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Sea Kayak - Hammersley Inlet

Taking full advantage of the lowest tide of the summer and a huge tidal exchange (20.0') we had a great trip in perfect conditions. A -4.3' tide exposed all the reefs between Hope and Squaxin maximally.

Will Greenough Will Greenough
July 05, 2023
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Little wind all day and a large exchange made the paddle pretty easy. Averaged 3.6kt with a leisurely pace including playing at Cape Horn and slow exploration of the reefs. 

Tides: High Low High Low
Arcadia 5:34 14.1 13:16 -4.3 20:43 15.7    
Currents: Slack Ebb Slack Flood Slack Ebb
Skookum Point 7:17 10:43 -2.4 14:35 17:51 2.5 21:43    
Libby Point 6:44 10:46 -3.7 15:09 18:17 3.1 21:06    
Totten Inlet Entrance 6:02 9:55 -1.4 13:31 16:27 2.1 20:33    
Squaxin Passage 5:47 9:02 -1.9 13:02 16:03 2.0 20:22    

Weather: Sunny and hot with little wind all day.

A great group and a great day. All arrived on time and we were on the water on schedule at 10:00am. Riding the strong ebb, we made it to Cape Horn in under an hour. About half the group played and the remainder rested on the beach just east of the Cape. A red fox made an appearance at the end of the Cape while we were playing. The eddyline was not well defined, but the swirlies were fun to play in. Robin discovered that he had not packed his passport (he was on his way up to BC for 3 days of kayaking with the Oregon Ocean Padding Society -OOPS) and needed to get back home to Portland to pick it up before getting on the 9:30pm Black Ball ferry. Fortunately Caleb Fitts was also playing at the Cape and had parked at Arcadia. Caleb offered to help, so I had Dave lead the group to lunch at Hope Island while Caleb, Robin and I paddled to Arcadia and I shuttled Robin back to Walker Park in Caleb's truck - THANKS CALEB!!!
I then paddled back over to Hope and rejoined the group for lunch. After lunch we explored the reef off Squaxin for about an hour, including the reef by the red channel buoy nearer Hunter Point. We then paddled past the west side of Hope Island and back into Hammersley, taking our last break at Cape Horn again. We began seeing smoke from a large fire to the north of the inlet as we started back to Walker Park. The trip back to the park was quick with the flood, and we made it back to the launch by about 4:15pm.
A great day taking full advantage of the large tidal exchange (18.4' in the morning and 20.0' in the afternoon. With a -4.3' low tide, all the reefs were out in full view.