Road Trip Part Five: THE PROBLEM IS ALL INSIDE YOUR HEAD

Kayaks.  They’re those little one-man boats made out of whale bones and seal skin by Eskimos.  They’re the kind that rolls over so easily the occupant has to either know how to right the boat quickly or drown. 

At least that’s what I learned about kayaks in grade school.  I knew advances had been made in their design.  I’d seen the nut-case kayakers who bounced around in the white water rapids of the Snake and Salmon River.  Those people wore helmets.  Most activities that require a helmet, I consider a spectator sport.

I’ll admit I was once talked into trying an open inflatable kayak.  It was in shallow, quiet water, but I still managed to tip myself out as soon as I reached the middle of the river.  I got all kinds of instructions shouted at me from the bank as I struggled to scramble back aboard.  The whole experience was probably more for the entertainment of my friends than anything.

So when DH and I were invited to try the sea kayaks during our trip on the David B; DH shook his head and I was uncertain.  Christine, the boat’s naturalist and chef, said she would love to go with me and show me how. 

FINE.  It was a beautiful morning.  The sky was blue and the water was glossy—a good day to die.  I emptied my pockets, exchanged my prescription glasses for cheap shades and prepared to get wet.

Me wearing my new skirt and psyching myself for possible dunking in sea water.

 After I tightened on a life jacket, Jeffery handed me a “skirt” 

which he told me to fasten around my waist. 

Christine was already waiting in the double kayak.  I scrambled in the front seat, 

Forced grin while Captain Jeffrey fixes my skirt. Christine waits patiently.

and then Captain Jeffrey, always the gentleman, lifted my skirt and hooked it around the rim of the opening.  I watched Christine stash her cell phone in the pocket of her life vest.  “Is that a waterproof pocket? “ I asked.   She smiled and told me, no.  She wasn’t planning to go overboard.  The craft did seem surprisingly stable and I began to feel a bit less anxious. 

Trying to remember my left from my right.

I was handed a paddle and Christine gave me a few instructions on its use.  I’m a klutz through and through so I really had to focus on not soaking her with paddle splash as we slid out into the quiet cove.

Being so close to the water, I was able to see the long eel grass growing just below the surface, a home for all kinds of sea creatures. 

Christine spotted a flock of cormorants sunning themselves on a cliff as we circled a small island.  She also pointed out ravens, turkey vultures and other birds.

I hummed a little tune under my breath, the same one I use to keep up a semi-coordinated rhythm when I cross-country ski.  We glided out into the smooth water of a small bay.  Christine seemed to be enjoying the trip despite my flailing paddle, so I relaxed a little.

I did it and I didn't die!

An hour later we were back climbing on board the David B.  DH was waiting and happy for me and had even taken photos.  I was totally pleased with myself for being so brave.  It was only later that I learned that, in the hierarchy of boating, a sea kayak is considered a speed bump.

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky
Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man
Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B
Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas
Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head
Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen
Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water
Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses
Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs
Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs
Road Trip Part 11-Food
Road Trip Part 12-Giants
Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert

Road Trip Part Four: PODS OF ORCAS

Our Captain, Jeffrey Smith, heard some chatter on his radio about Orca Whales feeding in the Sound not far from our location.  When the David B arrived at the site we could see several whale-watcher boats there full of passengers.  Soon we heard a "WHOOSH" as a black fin broke the water and an orca came up spouting mist. Before long we saw more coming up for air.  

Jeffrey was careful to keep our boat a good distance away from the whales, but we were still able to watch them and get lots of photos.

My video camera is an old Sony with plenty of problems and I was trying to zoom in on the whales while standing on the deck of a boat so the footage was pretty shaky.  The pods of whales stayed in the area long enough for me to get plenty of shots with my Nikon too.

Christine knew a lot about the orcas.  She said this group was called J Pod and each whale was named according to who its mother was and its birth order.

I was super excited to capture some photos of the new baby, J-49.  

He was playing and popping out of the water near his mom, J-37. 

When he got too bouncy a couple of other whales nudged him back and gathered him in.

The following is a video I put together.  You can hear the chug of the David B and also Christine Smith's voice as she tells us about the whales.

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky
Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man
Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B
Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas
Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head
Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen
Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water
Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses
Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs
Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs
Road Trip Part 11-Food
Road Trip Part 12-Giants
Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert

Road Trip Part Three: ON THE BOAT DAVID B

Both of us love the water, so a few months ago DH and I began searching online for a way to spend some time exploring by boat.  We both agreed time on a giant cruise ship was out.  The crowds, noise, revelry and distance from nature just didn’t appeal to either of us.

So our interest was captured by a web site for Northwest Navigation and their boat, the David B.  She is a sixty-five foot wooden motor vessel owned and operated by Jeffrey and Christine Smith.

The Smiths spent eight years restoring the ship and its Washington Iron Works engine.

 They relaunched it as a tour boat in 2006.

Jeffrey is a skilled captain and Christine is an enthusiastic naturalist and accomplished chef.  It didn’t take much convincing for us to sign up for a five day tour of the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound in the northwest corner of Washington State.

In fact I was almost jumping up and down when we found the David B  at the marina in Bellingham Bay.

The weather was perfect the morning we boarded along with three other passengers.  Christine made sure we were settled into our comfortable rooms and then went to work in the galley.

Christine in the galley with Juliette, passenger and assistant chef.
Jeffrey is at the wheel in the pilothouse.

 Christine has a handsome wood stove in her galley

 where she creates scrumptious food with fresh bread for every meal.

DH and I savored the sunlight sparkling off the water as the David B’s three cylinder engine kept up a soothing chug which sounded to me like a cross between a Harley motorcycle and a fetal heart monitor.

The Sound was filled with plenty of other small craft plus the inter-island ferries that carry passengers to ports in the San Juan Islands.

Every day we stopped to explore something on some island.  This is Jeffrey bringing Jeff and Chris and Christine (yes the similar names were a bit confusing) to the beach where we would go on a hike around Sucia Island.

 Christine pointed out different trees, birds and plants and showed us creatures in the tide pools.

She led us on explorations of forest trails…

…and pointed out fossils

…in the mudstone of Fossil Bay.

We were never far from land and  we could almost always see 10, 700 ft. Mount Baker, a thermally active peak, second only to Mount St. Helens, in the Cascade Range.

Each evening Jeffrey found a quiet cove to drop anchor and each morning

was a relaxing experience of stillness spiced with aromas of breakfast

from Christine's stove.

More about our voyage next post

Christine's book about the restoration 

of the David B

Road Trip part 1-Smoke on the Water Fire in the Sky
Road Trip Part 2-Smelled the Mountain Air Man
Road Trip Part 3-On the Ship David B
Road Trip Part 4-Pods of Orcas
Road Trip Part 5-The Problem is All Inside Your Head
Road Trip Part 6-Looking Down On Fishermen
Road Trip Part 7-The Cure for Anything Is Water
Road Trip Part 8-Lighthouses
Road Trip Part 9-Slow Down and Read the Signs
Road Trip Part 10-Fresh Crabs
Road Trip Part 11-Food
Road Trip Part 12-Giants
Road Trip Part 13-Crossing the Deadly Desert