good workout.
Yep, flowers. Most of these grow in our yard. I started using these as wallpaper and thought I'd post them. I guess I'm just a sensitive guy.
  Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival
These are a few of the many beautiful and inspiring boats sailing and paddling at the Wooden Boat Festival this year. These are views from the bow of the Keystone Ferry before leaving Port Townsend.
Man does not live by kayaking alone. We took a week and a half out of our summer to explore Yellowstone National Park on our mountain bikes.
   Ski To Sea
I was lucky enough to be part of the Bellingham Teknicalities, the Bellingham Technical College faculty and staff team for the 2005 Ski To Sea race. We have a friendly rivalry with the BTC Student team. Although we traded the lead with the students at nearly every leg of the race, guess who came out ahead again? But the student team was valiant, none of them had raced before, and they're all coming back next year so we'd better watch out!
Ken, Dave, Greg, Rob and Jemma welcome me to Little Squalicum Beach at lunch time.
This is my favorite place to get kayak training. They're just west of Port Angeles and close to great locations for sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, hiking and mountain biking. They are wonderful people and their website is www.atkayaking.com.
This is the spot where I enjoyed some very fun kayak bracing lessons in the waves with my new Riot Turbo whitewater kayak. This little high-tide island is at Crescent Beach near Port Angeles. While we were paddling just beyond the waves (to the left of this island) two gray whales began feeding and surfacing near us. The sound of their breathing and their graceful immensity in the water was awe inspiring. After the training I photographed some beautiful barnacle formations, anemones, mussels and oysters which you can find on the Life At The Seashore page.
Here are two photos: one of my gear drying after the bracing lesson and whale encounter, and the other is a contrast between an early whitewater kayak on display at Adventures Through Kayaking and my new Riot Turbo whitewater kayak.
These are the guys who pulled me over last fall during one of my paddles to work. They were very serious but polite. They happened to be motoring by as I walked to Zuanich Park so I snapped a photo from the shore. This boat can really move!
At the south end of Cornwall Avenue is a nice little beach. Before I installed a rudder on my kayak I got caught on the bay with a stiff south wind, unable to hold my course. So I sought refuge at this beach and it has remained a favorite spot of mine ever since.
One has to be careful of barnacles, but slowly paddling through the posts of the old dock at the south end of Cornwall Avenue helps me reflect on some of the history of Bellingham.
According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, this area was originally tide flats and sub-tidal areas of Bellingham Bay. From 1888 through 1946 it was occupied by the Bloedel Donovan lumber mill. From the early 1950s until 1965 it was a city landfill. The measured presence of arsenic, mercury, cyanide and PCBs above acceptable levels has made this site a target for environmental clean-up. I don't plan to picnic here until the clean-up has been completed.
This Canada goose was perched on the old Cornwall Avenue dock in a quaint, one-legged way. According to the Seattle Audubon Society there are seven subspecies of branta canadensis. A resident subspecies is found here all year long, breeding in Washington in shallow nests built near water. Hatchlings swim and feed themselves although parents will help them find food. The young birds begin flying in 6 to 9 weeks.
The sailboat, Timshel (?), leaving the north entrance of Squalicum Harbor Marina.
The Lite Weight marine commercial transport with Boulevard Park and South Hill in the background.
If you look closely at the center of the photo you can see a shy river otter that watched me pass by about a mile south of Fairhaven. One of my favorite animals, river otters in Puget Sound are often mistaken for sea otters when swimming in the kelp beds. While the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife did relocate a 53-pound sea otter from McAllister Creek near Olympia back into Puget Sound a few years ago, sightings of sea otters in the Sound are rare. The native population of sea otters was wiped out by fur traders in the 1800s. The current population are descendants of Alaskan sea otters reintroduced in 1969 and are found off the Pacific coast of Washington. River otters like the one above weight from 12 to 25 pounds and usually swim upright while sea otters weigh from 20 to 90 pounds and are usually seen eating or sleeping while floating on their backs. Last summer I was fortunate enough to watch two young otters learn to swim and hunt with their mom. It is SO much fun to watch otters swim and play! (From a distance, of course so they aren't disturbed.)
Fossilized palm tree trunks like this one loom like the spines of giant prehistoric beasts in a beautiful sheltered cove south of Bellingham.
A few shallow caves can be found along the shore south of Bellingham. When paddling past I've seen this one used as a hookie hangout, a make-out nook or a writer's retreat depending on how many nature lovers were inside.
Chuckanut sandstone is intricately carved by wind and water to form the breathtaking cliffs found along the shore north and south of Larrabee State Park.
A close-up of a Chuckanut Sandstone formation.
An adolescent bald eagle bends the top of this tree on a sunny day in February near Chuckanut Bay. This one probably weighs 10 to 14 pounds and has a wing span of six to seven feet.
Looking from the green "Buoy 1" to the red "Buoy 2" and Bellingham Cold Storage. BCS was founded in 1946 and is the largest portside cold storage on the west coast.
These Tiki-like posts look as if they are guarding the pier that marches out from the shore north of Squalicum Beach.
Heavy rains and thawing snowpack in January dislodged debris from the Nooksack River and surrounding streams. Bellingham Bay was full of boating hazards like this enormous log, mostly submerged, that even had ferns growing from the base.
A little off my normal path but an interesting view from about a hundred yards off the beach at Marine Park.
I believe this is a Western Grebe poking around the marina. Knox street ascends the hill in the background.
Fairhaven's "skyline" as one approaches the dock at Fairhaven Boatworks. Tim's art studio overlooks Harris street.
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