Sea Kayak - Port Washington Narrows

I was already signed up for this trip when Bruce Durham asked me to take over it when he injured a hand.  (He is doing ok). Everybody actually arrived early.  There was plenty of parking and we were the only ones at the boat launch.  Unfortunately the bathrooms were locked and Marc wound up driving back to a Burger King to use theirs. After a brief pre-trip huddle the sun came out just as we were launching at 0830.  We went left to head north in the 2 knot current towards the first of two bridges. As we rounded the first headland the Olympics with their full cover of new snow burst into view,  clearly etched against a blue sky rising over a dark bank of clouds.  As we paddled towards them the clouds moved so they gradually disappeared but it was a really memorable sight. We came out of the Narrows and the group opted to turn left and explore down the narrow left finger of Ostrich Bay.  No ostriches but this was a great day to see plenty of other beautiful birds. Some would fly in formation to then gracefully land in the water while others would take off in all directions, some skimming the water surface with their little orange feet, whistling and squeaking. We came out of the finger and a bio break was needed so we headed for the western shore near the back instead of going all the way into Oyster Bay in the back.  We then headed east across the inlet amid hundreds of jellyfish to stop for a discussion of exactly where our suggested lunch spot was. None of us had paddled here or could remember it and we opted to just head to Tracyton where Kevin found a nice little spot with a bench and Honey Bucket that had a nice grassy landing right next to it for our boats. Kevin kindly shared some excellent rum balls and we were packed up and back on the water at 1300.  It was a very easy paddle back at a 3 knot pace on the rising ebb.  We landed back at the launch site at about 1400. The park was now busy and the bathrooms were open.  It didn’t take long to load up, change and have a post huddle where thanks were exchanged and no complaints were made.  Nobody opted to go for a drink or meal afterwards.  A really nice paddle to end the year with!  All paddlers performed well with excellent group dynamics.