From VIA Magazine – 2002 or so
Double or nothing
by Camille Cusumano
I wanted to gaze at the forest-clad shoreline of San Juan, the second largest island in Washington’s archipelago, the San Juans, from a single kayak. But no local outfit would take me out in a single. They’re less stable than double kayaks and the prospect of a client capsizing in the gelid water is a liability concern. So, I chose San Juan Safaris because they were the friendliest outfitter on the 20-mile-long island and they boasted naturalists as guides.
At Roche Harbor on the isle’s north end, I met my group, eager to glide far out on Haro Strait. I was matched up with Russell, a man who promised to be my ideological opposite—a software engineer for big oil in Houston. But except for a couple of quirks (his camera, my piloting), we got along. It was his first time kayaking, so I took the helm, which in a kayak is in back working the rudder. To go left, you push on the left foot pedal and vice versa. Simple. If steering is all you do. Add paddling, conversing, scouting wildlife, and my piloting goes to hell. I’d push on the left pedal to go right, then overcorrect only to lose more ground—or sea, as it were. For the first half hour, I apologized profusely to Russell, then decided this was no way to spend the next three hours.
There was too much to see. Nature lovers flock to the San Juans for their clean wilderness and teeming wildlife. When I wasn’t inside my head trying to coordinate left, right, dip that paddle, I saw tide pools brimming with a rich stew of sea stars, anemones, sculpins, sea lettuce. I saw pretty red jellyfish float by and a Steller’s sea lion. Birds charted course overhead, including a kingfisher and cormorants that looked as if they were doing wind sprints before takeoff. We didn’t see the big attraction, the orcas that migrate through in search of a salmon dinner, but we spotted many harbor seals. Russell wanted to photograph every last one—with a disposable Kodak—”to show my wife.” Each time a seal poked its head through the glassy strait, Russell pulled out the disposable and aimed, mostly into the sun. The seals, often indistinguishable from bladders of bull kelp, invariably vanished before Russell clicked.
I spotted an eagle in a Douglas fir and was pleased. Russell, who had never seen a bald eagle, was apoplectic. He swiveled—with camera—in such haste we might have capsized, but for my, at last, fancy paddle work. As we glided back toward Roche Harbor, only the guide and I saw the great blue heron taking flight like a prehistoric leftover. I didn’t tell Russell. He had wasted enough film.
San Juan Safaris, (800) 450-6858, www.sanjuansafaris.com, leads whale-watching and kayaking trips April through October. From Seattle, fly Harbor Air, (800) 359-3220, to Friday Harbor, then taxi 12 miles to Roche Harbor. Or take a scenic floatplane, Kenmore Air, (800) 543-9595, from Seattle’s Lake Union to Roche Harbor, where you will find lodging, including modern condos and the historic Hotel De Haro, (800) 451-8910; a bustling marina with shops; an excellent restaurant, McMillin’s, (800) 451-8910; gardens; and the fascinating ruins of a historic lime quarry.