Sea Kayak - Tacoma Narrows

All paddlers arrived on time for our 1100 huddle although there was a bit of a delay afterwards for some last minute adjustments so we launched approx 1115.  We headed straight west until a little past mid channel, then turned right and went rapidly north.  We rode the current in the mid channel, approached the opening of Gig Harbor on the right side and rode the back eddy around the point. A power boat arrived just as we did at the dock of The Tides Restaurant at 1235.  After shedding my drysuit and changing shoes I found it was very crowded inside and the helpful greeter seated us at two tables separated by another set of diners.  We were joined by Ann and Greg, two of my local friends.  After a very pleasant and as usual tasty lunch we all suited back up and got back in our boats with no issues.  I waved goodbye to my friends and we left around 1430.  Once clear of the Gig Harbor entrance we rafted up for some drysuit adjustment and after a brief discussion, we headed for the marker at Point Defiance.  From there we proceeded along the shoreline to see the dockside community with their mermaid mascot before making a line just to the right of the east bulkhead.  The current had shifted and was just beginning to boil a bit with about a 2 knot current as we passed under the bridge.  We proceeded straight south to avoid the back eddy in the bay before turning left and heading back to our launch point at Titlow approx 1630.  Good teamwork was applied to get the boats back up to the grassy area above and most of us moved our cars to the west side of the train tracks to load back up.  Once all were changed we had a post trip huddle where no complaints were made and thanks exchanged just as it began to lightly rain.  A really pleasant paddle on what turned out to be an unexpectedly nice day.  All paddlers performed well with excellent group dynamics.   NOTE: Stephen Bao is an active diver who reported that there is an underwater waterfall in this area!!  Somehow I’m not surprised.  =))