I lead a Waterfront to Fort Worden tour today. The forecast was calling for wind later on in the afternoon and it was a little breezy to start but the sun was out in full force. I slathered on the sunscreen, filled my water bottle and pulled out my sandals. What a treat to put on sandals this early in the season! It’s only the second weekend of May. We did our safety briefing and “intro to kayaking” chat and were off.

The waters were calm and since the-lands-on-that-pier-only-three-times-a-year-Cruise Ship was moored we paddled out and around it. HUGE! Even with all the little people watching us from inside. As we continued on our paddle, the sailing club must have been having some sort of a race since there were about twenty sailboats going around a little set-up course. They were fun to watch and so was the crowd. As we entered into Admiralty Inlet, the wind picked up since we were no longer sheltered by the peninsula. It wasn’t enough to discourage our moods about our day. Along the way we found plenty of sea life, sea birds (the regulars and those in transit) and even saw two bald eagles. There were a few large tanker barges and kayaks to check out along the way. As we were heading back, we realized we are surely lucky.