2012-05-19 47 -122

Location

Just off the north tip of Mercer Island

Participants

Plans

Kayak there from the rental place near Enatai?? I'm thinking to set off in the early afternoon, or around noon, but am flexible. Or if someone has a more transportable boat, just drive to the end of the road and paddle the 100 ft.

Expedition

I left the house at noon, took buses and walked to Enatai, very conveniently rented the kayak and set out on Lake Washington around 1:30. Never having paddled this far in open water before, I had no idea how long it was going to take... it looked like about four miles each way, through the wide channel separating north Mercer Island from Beaux Arts Village / west Bellevue and then along the open north shore of the island to the hashpoint. But it was a beautiful day, and despite the frequent motorboat wakes getting me wet and forcing me to tack back and forth, I managed to get there around a quarter to three... a lot faster than I'd guessed. I guess it still counts as a Saturday meetup.

Anyhow, the trouble when I got there was that the hashpoint was in a particularly wavy spot: exposed to the full fetch of the lake, and just a few dozen feet offshore of a major headland jutting out from the island. This made it impossible for me to get a gps success shot... one time I got it to read 6ft to the point, and another time 4ft, (GPS accuracy was 10ft) but neither lasted long enough for me to take a picture. It was kinda awkward with the choppy waves, the boat, the paddle, the camera, the GPS, etc. So you'll just have to trust me. It was a very happy occasion in any case -- a first successful waterhash and a satisfying paddle trip to get there!

The voyage back took about 45 minutes and was also excellent. Funny thing though: towards the end, eight speedboats full of teenagers wearing matching black outfits passed me in succession, going full throttle. Do kids just randomly have speedboats on Mercer Island?? I've heard MI is really rich, but still wow.

Also, I should bring a change of dry clothes next time I do this. Standing up during the entire bus ride back was OK, but sitting would have been better...