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Sea Kayak - McNeil Island Circumnavigation

A beautiful sunny and clear day with little wind was the reward for a very cold start! Great views of the Olympics and Mt. Rainier throughout the day.

Will Greenough Will Greenough
November 16, 2022
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • Weather: Very cold (29 degrees) at the start with a little fog to the south. Cleared and warmed by mid-morning. South wind at <5kt in the morning and none the rest of the day.
    Distance: 14.94 nautical miles
    Pace: 3.3 kt
    Launched at 8:30am from Sunnyside Beach Park, Steilacoom
    Returned at about 2:00pmCapture.JPG

Very cold morning with some fog to the south of Steilacoom. Temperature was betweenn 29 and 32 degrees at the launch. We got on the water right on time at 8:30 and made good time crossing to McNeil. There was a little (<5kt) wind from the south during the crossing. We then paddled along the shore and crossed over to the south end of Eagle Island for the first break.
After break, we paddled back to the shore of McNeil along the west side of Eagle Island and up Pitt Passage along the east side of Pitt Island. After rounding Pitt Island we paddled west to the public beach northwest of Pitt Island. The tide was high and there wasn't much of a beach, but we landed at the very west end of the beach just west of a couple of houses. This beach does not look public, but is marked so in the Coastal Atlas website.
After a leisurely lunch in partial sunshine we headed back to McNeil at Samego Point and then along the north shore of the island. We made the crossing back to Sunnyside Beach from the sandy point just north of Hyde Point. We had great views of the Olympics from Pitt Passage and Mt. Rainier during the crossing to Steilacoom. We got back to the launch at about 2pm.
After the first crossing there was very little wind througout the day and clear skies.S0568122.JPG