On this Saturday I made arrangements to demo my Escapade for a new friend I made through Steve Robert's Flotillian e-mail list. This is the one where Steve is getting a group of HPB'ers (and others) to travel with him between Camano Island, WA, and Ketchikan, AK, starting July 1, 2003.
Anyway, Matt (the guy I was demoing the boat) and I had high hopes, as the rain and wind forecast indicated we could see a bit of both. After all, why check out a boat that you might want to consider for a trip in potentially nasty waters on a nice day?
Well, the forecast was half right. We had some wind, but no rain. The temperatures were in the low 50's.
Matt arrived on his Greenspeed trike about 10 AM, just in time to get his picture taken and to see me launch my boat at the Sunnyside Boat Launch on the north side of Lake Union in Seattle. We talked a bit, and then we both got in the Escapade. Matt was the pilot/pedaler, and I acted the role of cargo/ballast/passenger.
Lake Union had only a light chop, so I suggested to Matt that we head towards the 520 bridge. On my way to the boat ramp there was a good amount of wave action against the bridge. This is caused by the wind blowing down the length of the lake, pushing the waves directly against the bridge. These waves then reflect backwards against the incoming waves, creating some really wild water.
We didn't have the rain, but we *could* get the waves!
Matt pedaled past the Pocock Rowing Center, under the University Avenue bridge, past the Seattle Yacht Club and into the Montlake Cut. The water was very flat through here, and we were about the only boats moving on the water.
After heading through the glass-smooth Cut (very rare conditions!) we found some eight man rowing shells and the coach catamarans out for practice. They soon left us behind as they headed out towards the smooth waters north of the 520 bridge.
We headed through the pillars under the bridge, and soon encountered some wave action. Matt said that he had traveled through these sorts of waves in a kayak and in a sailboat, and never wanted to do it in those boats again. So, I told him to head straight for it. We also waved "Hi" to a pair of bundled-up kayakers that were keeping close to the shore and out of maelstrom.
We headed at about a 45 degree angle to the bridge. The waves around the boat grew to a couple of feet in height, and were coming at us from several directions. I braced my body against the gunwales of the Escapade to more closely simulate 170 pounds of stuff, rather than move from side to side against the rocking of the boat.
Matt seemed to be enjoying himself. The waves were nowhere close to coming over the gunwales, and when the boat was nosed into the waves we had very little water spraying over the windshield. A middle sized cabin cruiser sped past, and left a nice 3 foot wake which, combined with the other waves, made a good pit in the water. The Escapade handled it with ease.
Matt pedaled back to the other side of the bridge and we swapped positions. I pedaled to the Husky Boathouse, where we docked and used their facilities. Afterwards, we headed back through the Montlake Cut to Lake Union. This time, however, there were a couple of other boats in the concrete lined channel, but the waves were nothing compared to those by the bridge. We even had a bit of sun to brighten things.
With the offer by Matt of a free lunch at the lakeside Agua Verde Mexican restaurant, I headed towards their dock. We were hung up temporarily on some underwater obstructions as we approached the dock, but the use of a canoe paddle and shifting our weight freed us. The boat was then tied up to a nearby tree stump and we went to have lunch.
After dining on some halibut tacos in Agua Verde's enclosed deck above the dock, we headed back towards Gasworks Park. Near the Kalakala ferry, rusting away at its temporary home near Ivar's Salmon House and the I-5 bridge, we encountered a small sailboat.
The sailboat was equipped with a spinnaker and mainsail, and was using both to travel more or less with the wind. As they approached I turned the Escapade around and pedaled for a while in the same direction. We were going about the same speed, which was about 4.5 to 5 mph. The purpose of this was to demonstrate to Matt that the Escapade does travel about the same speed as a sailboat with a light to moderate wind.
I headed back to the boat launch. Matt used the ladder at the end of the dock to disembark, following which I pedaled towards the ramp, stopped and scrambled up over the side of the dock.
After bringing my car and trailer into position on the ramp I proceeded to demonstrate to Matt how not to load the boat onto the trailer. I swear - I never had such troubles before!
Finally, after three attempts, the boat was pulled onto the trailer and extricated from the lake. A phone call from my wife cut short any ideas I had for trying Matt's trike, and I headed home.
To see all the pictures, in larger and alternate formats, visit this link.