The storm had lifted and the skies returned to the undying blue, painted from horizon to zenith. We loved being on Sucia, but were set to meet with our friends Kees and Amy in Eastsound where we would restock our supplies. I also needed to wrap up my summer online course with a full day of grading. But before we left the outer islands, we wanted to explore Patos. We’d heard it was a sweet little island, but the camping was more crowded with boaters than Sucia, so we decided just to explore via kayak with a circumnavigation before we headed into Eastsound for a few days of recuperation and relaxation.
We continued our paddle eastward along the north side of Patos. With it’s indented, rocky shoreline we were able to ride a back eddy and the paddling was a lot easier. As we approached the northeast tip of the island we saw another rip in the distance, but couldn’t tell which way it was flowing. We decided to land at the point for a quick pee break and to scope out the conditions.
The first thing we noticed was the mast of a sailboat sticking out of the water about a hundred feet offshore. Not a good sign when you’re trying to navigate strong currents around a rocky point. We then realized that there was a little channel of water between the rocks where the water flowed swiftly. We watched as several small ducks, harlequins probably, were riding through the current, bobbing along and having a good old time. This channel could be a lot of fun to paddle, but we couldn’t tell if it was be deep enough for our kayaks. Just then, we saw a seal enter the stream. It picked its head up for a quick look and then dove underwater, swimming all the way through. Well, if it was deep enough for a seal, it would be deep enough for the kayaks. We thanked our little pinniped friend for showing us the way (okay, maybe it was an omen.) We got back in the boats and paddled through, shooting between the rocks like we were running a river.
We crossed back to Sucia and had lunch on the point right outside Shallow Bay.
We got back in the kayaks to make our way around the north end of Sucia and immediately realized we would be fighting more rips like the one on Patos. These weren’t as long, but there were a lot of them. We’d carefully paddle into a rip, fight hard against it past a rocky point, duck into the kelp, catch our breath and then do it again. Rip after rip after rip, we inched our way around Lawson Bluff on the northwest corner of Sucia. I kept hoping that we’d find a nice big back eddy like on Patos, but the rounded nature of the headland meant that the current just kept peeling off and was always running against us.
Finally after nearly and hour of fighting the current, we found some reprieve on the north side of Sucia. I’ve already written about the beauty of Sucia, but I was still astounded by the cliffs on its north side. Unlike the undulating sandstone sculptures on the south end of the island, the north end has these rugged, sheer cliffs, topped with Douglas fir and Madrone, plunging straight into the sea. Absolutely magnificent.
The final crossing of the day took us from Sucia to North Beach on Orcas Island. This was the crossing I’d always been warned about, but again, it was pretty easy. The weather was ideal and the currents moderate. There were some some small swirls as we passed Parker Reef, but mostly I was just looking forward to seeing our friends Kees and Amy and getting a burger and beer in Eastsound.
