I'm totally interested to see what you have planned.  Made some contacts about sea yakking too.  I'm super excited about this :)  I am a weekend warrior now JP, but can finagle my schedule to get a Friday/Mon off too. 

start mountain biking.

Speaking of ocean kayaking, do any of you guys or gals have experience with some ballistic nylon skin on frame kayaks? I've been looking to make one in order to get a cheap and high quality touring boat that I could use on lakes, some rivers, and the ocean.

I've been really impressed with the weight, strength, beauty, ability to be repaired while out-and-about or on an expedition, and of course the satisfaction and experience of making your own boat.

I've paddled some janky DIY boats and I'm curious if anyone has paddled a DIY touring kayak that was a really nice boat to paddle, and if so what made it a "good" boat. I'm leaning towards a Greenland style kayak.

And JP, did you end up going to the traditional kayak even a year or two ago?

And Megan- Im down to ply some nautical miles with you for sure.

So, I'm planning at least three events so PPeeps can choose which one(s) they can make...

April 16th or 17th I want to run the Sky, but these river plans are flexible, subject to change, or I may flake out depending on whats going on.

But I'm thinking of having a get together the evening of 4/16 on the North End of Seattle somewhere expansive enough to accomadate a decent sized group. Not sure where yet.

Then, on my way back thru on the evening of 4/28 I plan to do a similar gathering send off sort of thing. Probably some bar somewhere near the north end since its close to the sky and where several members of the HWY 2 Crew live.

I will continue to announce my paddling plans so ppeeps can join as they can between now and may 1.

Currently I am in Der Town, pretty busy today n tomorrow but things should smooth out and free me up to paddle more. I never drive past a river with water in it without paddling... If I get called to Run Payload down the Sky, then Ill be there this weekend so who knows...

I will be using this thread and river specific threads to keep yall in the loop.

Might be trying to do something on the 28th still when I am back in The Pugetopolis. Probably just hit a bar on the north end.

Lots of peeps have expressed interest in coming out to the islands to do a little saltyakkin w/ me this summer, so I am confident at least one person will probably follow through. There is an open invitation for anyone who wants to come out there.

I know the San Juans pretty well, having circumnavigated them twice. I got the charts, tide tables, current charts etc. and decent experience with all the basic mariner skillsets as they pertain to kayaking. For anyone interested, here are a few basic guidlines if you wanna come on out and paddle:

1) please bring a Sea Kayak at least 15' long so our Haul Speeds are compatible. Don't bring your whitewater boat, that won't work. I won't even boat with someone in a whitewater boat out on the salt. That's like trying to cut a steak with a butter knife, or like trying to rip an 8' sheet of plywood with a japaneze pull saw. Bring the right tool for the job.

2) Anyone who is confident on class III and who HAS A RELIABLE ROLL is encouraged to come on out.Other than that, we can be as ambitious or conservative as you want to be. PM me if you're serious or when you think you are able to make it out, and we can take it from there.

3)Ideally PPeeps who come out will be willing to crank out some paddle strokes for a few hours at a time. I like sea kayaking as a mode of travel. If PPeeps are willing to paddle a bit, we can go somewhere cool like any of the outter islands (Clark, Matia, Sucia, and my favorite, Patos) and camp overnight. Pretty rad. Sometimes the currents are wierd out there though, and I got a long way to go before I figure them out. Not so much a challenge for whitewater boaters, but it could be a slog sometimes if the current and wind conspire against you. So there can be an endurance element requiring one to be a good sport.

Another nearby attraction close to where I'll be on Orcas is a Standing Wave in Peavine Pass. I hope to encounter similar conditions again, but once I surfed this wave for a surprisingly long time. It had "Eddy Service" too, but we are talking some larger scale distances. A fairly long eddy climb (easy, just vast distance) followed by a proportionately large scale ferry to get back out on the wave. Not as fun to surf as Rodeo Hole at 12k, but then again ain't no one gonna get a piece of that action this year. Its still a cool novelty to surf a standing wave in the ocean.

Colleville Island has a legit Class III rapid that would be right at home on the Sky at 5,000-8,000 Cfs... It was a grunt but when I was there I was able to attain up the other side of the island and run this rapid again. It got weird though when a boat wake amplified the standing waves in this rapid. I have never seen such Razor Sharp waves on a river. It was strange and kinda scary. I was in the middle of this rapid at the time and was fearful of the unknown. Worked out of course, but it schooled me. I dig it.

Anyway, yall are all welcome just hit me up. I will say that I know from prior experience that there are Gains to be added to the Whitewater game such as these:

-Forward Stroke Meditation. Makes you a better whitewater paddler, period.
-Better boat/stroke control in bigwater, surgy stuff (in other words, some aggressive sea kayaking will enhance your sensitivity in surgy rapids like Bdrop @ 8,000-16,000 cfs or more.
-Conditioning. I expect to be paddling Uber Strong this fall, ready to rip into those post Halloween rains...

Can you provide a cliffnotes version of this post?  lol...

Thanks JP, i always enjoy your dissertations!