8 posts tagged “kayaking”

Ariel's wedding, July 19, 2009


Originally uploaded by ochawan

Younger sister's finally married. Wasn't too excited about it but it turned out pretty good. The place for the ceremony was great. Was good to see some of my own family but didn't really meet much from the other side.

I finally got to visit Zankou Chicken. Would be nice to see some place like it in Seattle.

Mom decided to leave later on Monday and I (needlessly) took a vacation day. Not a good idea. Watched Ariel and Phil open their presents, which were mostly kitchen gadgets. There are many still out there that have a strange fantasy they will really make regular use of an ice cream maker or bread machine. They should have gone for some new knives. At the very least get a good set of knives!

Fundamentally, it's impossible to convince people they need something better until they've experienced the difference. これは納得できない！

About six months back I got a set of knives from Dexter-Russell. They make cutlery for commercial kitchens (and fishermen) so they make a good knife first, then sell more expensive models with fancy handles for those that want them.

Work in the past few weeks has mostly been about hassling other people, mainly for network services. This is not much fun. But progress has been made.

Last weekend, I participated in two events: Seattle Century and a day hike to Mount Rainier.

I wanted to check out the Seattle Century ride, but wasn't ready to part with $70 or so for basically a for-profit event. So I checked out their volunteer options. Turns out that they needed people as medical riders and mechanical support to do the ride. I just learned CPR so I was okay with the former. I could probably have been a mechanic as well, if it were just fixing flats and tightening stuff, but I get the feeling they wanted people who work or had worked at bike shops.

I did the 93 some miles in about 6 hours, including stops and calls to the ride coordinator. The ride was fairly flat at the beginning and end and I could go about 19-20 mph pretty effortlessly. But it was hot! And I wondered if I should have been riding more slowly, as I was riding more with the athletic people. Still, I wasn't told how fast to ride...

I was done around 1:40PM. I drove home to see Hitomi in the house. She was volunteering as well for the event, for end of ride dinner and clean-up starting at 4. After I showered and ate, we went together to a bookstore. Hitomi's been doing fashion research for a game package design at Nintendo. Dinner was a bit mismanaged. Food was better than the usual stuff rides provide, but there was no salt, pepper and salad dressing. Three things you need to eat salmon, asparagus, and salad. And the meal ticket included two beers, but somehow there was an exchange of drink tickets and people ended up with a few too many beers. And for those still around after clean-up, the tap was freely running.

Hitomi did not receive a meal ticket, officially. But I slipped her some food as nobody was checking for tickets after a certain time. And they had a surplus of food, which went into the garbage, unceremoniously.

Turns out clean-up, starting around 6PM, involved loading carts with heavy boxes and stacking chairs, etc. Poor Hitomi! I helped out, unofficially.

Sunday I had to get up early (again) for our trip to Mt. Rainier. We borrowed Nintendo's ZipCar (for free) for the day. (Having air conditioning sure sounded nice for the 4-5 hour drive there and back!) It was nice to see some non-hikers out for the day. And it was a beautiful day! Hideki, our drive from here.esteemed Japanese Relations Guest Manager wasn't in the best shape for the hike, which kept the pace slow, annoying some I guess. Still, what's the point of the hike if you're racing toward the end? Dinner at an awesome Korean BBQ place called Kokiri and would gladly return to the place, but Federal Way is a long drive. (I don't know why Korean food in Seattle has to suck so much. Still, it's not too far to Hosoonyi at least...)

Father came out to see me--on the bus no less!--after work on Monday. He and Stephanie hole up in Mercer Island with Grandma Jean on their annual trip out here. One year I got him out on a kayak trip to Cyprus Island. This year it was impossible to find the few days for it. Anyway, we did have a good evening kayaking, swimming and met up with Hitomi at Malay Satay Hut.

Tuesday, it was hot. Stayed at home to work, left home and waited for Tony Grills at the LWRC dock. Yesterday, there were a few people hanging around the dock, obviously not rowers, but today were quite a few more non-paddlers. Lots of good looking people in bathing suits. The dock is open to the public, but given the popularity, I wonder if the club might eventually kick those people out that aren't there to launch boats? Tony brought some suprisingly good $2 sandwiches from the Costco employees' cafeteria for dinner and we ate in the arboretum.

Wednesday: Record heat! I took the bus into and from work. Which was probably hotter in some ways than just bicycling the route. Maybe. NOA had their transformer blow up, so no power and Hitomi came home early. I went kayaking and swimming with her off the LWRC dock. Surprisingly, she swam off the dock, since she seems to panic in deep water. Since I promised to not make her paddle, she sat in the front and crocheted as I went around the lake.

I haven't had a big birthday party in many years. But it felt good to have one yesterday.

Hitomi and I worked hard to put on the event. And everyone all helped out in their own way, which felt better in some ways than getting any number of presents. Thanks to Kevin & Stacey for setting up the grill. Carlos and others for manning it. My parents for bringing a table. And others who helped transport those with no cars, or load things, or unload things. (And to a few people who tossed in some dollars for pizza, which was appreciated--$50 for two pizzas!?)

Having it at the house would have made it easier. Cutting down the number of guests would have made it easier. Not having to transport kayaks would have been easier. And telling everyone to go home at 5PM would have been probably a good idea...

It was interesting how many people knew each other. Or had shared interests. Hiroaki, who I didn't know so well, might be coming with us on a few hikes. Or maybe Trent and Kristen would go with us on a kayaking trip?

A lot of people took to kayaking fairly well, even though it was their first time. Unfortunately, a few people got pretty wet. I should have brought some towels. Also, a lot of people got their feet wet and I should have said to bring sandals. Matthew's Beach is much better than Magnuson Park for kayak launching. But there's not a whole lot of interesting destinations nearby. Saint Edwards is just across the lake but a little far for a beginner's paddle.

Somehow, I had a chance to get out there for a long paddle. It was really the only time I had to relax during the whole day. I don't really relax so well when there's a lot of people around. Still, even out paddling, I paddled pretty hard; I'm noticeably sore today.

The after party went on until about 12PM. Many of us played Magic. Ian, who was taciturn the whole day, got a chance to show off his cards, which I think he was happy about.

Next year, who knows?

Orcas Island, May 9, 2009


Originally uploaded by ochawan

Originally we were thinking of going to Harrison Hotsprings for the weekend. Thought it was a bit expensive for four (Tim, Mom, Hitomi and I) so instead I made reservations for Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island.

Not sure I'd call it a Resort for the price. We did have our own cabin, but it was really just a cheaply built trailer home. We arrived late and although the reservation was for four, we had only two pillows and the office was closed. Whatever. Parents took the living room futon since the bedroom's bed was a springy mess.

We were here to kayak, not sleep, obviously: I brought Hitomi's folding boat, my Pygmy double, and Tim had his old, trusty roto-molded single with the slightly deformed bottom.

Tim's boat does have a wide kayak, but still he's a little on big side for it, plus the spray skirt. He had a really rough time in some current we found at Lawrence Point (see the map below). Hitomi and I (with my mom) got out of there pretty quickly. Even though there was slack predicted at 14:23 and we were around there fairly close to this time, it seems with a bit of flood at this little point there's quite a lot of current. Maybe at any time. I made a feeble rescue attempt with a short tow line but really towing wasn't a good idea. Stay away kiddies, unless you're continuing on from this point! (Getting really close to shore kind of worked but there were plenty of eddy currents turning poor time. Getting a half mile off shore might have been okay as well, since there might have been less eddies but the current might have been faster.)

Orcas-lawrence-pt

Dinner was Italian but did not have the kind of fresh pasta that Hitomi's been yearning for. But it was a fine dinner, I thought. As with any resort area, the restaurants aren't quite the level you're paying at. If you pay a lot, you end up with some confusing combination of flavors that sound good on the menu.

So the big draw of the resort were supposedly the hot tubs but unfortunately there was only one operating out of three and it didn't have much hot in it. The sauna was fine. Hitomi and Mom retreated early, and the shower in the room wasn't too hot, for long anyway.

Next day we planned an early kayak in the morning but Sunday morning was almost entirely spent in bed. We tried the Doe Bay Cafe, which followed the pattern I described above. (My advice is order something ordinary.) Then we were off to Olga, which you can see on the map above, if you zoom in. We paddled about 6 nautical miles in 2 hours, which was pretty good since we were against the current at times.

Wasn't much to do in town, since it was Sunday and Mother's Day and the off season. We took an earlier ferry and went to Skagit River Brewery. There were about 8 kayaks and canoes in the parking lot and plenty of canoes and bicycles on cars parked on the street. It's the kind of place people wait to eat at when coming back from Anacortes or Deception Pass or hikes in the Cascades.

Orcas was fun, but a decidedly better place to eat would be Vancouver B.C. Maybe next year?

I went kayaking today and thanks to the 15 knots of wind got quite the workout on Lake Union. Thus I was quite hungry for lunch and ate quite a lot at Agua Verde, home of the all you can eat salsa bar.

After returning home, I went to cycling class and of course we had a tough day at Cycle U. Cycling hard works your abdomen and I was burping up chili and my stomach was irritated. Between intervals I was wondering if I should retire. And during intervals I didn't want to push too hard, else I'd throw up.

Although lunch was two and a half hours prior, maybe 4+ hours after a meal is necessary. Especially for Mexican food.

With an already packed schedule this summer, I had also planned to take my father kayaking, overnight, in the San Juan Islands. This is something I've been meaning to do for many years.

I bought my Feathercraft kayaks back in 2000, maybe 2001. They're expensive boats, but so far I feel worth the expense. I haven't managed to do any once-in-a-lifetime expeditions, which I had dreamed about, but I sure have had some fun vacations. It's about time for them to get repaired, which is a sign to me they have had a lot of love.

My red boat was still wet from Hawaii, Hitomi's was a little muddy from a picnic back in July. Hitomi's boat bag, as it turned out, was also missing some key safety items, such as a spray skirt and PFD. After a hectic night of packing (for two) I overlooked this. I had, however, carefully packed VHF radios and some other supplies, such as snacks, water bottles, and also checked the stove (not used in a year) for proper functioning. So, ready to launch with my father, with every bit of food and camping gear, I went back to Anacortes and located a kayaking touring company, soap, and eventually went to West Marine for a PFD.

I already have 4 PFDs, so this time I bought one that is inflatable using a CO2 cartridge, for the times I do flatwater paddling and don't want a full-on PFD.

Minus a spray skirt for myself, and with my father in probably the worst possible kayaking gear: Windbreaker with wide sleeves (scoops water), cotton layers, and sweatpants. At least he had sandals. But I felt, even with an assisted rescue, hypothermia would be a bit more likely, as any wet clothes would not keep him warm.

Still, the weather was close to perfect, at least for the middle of September. And the current predictions matched our itinerary very well.

Getting to the island from Washington Park is very easy. And with the correct current took about 30 minutes for a 3 mile crossing. This I had a few year's back with Kevin. Dad was pretty slow, though, being a beginner, so with the late launch the sun disappeared over to the other side of the island, making the remaining 5 miles fairly cold. The low light did illuminate the Cone Islands beautifully. My legs started to ache in Hitomi's boat and I patiently waited for my father.

While I was worried about my legs and reaching camp, Dad was enjoying the sea life. A number of porpoises were in the area, and he would stop and look for them.

Eventually reaching camp, it took about 10 minutes to set up the tent, sleeping arrangements, and cooking. A large number of other kayakers were on the beach, along with a rowing dingy, with its occupants setting up camp on land for the night. What appeared to be an "organized group" of kids turned out to be "trouble teens" who seemed to be having quite a good time. Their guides or counselors seemed to have quite expensive, advanced fiberglass boats and I wondered if this was a program rich parents contributed to. Or maybe the guides had their own boats?

I put together a pretty decent meal of fresh pasta, spicy pasta sauce, sausage, boiled vegetable, and cheese and fresh bread. I boiled some hot water and mixed it with shochu. It was dark and we ate using headlamps.

Everything came together, but I was more relieved than happy. I wondered what I was hoping for, all these past years, wanting my Dad to do this with me. Kayaking, being on the water, being self-sufficient is part of what makes me happy, and I should not expect the same enthusiasm from others. I decided that day, though, I wanted him to have some sort of story, me included or not, that at least leaves some memorable impression.

The weather the next day was a lot nicer than forecast, with hardly any wind, and eventually low clouds that looked like would burn off in a few hours. Since we had some extra time, then, we took a to Eagle Cliff.

Dad's largely unpleased about how computers haven't shortened to work week and how the rich have disproportionately benefited from efficiency increases. For some reason, since a child, I get an earful from my father about workplace issues. Sure, being in the software business I understand a lot of the bullshit, but fortunately I have never felt unduly compensated. Maybe I have been shorted? Still, I've never been able to reach level of indignation my father has.

The return to Anacortes was sunny and peaceful. We stopped at Strawberry Island and had lunch. The island was empty, except for us two, which felt a little surprising given its popularity. The smooth rocks on the beach had been heated by the sun and made a good spot to stretch out. The 10-15 knots of wind forecast never developed and with the current close to slack never caused any great mischief for the return stretch. Dad insisted, when packing, that we hardly moved for quite some time in the middle. But that's the nature of crossings which seem to cause a bit of worry and often despair I find around the halfway point.

(Speaking of despair, the worst such time in a kayak was last year, when an 11 mile (?) paddle in the fog and steep( swell took 5 hours. The coastline (out of the fog) looks like this the whole way so maneuvering around takes some special skill to avoid breakers and rebounding waves. My advice is to carry a pee bottle.)

After a long day, we topped it off going to Malay Satay Hut, which despite complaints by some people is one of the best ethnic restaurants in Seattle.

The plan was to take my kayak by bus to Kailua, launch from the beach, navigate around the Mokulua Islands, and get in a little snorkeling.

"TheBus" (Honolulu's bus service) has a few buses that go to Kailua on the Windward Side (as it's known) but you have to first transfer to Ala Moana first. I boarded the bus with my 60 pound bag, which took up its own seat. A friendly old lady (who later said she was age 85) tried to explain many times I had to place my bag under the seat, etc. though there were free seats. With such a large bag, of course it would not fit anywhere else. But despite sounding a bit upset about my bag, she still talked to me about this and that, where I was from, etc. I was friendly back, somewhat afraid that she'd make a fuss with the driver. There's something inconsistent about how some old people can be so bossy, yet keep up a friendly chat.

Eventually I made it to Kailua, but the bus 57A dropped us all off in the main shopping area, which turned out to be a mile to the park. And so I had little choice to carry the bag (60 pounds) in the sunny 85+ degree weather. As I've been told so many times, what does not kill you makes you stronger, but mostly I got sweaty and sore. (There was a bus I could have taken, which runs every hour.)

Set up and on the water around 12PM, I headed towards Mokulua Islands and arrived about forty minutes later. A significant beam wind, shallow water, and lots of chop mixed with swell made it a bumpy journey. When I got in sight of the shore, I noticed quite a few sit-on-tops already on the beach, and I figure it must have been some sort of tour gathering. But before putting in, I went around the southern island, pushing through the steep waves which peaked but did not break. Being tossed around was about half exhilaration, half discomfort. Eventually I did land and my boat got tossed about in the steep shore break, but getting wet wasn't a big deal.

Steep rocky drop-offs make for more interesting underwater conditions. I brought my snorkel gear (fits well every time) and found the water quite peaceful under the chop. I can't say I'm impressed with the coral in Hawaii (not that colorful and not at all plentiful) but the underwater formations mostly made up for it. The fish like it better as there's more places to hide. Places my family went in Kauai and Maui were fairly flat boulder fields.

Then, I launched again and went around the northern island and headed back towards shore. Sriram, who I planned to meet during the day, said he could come by with a rental car and join me, but as I later heard got caught up with shopping and dealing with his daughter and wife. Fair enough. I took my time snorkeling some more, checking out a few beaches further south.

Something occurred to me to come back next year and kayak around Kauai. I'd either take Kevin or Hitomi, or both. The ocean doesn't seem nearly as rough in summer as in winter, and 95 miles in a week is not inconceivable.

Around 5PM, I again walked with my kayak. The bus took me back to Ala Moana, where there's a mall where I finally met up with Sriram. The food court had a ton of Japanese places, as well as the usual mall fare. I had a giant okonomiyaki with a bottle of cool green tea. I was eating out of a Styrofoam container, but I felt like I was having a great meal.

My long time co-worker and friend from m-Qube Ken Lo invited me to his wedding reception in Hawaii.

Hitomi and I were both invited; Hitomi said she didn't have enough vacation days so I planned to go alone. I decided to not take any vacation days off from work, and instead work in the early mornings, and spend my afternoons and evenings on the beach. I brought my kayak and plan to go out on Waikiki Beach and perhaps Pearl Harbor. I decided not to rent a car, given I wouldn't need to go far, and probably public transportation and shuttles would suffice. I also got a room at a youth hostel, with a semi-private room and air conditioning, and internet access.

The flight was uneventful. I played on my Nintendo DS "Taiko no Tetsujin" and cleared another 30+ songs, though mostly on easy mode. Taiko means "big drum" and in the arcade version you strike a mini-taiko with sticks. The songs are a mix of J-Pop, classical music, anime opening themes, children's songs, and electronica, etc. It's a really fun game, but unlikely to be released in the U.S., either due to music license reasons or just the fact it's super-cutesy. When you pass songs, you receive various clothes and decorations for your drum.

I got picked up at the airport by Ken Lo, who had forgot I was coming in and left in the middle of his dinner. I joined him at a Korean yakiniku (grilled meat) place, and met some of his friends who I last saw in Boston. We wandered around the Waikiki Beach tourist area. The night market resembled that of Thailand's, minus the food vendors. The "brand shops" were all open late and no doubt attracting a fair number of Japanese tourists. Like I saw in Thailand, shop signs were in English and Japanese, occasionally Chinese.

We all got sleepy, the people from Boston more so. Ken Lo drove me to the hostel, and I checked in. I got my sheets (no blanket) and made my way up. Getting my luggage to the room was a bit of an issue, given the security gates and narrow stairs. I imagine that the hostel (and its neighbors) were basically established in old, unappealing apartment buildings that were too expensive to remodel. The place was built with cinder blocks, single plane glass. I got a room with air conditioning, which is a locked room off of the main dorm room. The dorm (two bunk beds) had no air conditioning and felt about 85 degrees at 11PM at night; I felt a bit sorry for the dorm people. I wanted a shower, but with all the activity, couldn't snag the bathroom: I'd be up at 6AM so I'd have my morning shower before everyone else.

It turns out the room had no blankets, and I used my jacket and a few extra pillows to snug myself up. I was a little cold. Air conditioning has its downsides.

I finally got out my muddy double kayak and drove up with Tim and Mom to our usual (or once was usual) San Juan launch spot, Washington Park in Anacortes. I had them use the boat while I climbed in Tim's old blue plastic boat. After all the flatwater kayaking I've done, anything over 20 inches beam feels like a barge. This time, though, I came more for the scenery than the fitness. And the socializing, though I ended up paddling ahead more than I should have.

It was a short paddle, relatively. Tim got cramps sitting in the stern cockpit without any knee braces, and so we went back without venturing much further than Alan Island. I got in a sprint around the south, into the fog, and back out again. We were probably out for only 2-3 hours. Still, heading into Mount Vernon before 7PM for once, rather than after dark like times past was probably for the best. I had along my Hale's growler bottle and got a fill-up of Yellow Jacket to go.

On Sunday, I wanted to go on one more ride with Hitomi, STP being a week away. I suggested the around-the-lake ride. Hitomi, though, wasn't up for much, so any other suggestions were for naught. I was coerced to go to the Sunlight Cafe, and got a nice sesame waffle, which was a pretty good choice for the ride I had planned.

Skipping the not-so-fun south part of Lake Washington, I went across I-90 to Mercer Island and blew around Mercer Island at 20+ miles per hour. There's something about curvy, hilly roads that makes me want to go faster. I did 50 miles and change, and made it back in time for Sunday errands, like picking up a new Microwave oven.

One interesting feature of the ride was the incorporated soundtrack. I borrowed Hitomi's iPod plus speaker, and played weird Japanese music. I'm not sure what the other bicyclists thought of a sweaty guy blazing past them listening to a cute-sounding girl singing along to 8-bit anime music tracks. Moe' plus video games plus bicycling is a triple score for sure. And anything that confuses other riders (rather than, I suppose annoying them) is a bonus as well.