Draw from the Well

Things to Do in Olympia - Kayaking at Tugboat Annie's

Beautiful day for kayaking!  For those of you who don't know about Tugboat Annie's, it is a great way to launch yourself into kayaking.  Their "Kayak Breakfast Special" is a steal of a deal.  For $45 bucks (the price went up!) two people get two hours of kayaking and two breakfasts.  Kayaking is usually $15 per hour, so you can see how this is a great deal!  (See the details below.)

Tugboat Annie's is a great place for recreational kayakers.  Their boats are a bit dated, yet stable Wilderness 13.5' rec kayaks.  They provide the boat, life jacket, and paddle.  Their dock is very launchable. They offer singles and doubles, though I don't enjoy their tandems quite as much (good for kids!)

Kayaking away from West Bay up the shore one can see eagles, deer, and seals (we saw four seals during our tour.)  The water is usually very smooth, and the bank scenery is nice as well.

Breakfast can't be beat - it's always yummy and I enjoy the atmosphere of their restaurant (even though it is a bar, too.)

One tip is to always call and make a reservation, as the Saturday special can get very popular!  Enjoy!

Details from the Tugboat Annie's Menu:

Kayak Breakfast Special

2 Single kayaks for 2 hours, Any 2 breakfasts and 2 coffees: $45 (plus tax and please tip)

Kayaks available to rent after 8:30am.

1st shift: Kayaking 1st & returning by 11 for breakfast

2nd shift: Breakfast 1st & go kayaking at 11am, returning by 1pm

Kayaks must return by 11am on 1st shift and by 1pm on 2nd shift.

For 2nd shift we recommend coming in for breakfast by 9:30am

Oops

Believe it or not, this makes me want to go kayaking.

Discovering Something New

Today we returned to Capital Lake for a time of kayaking. I've been there several times so was prepared for a nice, yet unexciting time.  First, we were surprised by the Olympia Pet Parade.  This meant we had to change our launch place.  Instead of Marathon Park, we launched from the Tumwater Heritage Park.

This was a nice park and it opened up a different end of Capital Lake to us.  As we paddled around in the quiet, cattail guarded lake, we discovered a small falls in the little river that feeds into the lake (I assumed that Tumwater Falls was somewhere further up the river.)

It was delightful to discover something new.  I had fun.

Count

Whew!  What a busy weekend.  I'm tired.

But I'm super happy that in the last 9 days I've been able to go kayaking 4 times.  Well over my goal of once per week.  Yeah.

Here's a cool picture from my last kayaking experience.  How many seals to you count?

 

I Love My Big Critter

No "Big Critter" is not the nickname of my newest boyfriend (sorry mom!) it's my newest kayak.  I love it.  As I gain experience in kayaking, I'm learning that a true kayaker has different kayaks for different types of water.

I got the Big Critter because it's only 12 feet long and is fairly light.  When I want to put it on my car and head out for a quick paddle, I can do it all by myself (much more difficult with the Big Banana.)

Tonight after work I was full of energy and decided to head out to the lake.  At first is was misting.  Then raining.  Then pouring.

I hugged the edge of the lake with a watchful eye for lightning, but after awhile the storm broke and it turned out to be a beautiful, crisp evening.

It was my first experience kayaking in the rain.  I'm getting down a system:  with my booties, waterproof jacket ($3 at a garage sale!), and my ipod touch in a waterproof bag, I had a great time zipping around.  The Big Critter even has a bottle holder, so I was cruising in style!

I was feeling all studly as I paddled the lake and raced by the guys in the canoe, until I noticed two people in full wetsuits swimming across the lake.  Yup, us wimps were actually using boats.

Nature is different in the rain and there was a peace that was very relaxing tonight.

After an hour plus on the water, I loaded the BC back on my car and drove home, only to discover that I could actually fit my car and the kayak into the garage.  That was exciting. 

So I'm loaded up and ready to go out again tomorrow after work!  Yeehaw!

Two in One

This weekend I got to go kayaking not once, but twice.  It was great.  The first place was in Deep Lake at Millersylvania Park.  My parents were camping there over the weekend, and asked me to stop by and bring the kayaks on Saturday morning.

This was my mom's first try in a kayak and she did great.  The lake is okay, a bit busy with boaters, but some interesting scenery on the banks.  A bit small, so after 45 minutes or so, we were ready to call it a day.  Just F YI, the boat launch is very rocky...not very good for launching a kayak.

On Sunday we loaded up the kayaks and headed for Luhr Beach.  I've been anxious to get out there and see the Nisqually Delta, but also a bit hesitant.  Lakes are one thing, the sound is a whole different animal.  The first thing I checked was the tides, because I'd read that low tide can leave you stranded.

Luhr Beach is very popular with the fishermen.  Once we got launched (more rocks) we had to contend with a bit of wind.  We headed down McAllistar Creek and began poking around the mudflats.  It was like a water maze.  I was a bit worried because I had the "big banana" out (so called because it is bright yellow) and it's 17 feet of kayak.  I didn't want to get stuck.  Apparently, you can go down the creek all the way to I-5. I will bring back my 12 footer and do that one day.

(In this picture, I'm stuck in the "maze" and had to back my kayak out!)

Since we normally kayak on lakes, the wind and waves of the sound took some getting used to (and I'm sure we were still in the kiddie pool.)  It was a beautiful afternoon and we were treated to several playful seals who would pop their heads up and watch us.

As we headed back to the beach, we were treated to several seals sunning on the bank.  One looked like a pup.   Of course, we observe the appropriate distance rules and my camera is broken (I will explain later), so the pictures leave much to be desired.

I look forward to more kayaking from this area because one of my goals before summer's end is to kayak to either Hope Island or Anderson Island, and that means I need to get comfortable with the waves.

About the camera - I managed to break it at Lakefair.  Apparently these cameras have a very fragile LCD screen...a sneeze can break it.  I did more than sneeze on it at Lakefair.  So the LCD doesn't work, but the camera still takes pictures.  It doesn't have a viewfinder, so I've been shooting it "blind".  For all that, I feel pretty good about my pictures.  I'm still deciding if I want to change out the LCD screen.  This was my kayaking camera after all.

Kayaking Adventure

Spent 2 hours paddling around Capital Lake today.  It was a nice paddle, though the lake is a little stinky.  Really enjoyed the scenery:  herons and a bald eagle.  Nice to be out in nature.  Also checked in the the Lakefair proceedings.  I'm using my "new" used kayak - the Big Critter.  I love it...it's a 12 foot fishing kayak that is great for lakes.  Very stable and maneuverable.

Here are some pictures from the day.

I Miss Kayaking

It's been so nice, I think it might be time to unpack the kayak from it's winter storage.  For now, I will just dream.

Weekend Kayaking

Making up for lost time I've been able to go kayaking three times this week.  Saturday morning I went kayaking on West Bay with my brother and my nephew.  Foolishly, I left my camera in the car.  It was a beautiful day.  We did the Tugboat Annie's Kayak Breakfast deal.  This is always a delightful kayak journey because of the seals that sun themselves on the logs.  Tugboat Annie's makes kayak rental easy.  And after a few hours of paddling you are treated to a delicious breakfast. 

The second kayak adventure was on Long Lake.  Long Lake is a fun lake to explore and, well, it's a long lake.  Biggest part of our adventure was getting three kayaks on tops of the Subaru.   You will note that we were successful. 

We were able to borrow a kayak so all three of us could have fun on the lake. 

Biggest highlight of the day was discovering four sunning lake otters on a dock.  I was looking at them thinking "Wow, those are awfully small seals on that dock."  Silly me. 

Capital Lake Kayaking

Applying this week's sermon, I specifically took some time today to "sabbath" (especially since my normal sabbath day will be filled up with the Dare 2 Hear conference!)  My friend and coworker, Janice, and I jumped into the kayaks and hit the water on Capital Lake.

It was a beautiful day and we were treated with big jumping salmon, hunting herons and swimming ducks and geese.  While I was paddling around the lake, I got to thinking about trying new things.  (This was Janice's second journey in a kayak, which is similar to riding a bike...once you learn it's great yet there can be some mishaps in the process.)

I've been intentional about learning new things recently: this summer I took a sailing class and at work we are all learning to use a new database system; this fall I'm headed back to school to pursue a MA degree.  Learning new things is risky because the initial payout often seems dubious...i.e. this new database system is actually making more work for us in the short term and I keep asking myself how I'm going to fit class time and study time into my already busy work schedule.  It's tempting to play it safe and stay on the familiar shore!

How many people resist trying new things because the learning curve is too steep?  How many people resist because they don't have faith in the future benefits?  Christianity is risky business.  Our relationship with Christ compels us towards learning new things...unlearning old habits and renewing our mind with the mind of Christ.  Ever find yourself reverting to an old habit just because it's easier?   

As leaders, it seems wise to reacquaint ourselves from time to time with the pain and frustration of trying new things which push us out of our comfort zone (like sailing class did for me) so that we empathize with those who are embarking on the "newness" of faith, personal devotions, church going or  community life for the first time.