It’s freezing in Florida. There is some kind of deluge in California. Arizona is closed for snow. And here in the Pacific Northwest – well, yes, we’ve had our share of mudslides – but hey – today – a gorgeous calm day fell on a weekend, and we lost no time loading up our boats and heading for Port Angeles Harbor before it had a chance to change its mind. A near perfect day. People and their dogs along shore enjoying the weather, some skipping rocks, some flying kites. Some new rock stacks stood as monuments on the rocky side of Ediz Hook.

Paddling PA Harbor is fun because it’s close to home, has several options for launch sites, there’s always something going on, and the wildlife are rather used to human activity. Today, the first thing we noticed was that the water was flat calm, although dramatic clouds overhead could soon spell otherwise. Second, we noticed lots of debris on the water — all kinds of bits and pieces of driftwood scattered across the bay, blown in by recent storms, cormorants using them as rafts. Third, it took us a moment, but we noticed something conspicuously missing: no freighters or tankers! No ferries. No tugs. Nada. Just open water.

We launched our Pygmy boats and let the saltwater rinse the dust (yikes! how could we let this happen!) off the hulls. The sun was so bright, it cast stars across the water. At times we felt we were paddling amongst clouds.

We found a lot of activity over at the fish pens. Fish were leaping several feet out of the water, but inside their netted cages, were safe from several nearby seals watching with intense interest.

The Pilot boat cast a gentle wake as it smoothly glided past us. The wind started to pick up; late afternoon already and time to get back. A great day to get back out on the water. It’s been too long.