The Weatherman

Today we had a high of 86 at our house…a bit shy of the official 91 at SeaTac…but still a wonderfully warm day.  We took the boys to the wading pool at Lincoln Park.  Zach and I spent about an hour in the water - very relaxing.  I started the day on the water with a 6:30am kayak run with Tom…Nice way to start the day.

Yesterday, a group of us at work went to the 73rd floor observation deck at the top of Columbia Center tower in downtown.  Here are some shots showing our wonderfully clear day.

Looking NE toward 520 floating bridge.

Looking south over I5 toward Mt Rainier.

Elliott Bay and the Olympics.

Looking south towards our office and the stadiums.

What an amazingly beautiful place!

I hooked up with some work friend (Tom and Ron) for a 2 hour kayak outing this morning on Elliott Bay. We met at Alki at around 5:15am and we were on the water by 5:30am. We paddled around Duwamish Head past Seacrest Marina and Salty’s and came back around some barges. We didn’t see any seals or sea lions but we got up close to a few barges and otherwise had a great morning.

This was the second time I took out the inflatable kayak. Tom has an Eddyline and Ron has a Perception - so I was definitely the slow one in the group. So what do I think of the new inflatable?

• Easy to transport and setup. I’m ready to be in the water in about 15 minutes - not bad.
• Very, very stable. This has to be the most stable kayak I’ve ever paddled.
• Fairly comfortable, however it is a little tight in the foot well.
• Not quick but definitely not a slow poke either. I didn’t cause too much angst amoung my fellow paddlers. In fact, I think they enjoyed the breaks they got as I caught up.
• This time I didn’t pack it back into the bag afterwards. Instead I washed the kayak off at home and it’s on our front deck drying off. I need to keep it from smelling (thanks for the tip Jeff).
• I need to get a few things: paddle leash, bilge pump, paddle float, rope, better footwear, and some other clothing.

And for some photos…

Sunrise looking out toward the Space Needle.

Not lager?!?

Tom taking photos and trying not to fall over.

Ron heading for the mountains.

Update:  Picture of Ron and Paul taken by Tom…