We're still moving a few posts from our old site over here...this one was from way back - originally posted on March 6th, 2010. This was right when we got our first kayak and way before we moved aboard Kingsley. Did we know what we were talking about? Barely! It's fun to look back even a couple of years and see how far we've paddled and how much we've learned! ~Paul ETC 3/6/2010
Good Saturday to everyone, This morning Amber had a dentist appointment...her dentist just happens to be on the waterfront, just minutes from a popular Seattle beach on the Puget Sound - Golden Gardens. This also turned out to be a great place to launch the kayak for a couple hours of paddling...which turned into a couple hours of just sitting and watching all of the boats. According to a dude on the beach, every Saturday morning there is a sweet sailboat race going on out in the Sound. Lots of folks come to the beach to sit and watch the sailboats rounding the green buoy, turning back South towards downtown and the Elliot Bay marina (I'm guessing where another other buoy is). Hmmm...does the Yacht Club of Seattle put this on? Here is a link just in case: http://www.seattleyachtclub.org. The best part about the inflatable kayaks we have is that it is so easy to pack them up and throw them into the trunk of a car. I've got my setup down to about 10 minutes - it's really about inflating the thing, putting the four-part oar together, and putting the leftover gear in the backpack. So, off I went, heading out towards the green buoy, snapping photos like crazy.
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Everyone's Travel bids farewell to summer with an evening sunset kayak in Shilshole Bay, Seattle WA, USA. We hope to execute some great Fall/Winter paddles in the coming months but the longer days are definitely behind us...the winds are up for an action packed Fall sailboat racing season...here's a few pics from racing in the backyard.
~Paul ETC Welcome Russians! Here in Seattle we were recently graced with the presence of the 364 foot long tall ship, Pallada, sent from Russia with love (I added the with love part). The ship was only in port for a few days, tours were free, so ETC took an extended lunch break and climbed aboard! Knowing the boat was headed off to Japan that evening, we rushed home and set sail aboard Kingsley to catch her on the way out of the Puget Sound...Apparently, under sail this baby can reach speeds of 18 knots. I leave you with a Russian sailor photo extravaganza!
~Paul, Amber ETC Sailing and Snorkeling off of Mosquito Island - Sir Richard Branson's Mosquito Island...oops.7/28/2011 Well, unless UK's billionaire Sir Richard Branson is a member of Everyone's Travel Club, then I guess we may have trespassed a tad. I will, however, always claim the "Queen's Law", something I read about all of the British Virgin Island beaches being public up to the high tide mark (which isn't that far because they barely have tides anyway, but still) (this whole Queen's Law may or may not even be true, any club readers out there know?). Richard, if you're reading this, we'd love to come and review any of your islands for an ETC review... Anyway, we rented a Hobie Wave from the Leverick Bay Marina, on the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. We drove over the crazy road again, this time took a shortcut towards Nail Bay (a lot of local maps say the road isn't complete yet but it is...and it is a way better way to get from town to the North Sound). The interesting man (a nice way of saying not too friendly) behind the booth wasn't going to rent the boat to us because we had 3 club members, the limit was 2, but he finally agreed (it didn't take that much). We sailed around the Sound, always on lookout for the best beach to break for lunch. We found it on the leeward side of nearby Mosquito Island. We found a little table/stone grill area under the canopy near the beach and had lunch. There was a cool old road that looked like it went all the way around to the other side of the island. After lunch we snorkeled a little bit. As we sailed back we caught a glimpse of a few other islands in the North Sound - Prickly Pear (National Park with only a beach bar) and Necker Island (Sir Richard Branson's private island...$54,000 a night). Back. So it wasn't till after we got back to the cottage from this adventure did I learn that the island that we spent a lot of the day on, Mosquito Island, was purchased in 2007 by Branson (he owns two now), which means it is private (Queen's Law!). The funniest thing is that I read online that he is trying to bring non-native endangered lemurs from Africa to set free on the island, they are probably there now...it's slightly controversial among local naturalists/scientists (as you could imagine). He's also going to build an eco-friendly awesome resort and stuff. I knew the island felt a little funny...billionaire brings endangered non-native animals back from the brink of extinction and puts them on a far away island (don't worry, they won't escape) and then builds a resort on the island for visitors..."hold on to your butts".
~Paul, Ann, Jon ETC |
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