Gig Harbor Kayak Club
Newsletter
February 2000
Paddle & Event Schedule
Saturday March 4th, Seattle Locks Paddle
Meet @ rest stop on I-5 just
before Hwy 18 @9 am
Leader Davis
Friday March 10th, Gig Harbor Night Paddle
Meet GH Launch @7:30 pm
Leader Berlin
March 18th & 19th
Weekend, Weathers’ Property Camping
Trip
Meet @ Gig Harbor Launch,
Time Noon,
Leader Jim & Thom Davis
April 2nd, Dungeness Spit, see details below.
June 3, Gig Harbor Parade.
Meet at Mik’s Shop with your
wheels,
Leader J. Berlin
Upcoming Overnight Trip to
Weathers’ Property
(rain or shine) We plan to leave Gig Harbor boat launch at
noon on the 18th to catch the current and travel down to just south
of the Narrows Bridge. We will camp, clean up the property, and swap tall tales
with our new OKC friends. Will be leaving about 0900 on Sunday morning to catch
the return flow to Gig Harbor.
Dungeness Paddle
I spoke with Diane Clouser
and she said they would be meeting around 10:30 at Cline Spit, so we should
meet earlier here and carpool/caravan to Sequim. There is a $3.00 fee per car
or family. She plans on a leisurely paddle out to the lighthouse for lunch and
a hike and return to launch around 3pm. There are a lot of seals and waterfowl
to see. She suggested an early dinner at a nearby restaurant if people are
interested. Also, camping is available at the Sequim Bay State Park for those
who might want to come early or stay the night.
Remember
to notify the contact person of any paddles you are planning on
participating in.
Olympic Kayak Club Schedule
2/26 Stretch & Treasure
Islands, Bill McNeal billjan@hctc.com
*3/11 Fox Island, 9:30am
Kathy Trevier trevierk@psns.navy.mil
*3/18-19 First campout at the
Weathers’ property
3/26 Nisqually/Luhr Beach,
Nancy Heyen nancy.heyen@awc.gen.wa.us
*4/2 Dungeness Spit, Diane
Clouser dclouser8@earthlink.net
5/20 Pickering Passage to
Jarrell’s Cove, Nancy Heyen
*joint paddles between our
two clubs. More info to follow via e-mail or phone on Dungeness Paddle or call
Clousers directly or Jenny Berlin. Also, call Jenny Berlin for more info on the
FI paddle if interested.
Baja Potluck
We enjoyed excellent Mexican food and viewed slides from Oskar & Phil’s trip, and Jenny & Nora’s trip to the Baja peninsula, and looked at photos
Welcome New Members:
Don Maurer from Gig Harbor
Michael Crites of Gig Harbor
Dave & Mary Folsom of Gig
Harbor
Chad Kuipers from Gig Harbor
Marty & Sally Olson from
Puyallup
Robert Paulson from Anchorage,
Alaska
Remember to check the
club website for updates to paddles and trips. Website address is: www.harbornet.com/kayakclub .
Check out: www.paddling.net www.seakayaker.com
Christmas Boat Parade
Five of us paddled our decked
out kayaks with the big boats in the lighted boat parade, but we didn’t try to
keep up with them this time. We just paddled up and down the bay and visited
with parade watchers on the dock and from moored boats. They all got a kick out
of us with our lit up boats. Weather was pleasant. Paddling this evening was
Jim Davis, Phil Lynch, Paul & Jenny Berlin, and Rob Richardson
Caroling 1999
It was a perfect afternoon for a paddling. Jim had the song sheets. Liz had the harmonica. Mik promised that he would get some
paddlers out. We were ready… Well,
in typical Gig harbor Kayak Club fashion, singing wasn't our concern only the
paddling mattered. Everybody knows that
Gig harbor Kayak Club members are great paddlers. But when it comes to singing...we had reason for some concern.
The Gig Harbor Kayak singers for 1999 were: Jim, Liz & Marty, Matt & Kathy, Phil
& Jason, Jim, Wayne & Andrew & friend. Yes, we had 11 voices --
a new club record.
It was looking very good.
Our first song was Jingle Bells -- and a song well sung it was. The next song was We Wish You a Merry Christmas
-- and again we were impressive. Liz
& Jim knew this was our year!
Then Jim made a fatal mistake.
"OK team, we're singing great!
See those people of there at the Yacht Club; let's paddle over
there." So off we go -- full of
confidence. We were ready...we were
good. "OK team, let's sing Joy to
the World. Ready, 1 & 2 &
3"...NOTHING!
Embarrassed, Liz quickly
suggests that we paddle on. So for the
next 2 hours we paddled. We sang Jingle
Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas...over and over...over. But all the people who heard the caroling
had smiles on their faces and joy in there hearts.
Olympic Kayak Club
At our last meeting we talked
about doing some joint paddles with the Olympic group and seeing if we could
join them on some south sound trips. With their newest schedule, they have
several paddles our group may be interested in, and have also scheduled to join
us for our annual spring camp out.
New Years Day Paddle 01/01/00
It was a dark and stormy
night for New Years eve but the day after turned out pretty nice. We had
extended an invite to the Boeing Kayak club to join us on our annual New Years
Day paddle of American lake and Two of them did. Rob Robinson and Doug McGlinchey, from the Boeing club, joined
Jim, Thom, Oskar, Mik, Matt and myself.
We were all anxious to find out if our kayaks were going to be Y2K
compliant. When you consider all the
high tech materials and designs now employed in the manufacture of the age old
boats there could be some concerns. Would
they go the wrong way? Roll over and
play dead? Who knows? As it turned out they performed flawlessly.
We headed south to explore
the undeveloped south end of the lake.
This part of the shoreline is all military and pretty much left to
nature. It is always full of various
water fouls and this time of year there are lots of cormorants, grebes, and
coots mixed in with the ducks. We
paddled around the south end of the lake, cruised the marina, cut around the
north end of whatever big island it is and headed back to the launch site. The weather was cool and brisk with a south
wind blowing on occasion. It was a
great way to start off the New Year and new millennium.
Phil Lynch
Seattle Paddle
Seven of us met at the I-5
rest stop by the water park and proceeded on a winding way to the put in just
east of Gasworks Park. We paddled west and checked out the houseboat community
(what a lifestyle!) and the little bay on the backside of the Montlake Cut, and
then the cut itself and on into the Arboretum area. Jim Davis and Eric Bjorn
had paddled this spot before so they knew the ins and outs of the water paths
through the Arboretum. Kim and Eric Bjorn stopped for lunch and were treated to
a gaggle of ducks and geese begging for snacks, and one mallard even hopped
right up on Kim’s boat. Returning back through the cut was a bit choppy because
of several boats’ wakes and the cement walls, but no mishaps, and it was a
pretty pleasant and dry day for early February. Paddlers were Jim & Thom Davis,
Eric & Kim Bjorn, Phil Lynch and a friend from work, and Jenny Berlin.
Membership/Treasury Note:
New members and renewing
members may now make their $20.00
annual membership checks out to “Gig Harbor Kayak Club.” We have a savings account and a post office
box. If your address label is
highlighted in pink it means that your membership is due within the next
quarter. Please mail your check for
$20 to:
Gig Harbor Kayak Club
P.O. Box 2264
Gig Harbor, WA 98335
Regular Club Happenings
Club meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at
7:30 pm at Mik’s shop. All members are
welcome.
Paddles are usually held locally the first Saturday or
Sunday of the month.
Night paddle is Friday evening following the first Sunday of the
month at 7:30pm.
On the third weekend we plan an overnight trip or a
longer, out-of-the-local area paddle.
Gig Harbor Kayak Club
Officers
President: Jim Davis jim.davis@weyerhaeuser.com
Event Coordinators: Phil Lynch philip.m.lynch@boeing.com
& Oskar Hinz Oskar.Hinz@PSS.Boeing.com
Treasurer: Paul Berlin pberlin691@aol.com
Membership: Jenny Berlin
bignewf2@aol.com