My planned launch site was from Fisherman Bay at the Weeks Public access beach in Lopez Village. That’s actually within walking distance of my house but for this first trip I decided to have a “support car”, aka, my wife follow down to the beach with all my gear. She took the obligatory cell phone pic. I didn’t see this till I got back to land, and I don’t know what the “proper” amount of freeboard is for a kayak. But I decided I’d try to learn more about my Norse Embla’s loading capabilities for future trips.
The weather for my outbound journey was forecasted to be rather benign, with southerly winds from 5-10 knots pushing me along with the 1 to 1 1/2 knot flood current. Instead, the wind was more northwesterly blowing down San Juan Channel. In addition, the partly cloudy forecast became gray drizzle so condition became a little sporty. So I opted to stop a couple of times so I was relaxed and well fed & hydrated and I stayed out of the main San Juan Channel current where possible.
