| Our President Another summer has passed by and I hope you are one of the people who was so busy enjoying it that you are now looking forward to fall. Thanks to the efforts of our board and volunteers we have had an action packed calendar with a variety of events to appeal to almost everyone. Four on-water classes by internationally acclaimed instructors were well received. |
| Leslie Mix provided a summer series of on-water classes progressing skills that culminated in playing in Deception Pass and surfing the waves. Ray Bailey continues to work with paddlers to develop rolling skills and will be the pool coordinator this season. Thanks to Ray we have a few new "rollers" this year. Through Dennis Stahl's enthusiasm and hard work our calendar has been full with a choice of paddles. He has implemented the Burgers and Brews planning sessions where members can be involved in choosing and planning trips they would like. |
Our Program Director
'Hope everyone had a great summer!
I am continuing to work on the program schedule for the coming year. So far, the schedule includes :
SEPTEMBER – Corey Freedman of the Skin Boats Center speaking on traditional kayak
design/construction,
OCTOBER – John McKean teaching a Basic maps/Navigation class,
NOVEMBER- Coast Guard speaking on Rules of the Road/VHF Radio use,
DECEMBER- PARTY!!!,
JANUARY – Karl Kohagen , Kokatat rep speaking on their products.
I am also hoping to have Nigel Foster back to speak on his Labrador trip as well as a speaker on the
restoration of the Burrows Island Lighthouse. Please talk to me if you are willing to do a presentation (this
past summer’s trips??) or have suggestions for a topic/speaker.
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing everyone in September.
Lisa Biehl
'Hope everyone had a great summer!
I am continuing to work on the program schedule for the coming year. So far, the schedule includes :
SEPTEMBER – Corey Freedman of the Skin Boats Center speaking on traditional kayak
design/construction,
OCTOBER – John McKean teaching a Basic maps/Navigation class,
NOVEMBER- Coast Guard speaking on Rules of the Road/VHF Radio use,
DECEMBER- PARTY!!!,
JANUARY – Karl Kohagen , Kokatat rep speaking on their products.
I am also hoping to have Nigel Foster back to speak on his Labrador trip as well as a speaker on the
restoration of the Burrows Island Lighthouse. Please talk to me if you are willing to do a presentation (this
past summer’s trips??) or have suggestions for a topic/speaker.
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing everyone in September.
Lisa Biehl
A few words from our Trip Scheduler:
First off a very special thank you to all the trip leaders this year. You guys stepped up to the plate and
lead us ducklings on far more trips than in recent years. I mean we had tons of awesome stuff going on. I
want you to
know that it was so appreciated by us fellow kayakers. I am hoping that next year we have club events
every week. Asking too much? I don’t think so, we can make it happen.
Thank you to 5 foot 16 Ron (web master/master trip planner) for creating, motivating and encouraging
awesome trips. You guys even managed to see whales, you lucky stiffs.
Also, thank you to Lesley and Ray (her assistant) for all the Monday and Tuesday classes this summer. I
thought I was pretty up on my kayak game but I learned on the first day I had tons to learn and learned
handfuls of new stuff every week. Too fun! We soaked it up like sponges. Thank you Lesley for all you hard
work.
Keep an eye out for our Burgers and Brew Kayak trip planning sessions. The idea is to have all member,
easy anyone can paddle trips, even just for a few hours paddle to get your boat wet and afterwards meet
for our
Burgers and Beers Kayak Trip Planning sessions at a local watering hole. This would give new members a
chance to meet kayak buddies and a chance for us ducklings to get a few beers in our respected trip
leaders and guilt them into leading awesome paddles to places they would love to paddle. It works like a
charm. Got to love alcohol and food for motivation.
Thanks again to everyone who made this summer so much fun. One last thing, don’t plan on packing away
your kayak because REI says the season is over, it is not. It’s a year round sport and Ill see you guys out
there this fall and this winter. My advice is buy some gloves and a thermos.
Last thing: If any of you want to paddle please email or call me divebiker_4@msn.com or call me if I am
slow to respond at 360 540-5430 and Ill try to hook you up with someone. And like always if you’re a trip
leader let me know what your plan is and let’s make it happen.
Your trip scheduler,
Dennis Stahl
First off a very special thank you to all the trip leaders this year. You guys stepped up to the plate and
lead us ducklings on far more trips than in recent years. I mean we had tons of awesome stuff going on. I
want you to
know that it was so appreciated by us fellow kayakers. I am hoping that next year we have club events
every week. Asking too much? I don’t think so, we can make it happen.
Thank you to 5 foot 16 Ron (web master/master trip planner) for creating, motivating and encouraging
awesome trips. You guys even managed to see whales, you lucky stiffs.
Also, thank you to Lesley and Ray (her assistant) for all the Monday and Tuesday classes this summer. I
thought I was pretty up on my kayak game but I learned on the first day I had tons to learn and learned
handfuls of new stuff every week. Too fun! We soaked it up like sponges. Thank you Lesley for all you hard
work.
Keep an eye out for our Burgers and Brew Kayak trip planning sessions. The idea is to have all member,
easy anyone can paddle trips, even just for a few hours paddle to get your boat wet and afterwards meet
for our
Burgers and Beers Kayak Trip Planning sessions at a local watering hole. This would give new members a
chance to meet kayak buddies and a chance for us ducklings to get a few beers in our respected trip
leaders and guilt them into leading awesome paddles to places they would love to paddle. It works like a
charm. Got to love alcohol and food for motivation.
Thanks again to everyone who made this summer so much fun. One last thing, don’t plan on packing away
your kayak because REI says the season is over, it is not. It’s a year round sport and Ill see you guys out
there this fall and this winter. My advice is buy some gloves and a thermos.
Last thing: If any of you want to paddle please email or call me divebiker_4@msn.com or call me if I am
slow to respond at 360 540-5430 and Ill try to hook you up with someone. And like always if you’re a trip
leader let me know what your plan is and let’s make it happen.
Your trip scheduler,
Dennis Stahl
Trip Reports
Around Orcas Island (a.k.a. “Cape Horn”) Cattle Pass (a.k.a. "A Dark and Foggy Day")
The Broughton Islands
Sharing the Fun
Skagit Bay, in March San Juan Island BBB Clinic The Hat Slough & Port Susan
Around Orcas Island (a.k.a. “Cape Horn”) Cattle Pass (a.k.a. "A Dark and Foggy Day")
The Broughton Islands
Sharing the Fun
Skagit Bay, in March San Juan Island BBB Clinic The Hat Slough & Port Susan
Our club officers and board do an amazing job of steering this club of about 115 members. All this and most of them also have full time jobs! We will be having elections again this November and need volunteers for a few committee positions. I would encourage members to get more involved so we can continue and expand activities to appeal to everyone. The Quad Club Picnic was well attended this September with about 60 to 70 participants. We played games, swapped gear, paddled from Bowman Bay and ate delicious pot luck food. I am anticipating excellent presentations at our meetings and the annual Christmas party before 2011 is ended. |
Sarah Roberts,
who, as treasurer, not only keeps current of our ever shifting names, e-mail addresses, street addresses,
etc (Relatively, herding cats is child's play!), has reported a record nine new members over the summer:
Jan Kheviaty Dan Moos Dylan Rees
Keri Kippen Agnes O'Connor Mike Thompson
John McMillin Pat Peacock Gary Yonaka
Obvious opportunities to greet these new folks to the club.
who, as treasurer, not only keeps current of our ever shifting names, e-mail addresses, street addresses,
etc (Relatively, herding cats is child's play!), has reported a record nine new members over the summer:
Jan Kheviaty Dan Moos Dylan Rees
Keri Kippen Agnes O'Connor Mike Thompson
John McMillin Pat Peacock Gary Yonaka
Obvious opportunities to greet these new folks to the club.
Sharing the Fun on Guemes Island
On Sunday July 10Th, 5 of us took on circumnavigating Guemes starting in
Anacortes. I told everyone that I would bring a BBQ chicken and veggie pasta
salad for lunch for everyone. At the lunch stop at North Beach I broke out my
salad and I realized that I did the classic move of back at the car. Looking at
my dry bag full of cooking gear I decided I don't need to bring any of that stuff
and left it. I forgot the plates where in that bag. Oops! Thinking quick I had an
idea. I served the salad on the blades of carbon fiber Werner paddles. We all
giggled and laughed threw the whole meal.The currents, wind, weather and
company was great. The trip and the salad was a big success and fun for all.
Tip to sea kayakers: There is no need to pack plates anymore as long as
someone is using Euro style paddles. You have 2 plates per paddle.
Dennis
On Sunday July 10Th, 5 of us took on circumnavigating Guemes starting in
Anacortes. I told everyone that I would bring a BBQ chicken and veggie pasta
salad for lunch for everyone. At the lunch stop at North Beach I broke out my
salad and I realized that I did the classic move of back at the car. Looking at
my dry bag full of cooking gear I decided I don't need to bring any of that stuff
and left it. I forgot the plates where in that bag. Oops! Thinking quick I had an
idea. I served the salad on the blades of carbon fiber Werner paddles. We all
giggled and laughed threw the whole meal.The currents, wind, weather and
company was great. The trip and the salad was a big success and fun for all.
Tip to sea kayakers: There is no need to pack plates anymore as long as
someone is using Euro style paddles. You have 2 plates per paddle.
Dennis
Sharing the Adventures with Susan Conrad
Does whitewater kayaking at 25 mph whilst being towed behind a motor boat count
as a kayak adventure? If so a picture is attached. On September 11th, myself and
Ben Wells and family traveled to Lake Stevens for fun and frolic on the H2O. In
addition to speed kayaking, some also tried their hand (and pumped their
adrenaline) at water skiing, wake boarding, surf boarding and tubing.
OK, then back to non-motorized paddling (NOT an oxymoron!) 4 friends from
Montana and myself enjoyed a stellar day on the Salish Sea. We launched from
Bowman Bay and paddled thru Canoe Pass at the tail end of the flood. A leisurely
lunch at Coronet Bay involved me intentionally stalling a bit longer to give my
land-locked Montana friends a bit of a thrill enjoying the ebb ride as it built back
thru Deception Pass. A few standing waves followed by some expletives (cursing
me I think) and yahoos, but fortunately no casualties. Everyone survived and
brought wonderful photos and even better memories home with them. (A pix is
attached taken just as we departed Bowman Bay.)
Does whitewater kayaking at 25 mph whilst being towed behind a motor boat count
as a kayak adventure? If so a picture is attached. On September 11th, myself and
Ben Wells and family traveled to Lake Stevens for fun and frolic on the H2O. In
addition to speed kayaking, some also tried their hand (and pumped their
adrenaline) at water skiing, wake boarding, surf boarding and tubing.
OK, then back to non-motorized paddling (NOT an oxymoron!) 4 friends from
Montana and myself enjoyed a stellar day on the Salish Sea. We launched from
Bowman Bay and paddled thru Canoe Pass at the tail end of the flood. A leisurely
lunch at Coronet Bay involved me intentionally stalling a bit longer to give my
land-locked Montana friends a bit of a thrill enjoying the ebb ride as it built back
thru Deception Pass. A few standing waves followed by some expletives (cursing
me I think) and yahoos, but fortunately no casualties. Everyone survived and
brought wonderful photos and even better memories home with them. (A pix is
attached taken just as we departed Bowman Bay.)
Sharing the Fun in Deception Pass with Jill Mitchell
We were in the water and heading toward the pass by 6:15PM. Captn' Jack's listed
the pass as:
6.9 max flood at 2:27PM Slack at 5:59PM 7.7 max ebb at 8:50PM
Leslie took us into the pass hugging the coastline and explaining the water to us.
Then we were off....into the back eddies/currents..Yaba Yaba Dooooooooo!!!!
Some of us (me, Adrian & Adrienne) ended up in the drink a couple times. First
time I went in I did the ole cowboy self rescue and back in the boat for another time
in the eddies and current. My second time in the drink Don came to my rescue, it
was great practice in lumpy and swirling water. Leslie even got into the water so
Sarah could practice a rescue. Great fun as the current gained speed.
It was also great to have Tom and Marianne there with their expertise and keeping
an extra eye on everyone.
We were all still laughing and carrying on by the time we got back to the bay. Back
on shore, Sarah enticed the group to her house for pizza & beer for exchange of
using our muscles to help her move a boat.
My only question is when are going into the pass again? I'm game!!
Attached is a photo from last night also.
Jill
We were in the water and heading toward the pass by 6:15PM. Captn' Jack's listed
the pass as:
6.9 max flood at 2:27PM Slack at 5:59PM 7.7 max ebb at 8:50PM
Leslie took us into the pass hugging the coastline and explaining the water to us.
Then we were off....into the back eddies/currents..Yaba Yaba Dooooooooo!!!!
Some of us (me, Adrian & Adrienne) ended up in the drink a couple times. First
time I went in I did the ole cowboy self rescue and back in the boat for another time
in the eddies and current. My second time in the drink Don came to my rescue, it
was great practice in lumpy and swirling water. Leslie even got into the water so
Sarah could practice a rescue. Great fun as the current gained speed.
It was also great to have Tom and Marianne there with their expertise and keeping
an extra eye on everyone.
We were all still laughing and carrying on by the time we got back to the bay. Back
on shore, Sarah enticed the group to her house for pizza & beer for exchange of
using our muscles to help her move a boat.
My only question is when are going into the pass again? I'm game!!
Attached is a photo from last night also.
Jill
Sharing the Fun of Ship Wreck Days
Bill & Janine Prichard
An overcast, drizzly day did not hamper the continuous
influx of shoppers to Shipwreck Day 2011. The trusty
green canopy kept Hole In The Wall volunteers and
treasures nicely dry and provided a good vantage
point to people watch.
Thanks to all that contributed donations for this year's
event and to those who gave their time or dropped by
during the day.
Sadly, our net proceeds were barely 60% of the daily
proceeds for Shipwreck Day 2009 and 2010.
Additionally, volunteer participation and drop-by
check-ins by club members was way off the mark from
previous years. It's probably time to re-evalute this
event as a club fund raiser.
The Prichards
Bill & Janine Prichard
An overcast, drizzly day did not hamper the continuous
influx of shoppers to Shipwreck Day 2011. The trusty
green canopy kept Hole In The Wall volunteers and
treasures nicely dry and provided a good vantage
point to people watch.
Thanks to all that contributed donations for this year's
event and to those who gave their time or dropped by
during the day.
Sadly, our net proceeds were barely 60% of the daily
proceeds for Shipwreck Day 2009 and 2010.
Additionally, volunteer participation and drop-by
check-ins by club members was way off the mark from
previous years. It's probably time to re-evalute this
event as a club fund raiser.
The Prichards
