The weather, winds, tides and currents were perfect on Saturday for the Grand Tour de Maple Bay and Samsun Narrows.  We hugged the coastline and saw so much marine life along the cliffs in the Narrows.  Hundreds of sea urchins of various colours and sizes, as well as sea stars both above and just below the water, beautiful bull kelp waving in the water and several jellyfish.  We also saw several seal pups; the cutest things you’ve ever seen.  We figured they were born just in the last couple of weeks because people that paddled the Narrows last week did not see any pups.   This one came up right beside my boat, and was quite confused until Mamma came and rescued him/her.   We saw several more, some of them nursing on the rocks as we continued our tour.

Lunch spots are always colourful with lots of kayakers!

Crossing the Narrows was fun.  The tide was now flooding and the currents were about 4 kph, which doesn’t sound that much but when you think we paddle at 5-6 kph on average, it’s significant.  So we pointed our boats and navigated the swirling waters and once crossed, let the current carry us.  It was fun and another good lesson on currents.

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We topped the day off with a Post Paddle Pizza Party on our deck with 2 other couples.  It was exciting to not only have non-family bubble members at our house but to be able to spend time with new friends with common interests.  

All together a great day on and off the water!