Trip Report
Sea Kayak - Protection Island
a delightful paddle in a weather window...a scenic moody vista start to a finish with sunshine & breeze that pushed us back to our launch. We were blessed to see birdlife (loons, eagles, gulls & guillemots) & saline (porpoise, seals & sealion).
Janette Powell
- Fri, May 27, 2022
- Sea Kayak - Protection Island
- Protection Island
- Sea Kayaking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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no trouble on the roads...we'd kept an eye on the ferry schedule & there were no changes in the 2 weeks prior - so most of us arrived on the 7.10am ferry from Edmonds, the drive to the Diamond point boat launch was uncomplicated (no traffic) & took us about 40 mins. there was a truck & trailer parked in the place to park (see pic/instructions on the Mountaineers route page), but while we were unloading the gent kindly moved it...we had 4 cars between us & could have squeezed in another couple.
the on-water route was uncomplicated. the south edge of the island was delightfully sheltered & a light breeze and <1 foot swell was on the northern & western edge of the island. wind ranged between calm to 8 knots (as forecast, picking up to 6-8 knots from the NW to assist our final paddle to our launch after our lunch break at Thompson Spit)
it was an easy smooth paddle to protection island - we handrail the shore to Thompson Spit (approx 1nM) & then crossed to Kaneem point (approx 1nM). the vegetation colors on the island were stunning! Our approach was greeted with birdcall.
there was a delightful cacophony in patches along the southern edge, with a beautiful serenade from a loon that swam quite close to our group.
a bald eagle watched as approached and navigated violet point.
Seals became more numerous on the northern segment, they provide remarkable entertainment.
along the northern rim we scouted birds nests, cliff face vegetation & stately eagles in addition to the increasing patches of blue skies.
along the western edge the geology becomes striking! upon completing our circumnavigation we crossed back to Thompson Spit for our lunch break.
we saw the porpoise on this crossing & one of our group had a seal-lion do a swim-by (that included a spy-hop type inspection of her lunch).
the final leg was a wind-assisted (as forecast) paddle hand railing the shore back to our launch.
what a great day to be on the water exploring this wildlife refuge. I can't wait to go back with my good photography gear.