The Weatherman

I spent the morning over at Alki Kayak Tours at Seacrest Park demoing Eddyline Kayaks.  The Eddyline rep showed up with around 10 boats and Alki contributed some of their boats for the demo also.

I started out in the Eddyline Fathom LV…for those of you familiar with Eddyline you know that there is no Fathom LV.  Until yesterday…literally.  This is a brand new boat.  In fact this was literally the first boat made for production.  And I was the third person to try this kayak out in its history.  I thought that was pretty cool.  As far the boat - it is a foot shorter than the Fathom and an inch narrow.  The biggest issue for me was the tight cockpit - not as deep.  I felt very uncomfortable in it - definitely not the boat for me.

Next I took out the Eddyline Fathom.  I loved this Kayak!  I ended up taking it out 3 times.  The last time for a much longer demo and out into rougher water - even got a wave over the bow that got me wet.  Anyway, this kayak is very stable, very agile, and fast.  The front of the cockpit is deep so it feels larger than it is.  This is the definitely the kayak that I want to pick up.

While there I also tried the Equinox, Merlin XT, and Merlin LT.  The Equinox felt like a bath tub which is funny since I thought I liked it after taking it out about 2 weeks ago.  But after paddling in the Fathom, the Equinox feels much larger.  The Merlin XT was a nice boat and probably my second choice of the day.  The Merlin LT was for a much smaller person.

Before leaving for the day, two other paddlers got into a bit of a jam.  They were out near one of the barges and one of them flipped over.  Kudos to Greg (owner of Alki Kayak Tours) and the Eddyline rep for hauling A** and getting out there to help them.  The water temperature in the sound is only 48 degrees - so it gets dangerous if you fall out.  Both persons got back in their kayaks and back to shore safely.

Tonight we went to the Seattle Sounders soccer game at Qwest Field.  Wow - what an awesome stadium.  The Niners (yes, I’m a Niners fan) need something like that rather than the crappy Candlestick Park they play in now.  The game was good and Zach was good.  We only stayed through the 70th minute (longer than we expected) and then Zach was getting tired and restless.  Well, it was 9pm and that is past his bedtime.

It’s a beautiful evening up here in the northwest. At 9:30pm it is 70 degrees after a high of 75. I took some shots of Rainier…here they are.

Oh, and a movie of Zacher playing in the house.

I finally got out to see the the minus tide. Yesterday was lowest at -3.8 but today only slightly higher at -3.6. It was very impressive. I’ll shoreline must have increased five fold from this low tide.

Looking south from Lowman Beach

Big purple starfish. I also saw a few moon snails and plenty of other things where I don’t know the names.

Looking north toward Alki Point.

Alki Beach…Wow…that’s big!

Well, there is one good thing about having this cruddy purple rental car - I won’t drive it.  I took the bus to work today.  It actually worked out well - I got to work about 10 to 15 minutes later than normal.  I wish the buses had cup holders for my coffee - that way I could enjoy my morning beverage and read a bit on the way to work.

In the past when I took the bus I was annoyed coming home since the bus was always 10 to 15 minutes late.  More frustrating was the fact that there were 3 to 4 other buses heading to West Seattle that didn’t go near my house, or so I thought.  As it turns out the 22 goes down California and stops at the bottom of the hill (a quick 10 minute walk away).  I could also take the 116 to Morgan Junction and have Steph pick me up.  I like these options so I’m not stuck waiting for one particular bus.

Ideally I would like to drive less.  I did take the Elliot Bay Water Taxi on Monday, however, that still requires that I drive to the water taxi.  Plus, it usually increases my commute by 45 to 60 minutes.  I mainly do this for the adventure of taking a boat ride during my commute.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m still pissed at the buses for running red lights.  I saw one go through a red light late last week.  I can’t wait for the day I see a police officer pull a bus over.

I took Steph’s car to the auto body shop today and they did a quick estimate and kept it - they can get the work done this week hopefully.  That meant I needed a rental car.  Enterprise picked me up at the body shop and took me to their office.  They had some PT Cruisers - YUK!  Those cars are crappy.  But they were basically out of everything else…except for the purple Chevy Cobalt they picked me up in.  So I took that.

What a piece of #$@&!  First, after being in it you wanna bathe when you leave the car.  Everything is manual on the car…not that I really care, but I didn’t think they made cars with manual windows, manual mirrors, and manual door locks anymore.  It does give the temperature outside though…props for that.

Can’t wait until we get Steph’s car back so I can have my van again.

I demo’d the Eddyline Equinox today over at Alki Kayak Tours.  What a great kayak!  Excellent maneuverability - no problem getting that boat to turn.  It was pretty breezy out (up to 20 mph) but it tracked very straight.  This boat does not have a rudder or a skeg - which I liked - those just complicate your experience.

It’s also a very light boat - around 46lbs - easy for one person to carry on their shoulder.   The cockpit was roomy and it has two watertight compartments to carry your gear.

Eddyline will be doing a demo day at Alki on June 23rd (need to preregister) - hopefully I can go to that and try out a few other boats like the Merlin XT and Fathom.  I’ve already taken the Night Hawk 17.5 out for a spin - excellent kayak also.

I headed down to Stan Sayres Park along Lake Washington for the REI Paddle Demo Day. Manufacturers of Kayaks and Canoes, of which REI sells, bring in their boats for anyone to try out for free. Basically I got two and half hours of free paddling. SweeT!

Oh, and to make it very Seattle, it rained the whole time. But that doesn’t matter when you are kayaking since you are wet anyway. I showed up at the opening (10am) and grabbed a life vest, a paddle, and tried out the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 145. I would classify the Tsunami line as a rec/touring boat. This boat had lots of initial stability and it was very easy to enter and exit. I next tried the Wilderness Systems Tempest 170. A much tighter cockpit and I didn’t feel overly stable in this boat - probably my least favorite. Again, a kayak fit is very personal - everyone likes something a little different. I then tried the Wilderness Systems Tsunami 175 and Tsunami 125. Some of the kayaks had rudders - the demo rudders were definitely abused and not as usable as one would hope - but again, I believe this is because they are demo boats getting abused every weekend. Overall I was generally pleased with Tsunami series. I unfortunately didn’t try any pro series boats which may have made me a bigger fan.

I next tried out multiple Delta kayaks. First I took out the Delta Fifteen 5 Sport. The first thing I noticed was the greatly improved rudder system over the Wilderness Systems boats. The pedals on the Delta kayaks are stationary and you use your toes to manipulate the rudder, and these rudders were in better condition than the ones on the Wilderness Systems’ boats. In addition, the overall look of the Delta boats was nicer (again, I didn’t try an Pro series boats from Wilderness Systems). The stability was better on these boats also - both primary and secondary stability. On the Fifteen 5 Sport, the cockpit seemed tight to me - otherwise I enjoyed it. I took out the Delta Twelve - mainly since no one else wanted to. Not a bad boat - good stability and decent tracking. Finally I took out my favorite of the bunch - the Fourteen 5 Expedition. The dimensions between the Fourteen 5 and Fifteen 5 cockpit are not different - but for some reason it felt much different for me. I’m not sure if the seats were adjusted differently or what (just checked the stats - the cockpit volume is bigger on the Fourteen 5 Exp then on the Fifteen 5 Sport). Anyway, I loved this kayak. The rudder system worked well, it was comfortable, and the stability suited my abilities. I even adjusted the foot pegs while adrift in the lake with no difficulty.

By this point two and half hours had gone by and I was cold. Since it was a demo day, all the kayaks were wet inside from people getting in and out - so I was soaked all the through on my pants. My upper body, while dry, was cool. Time to leave and get a beer.

Oh, one more thing…this was my Father’s Day gift…leaving the house for 3 to 4 hours to go kayaking…I loved every minute.  Thanks Hon!

Check out this picture from 9pm tonight when it 70 degrees and no wind (high of 80 today) - taken about 3 blocks from my home. The sun is setting to far north for me to watch it from our deck.

Zach throwing rocks into the Sound at Lincoln Park.

Update: Just killed a fairly large indoor spider…most likely a Hobo Spider based on its speed and size…that’s the other thing summer brings around here.

Finally got a picture up with Zach and his cast.

is coming to Washington…

DATE: June 9, 2007 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
LOCATION: Stan Sayres Park, Lake Washington
HOST STORE: Seattle Flagship
PHONE NUMBER: (206) 223-1944, (888) 873-1938

Morning at Seacrest Park

View of Seattle skyline on the way home.

Tanker with Mt Rainier in the background.

I finally tried out the Seattle Water Taxi…and loved it. It’s a pleasant trip across Elliot Bay. I saw 2 seals and got to enjoy the skyline of Seattle. The only downfall is the time you take in getting to it. Since there is little to no parking at the water taxi, I have to drive to Alaska Junction and take a shuttle. Once the taxi docks at Pier 55 I have about a 15 minute walk to work.

Since I’m parked at Alaska Junction, if I don’t take the water taxi home, there are a myriad of buses I can catch that go directly to the junction.

Update 5/9/2007: I took the water taxi again on Monday and Tuesday, however, I parked on the street at Seacrest Park. Yes, there is plenty of parking at the park. Granted I still have to get in the car for this but I do that anyway to take my kid to daycare. The important fact is that I drive fewer miles and I don’t add congestion to the West Seattle Bridge or downtown.

My 3 trips have been ontime and very enjoyable. I have walked from the taxi to work and back…which is good exercise. All in all I plan on taking it more often - hopefully 3 to 4 days per week. It’s free for me since I have a FlexPass so I’m not concerned about the fees.

You can also read more at highpoint.wordpress.com.

Do you use Lincoln Park? Do you want it to stay beautiful?

Join me (and I’m sure many others) at Lincoln Park for No Ivy Day. See the details here. It’s on May 5th from 10am to 2pm and will focus on cleaning out English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry.

Hope to see you there. Thanks to Beach Drive Blog where I noticed the original post about this.