Just another Shilshole sunset:)
        ~Paul  ETC

   The club knocked out another little paddle - from Richmond Beach to Edmonds Washington (and back). The paddle is about one to two leisurely hours one-way. It's nice to start at Richmond Beach in Shoreline and head north - that way you can stop for refreshments halfway when you get to Edmonds. Once you arrive there is a great public beach, dog park, bathrooms, the Edmonds marina (pictured at the end of this post), restaurants, ice cream (mmm ice cream), and more. Watch the tides/wind - it took us almost two hours to get there and only 45 mins to an hour to get back (without almost no wind). The paddle takes you through my favorite photogenic asphalt plant on the water at Point Wells. Check out these pics and our previous post on the area!
   -Paul & John   ETC 

   Rain today is the first weekend rain we've had in about 6 weeks...crazy for the NW! We've been knocking down some longer paddles but I always seem to fall back on an easy 2 hour roundtrip paddle (leisurely pace) - Shilshole marina South-ish to the Discovery Park (West Point) lighthouse.  We paddle this little trek all of the time.

   Once you head out of the protection of the marina breakwater you'll cross the entrance to the Ballard locks (watch out for boat traffic). One piece of boat knowledge that is helpful in situations like this is to know that in the US, entries like this are marked by red and green buoys. Boats entering and heading 'upstream' are considered returning, and will keep the red buoys on their right (red, right, returning and thus, green on their left). That will help you position yourself when you are waiting to cross.

  On the way back in we caught a Stellar Sea Lion snoozing on the dock...until next time!
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   One of the cool things about living in the same place for awhile is that the friends you made when you first arrived, if you keep up with them along the way, usually end up doing some pretty interesting things. There's the friends who just built their own house, the friend who decided to up and join the military in his 30s, the friends who have had kids, and in our case - the friends who moved from the city to a quaint little town and house on the water. We're talking about Poulsbo Washington - a touristy little town on Liberty Bay (historically called Dogfish Bay) - about an hourish trip from downtown Seattle by car (and ferry) (map). Below is a pic from our friends place looking towards town.

   We put in on their dock, across the bay from the marina and downtown Poulsbo.

   Within minutes (about 20), we paddled across the bay and were exploring the marina and right next door to shopping, restaurants, book stores, and coffee...mmmm...coffee.

   After a little boat-shopping we quickly checked out the town - went to a used boat-stuff store and bought a net (to rescue Kali from the water someday), got some coffee and sandwiches, and found some good looking restaurants for future visits. We also discovered (we expected there to be one) a little boat ramp/launch dock for kayak put-ins. It's in town right next to the Marine Science Center.
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

Future trips:
*Take the ferry from downtown to Bainbridge, paddle from there around the island to Poulsbo
*Sail to Poulsbo from Seattle (I'd bet about 2 hours away?)