July 28, 2002
From Saturday, July 20 through Sunday, July 28, the Washington Water Trails Association organized a "100 miles in 9 days" paddle/HPB event. This started at Lake Sammamish State Park, and generally headed downstream through the Sammamish River, around Lake Washington, through Montlake to Lake Union, ending at Golden Gardens Park on the shores of Puget Sound.
Due to other commitments, I was unable to attend any of the days of the paddle except for the last one, from the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) and McCurdy Park, to Golden Gardens.
Click here for a map of the route.
This event was rather special in another way. My entire family was actually going to take part in it! Since it was intended to be a moderately leisurely paced day, traveling the 9 miles over a period of about 6 hours or so, and since the route went through quite a variety of scenery, all five of us (me, my wife Kate, my son Christopher (13), daughter Aria (almost 8), and son Max (6)) would have a day out on the water.
Of course, we could not all fit in my Escapade. Dakanu, my original paddlewheel canoe, would be pressed into service as well.
I loaded up the van and hitched the Escapade to my Neon, and off we went in the wee hours of the morning towards MOHAI.
Reaching MOHAI, located at McCurdy Park near the Arboretum on Lake Washington, we registered, unloaded the canoe and all its paddlewheel paraphernalia, and left Christopher to guard things until we returned. Since there is no boat launch at McCurdy Park, we would have to launch it elsewhere. The UW Boathouse, across the Montlake Cut from McCurdy Park, was my first choice. Otherwise, the Sunnyside Boat Launch, which was about 20 minutes away by pedal boat, would have to suffice.
This sort of outing was a first for the family, so we decided to have a bail-out option about midway through the paddle. We parked the van, which had carried the canoe, near the Sunnyside/Gasworks Park boat launch. This would give us a couple of bail-out options, as the route circled Lake Union and passed nearby twice.
We then headed back to the UW Boathouse, and backed up the trailer onto their tiny boat ramp. Signs posted there indicated that no vehicles were allowed on the ramp, and a voice over the loudspeaker system reinforced that. So, without having my car on the ramp (just the trailer), I unhitched the trailer, held onto the winch rope (attached to just the trailer), had Kate hold onto the Escapade bow line, and let the trailer and Escapade roll into the drink!
It worked fairly well, and we did not even get our feet wet. Kate did have to help me pull the trailer out from a sunken ditch, however.
Hitching the trailer back up to the car I headed back to MOHAI, while Kate and Aria pedaled across. FRS walkie talkies helped immensely throughout the journey to coordinate our activities.
There was a short discourse on some of the history of Lake Washington and the Montlake Cut, which lowered the lake 9 or 10 feet. After the talk, and a quick trip to the restrooms, everyone launched their vessels and headed towards the south side of the Montlake Cut entrance.
The kids decided that they wanted slightly different seating arrangements, so we stopped at the bridge and swapped places. When everyone was settled I picked a water lily for Max, which immediately made his sister jealous. Sigh...
The group headed double file through the steep-walled concrete channel called the Montlake Cut. The smooth walls reflected the wakes of the motorized craft passing through, and made this something of a bumpy ride. Max, my traveling companion for this leg of the journey, enjoyed it immensely.
As we approached the University Avenue Bridge, a man in a passing motorboat slowed down to take a look at us. We waved at him, and then he turned his craft around and came alongside Dakanu. Leaning over the side he handed Max a water gun! Wow - were we surprised! Max was beside himself with joy, now shooting his new (empty) water gun at everything he could.
The route went right past the Kalakala ferry, and the newly reconstructed marina next to the Sunnyside launch. I noticed that the donations keg that is normally tied to the end of the Kalakala extending out into the lake was no longer attached to the rope. Hmmm...perhaps they no longer need to raise money from passing boaters?
We had been told that the group was going to make a stop at the Sunnyside Boat ramp, but instead they continued onward to Gasworks Parks and then to south Lake Union. We decided to stop anyway, as we needed the pit stop, Kate wanted Christopher to pedal, and Max wanted to load his new gun.
We headed after the group, passing all the houseboats along the eastern shore of Lake Union one by one. At this point I was carrying both Aria and Max, while Christopher was pedaling with Kate. For some reason, Christopher was steadily falling behind. Perhaps the reversed scoop paddles were truly more efficient after all! Or, more likely, Christopher has yet to master a consistent pedaling cadence.
Anyway, we eventually arrived at the Center for Wooden Boats, joining the rest of group. A representative of the CFWB told us of the history of the organization, and how people can take classes learning how to build wooden boats, operate them, repair them, etc. Following that, we were told to go have lunch at a nearby park on the other side of the Navy Pier.
Lunch was next to the Kenmore Seaplane terminal at a small park. The fixings for sandwiches were provided, and it was a do-it-yourself affair. We had brought along some snacks and other beverages, as well as food for Max, who is on a gluten-free/casein-free diet.
Meanwhile, Christopher put together Max's Lego copter that he just received for his birthday, so that Max would not lose the pieces trying to assemble it in the boat. Max and Aria had fun chasing the Canadian geese wandering through the area.
After lunch we were treated to several seaplanes taking off and landing. The Virginia V, an antique passenger cruiser from the Mosquito Fleet days, also got under way, blowing its steam whistle several times and sounding just like an old time steam railroad engine.
The group passed by a number of marinas, loaded with sailboats and luxury motor yachts, with many for sale.
Kate decided that she was definitely too hot pedaling the Escapade, even with the sides of the windshield opened for ventilation. I came alongside her, and helped remove the windshield and placed it in Dakanu. It really made the difference for her!
Throughout to whole trip my T-shirt covered with a nylon long sleeved shirt were comfortable. However, I finally did decide to remove my loose fitting nylon pants at this time as they were getting bothersome. My bike shorts worked quite well.
After passing the Lake Union fuel dock and several more houseboats the group continued on past Fremont, the "Center of the Universe" according to local mythology. We then headed down the ship canal, a wider and less wave-prone version of the Montlake Cut.
Dakanu was still moving faster than the Escapade with Kate pedaling, but the difference was not so pronounced. As this was several hours into the journey, my legs did not feel any ill effects from pedaling, and Dakanu was able to keep up with the kayaks with no trouble. With the wheels properly constructed, as opposed to the crude affair being used, then the efficiency should be improved even further.
We passed a number of fishing vessels, drydocks, boat yards, and still more houseboats tucked in here and there. We even came upon a stern wheeler houseboat docked along the north side of the canal.
The group made a pit stop at the Ballard launch, and waited the arrival of some local politician (later found out to be Congressman Jim McDermott) to join us for the remainder of the journey. While we were waiting Max found a dead sockeye salmon laying on the boat ramp - a sign of the first successful sockeye salmon fishing season in years. There certainly was quite a bit more activity than normal with all the fishermen returning happily from a morning on the lake.
The sun started to make something of an appearance for the first time of the day, so I put on some sunscreen. Christopher and Max decided to put the bimini top over themselves - at least until I came over to help snap it into place.
Aria did a great job trying to paddle from the front of Dakanu. The paddle was much too big for her, but she still made the effort and did not even slow me down very much.
Soon after the Ballard Bridge we reached the Hiram Chittendam Locks, also known as the Ballard locks. The group waited outside the smaller of the two locks, trying to keep out of the way of exiting traffic as well as trying to stay in position against the concrete bulkhead along the entrance to the lock. After about 15 minutes of being pressed up against the concrete wall of the channel, one of the fender supports of Dakanu unclamped from the gunwale, and sank into the depths, never to be seen again.
Finally it was our turn to enter the small lock. Everyone paddled or pedaled hurriedly, trying to find a spot along the wall that they could grab onto. Since there were so many boats, we had to raft; meaning we had to hang onto each other's boats, with the one closest to the walls of the locks hanging onto the floating ties along the walls of the locks.
At the last minute we were joined by a Bayliner; otherwise, the only vessels in the lock was our fleet of kayaks and pedal boats. At last the lock doors started to close.
The water level slowly began to sink to the level of Puget Sound, with the walls of the lock appearing to grow ever higher. This gave me the same sort of feeling as I had in the elevator room of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. Max and Christopher decided that there was something requiring their attention off the stern of the Escapade - probably something related to the slime on the walls also appearing from the depths.
Eventually, the eastern lock doors were exposed in all their slimey glory, with only a small trickle of water escaping through the cracks and seams. The western lock doors slowly, slowly opened.
Everyone was getting a little restive with all the waiting, so there was a bit of a traffic jam trying to leave the lock. We decided to take our time and let the kayakers sort themselves out. The Bayliner also waited until everyone was clear before cruising past out to the Sound.
With the help of the current from the locks and dam we rapidly cruised past the entrance to the large lock and under a big railroad bridge, and entered Puget Sound. As luck would have it, the conditions were pretty calm, so there were no problems with waves breaking over the bow of Dakanu. With the tide at its low point, we could see all sorts of sea life along the bottom. We could see all sorts of shore life at Ray's Boathouse and some other seaside restaurants, too.
I must admit, I was starting to get a little fatigued by this time. Kate was a bit on the tired side, too, and was starting to fall behind. As we passed some crab pot buoys I noticed that we were fighting the incoming tide, so that did not help, either.
After a short while we passed the southern entrance to Shilshole Marina. We followed the group along the outside of breakwater until we reached the northern entrance about half a mile later, whereupon we dropped off the Escapade at the boat launch. Kate, Max and Christopher walked over to Golden Gardens (about a block or two), where Aria and I beached Dakanu.
There was an awards ceremony, prizes were given, and cake and hors d'oerves served. This was followed by people pitching in to carry the boats up to the road, and hoisting them onto the cars after we returned from our shuttle trip. Thank you, WWTA volunteers! We had a wonderful time.
To see all the pictures, in larger and better formats, visit this link.