Sunday, June 05, 2005

Eagle Shipwreck


P5310028
Originally uploaded by Au_Kalan.
DAY OF THE EAGLES
Seattle to Anacortes, WA
May 29 to June 1, 2005


May 29th, Seattle to Browns Bay. Get off work and bring the boat to the white sand beaches of Golden Gardens. Some days are just uneventful, the wind and current bring me up to Kevin and Diane’s house for another incredible feast, BBQ Alaskan King Salmon, asparagus, killer garlic bread, rice and the NW best Margaritas.

DAY OF THE EAGLES
May 30th, Browns Bay to Camino Island. Some days are just memorable. 6am wake up and I made a quick 7am launch from Brown’s Bay. I saw more Bald Eagles on this day than any other day of my life. It was a still cool morning with just a little fog. As I paddled north along the coastline I saw a lady sitting quietly on a large rock on a small beach sipping coffee. We gave each other a little wave hello, I was glad to meet someone who enjoyed the quiet of the morning also. Just as I was to take my next paddle stroke a Bald Eagle flies out of the trees behind her, swoops down to the water between my boat and the shore and scoops up a fish in its talons. I almost tip over in surprise, and the lady on the shore gives a little applause of thanks for the show.
Further up the coast is an old wood shipwreck. I slide right up to it for a close look, the wood had mostly rotted away, leaving the old metal bolts still sticking out. I was there about 4 minutes till I looked up. Sitting on an old mast, 30 feet above me was another Eagle looking down at me.
• Two Eagles doing the mating aerial dance just off shore
• Eagle flying over the kayak with a fish that was longer than the Eagle’s own tail
• Ravens chasing Eagles down the coast
• Families of two to thee Eagles sitting in the trees by the water
• Eagles just flying along the coast

The end of the day brought me to JoAnn and Tim’s place on Camino Island. Tim is a Master Carver and teacher of Northwest Native Art. After touring his carving shop we had a great dinner of Coconut Curried Shrimp followed by Tim’s own hand dipped chocolate strawberries.

No comments: