Paddling a Board Around Shilshole

I woke up one recent Saturday with an urge to paddle a board around on the water. Why? Probably because my wife bought me a board rental and lesson with Washington Surf Academy for Father's Day in cahoots with my brother's wife, who did the same for him. Ever paddled a board around on the water? According to Surf Ballard, where we rented our boards, it's the fastest growing watersport in the world. I'd had an interest in trying it out for some time. My wife knew this, I guess, and set me up for a fun day.

So we ventured forth towards an enjoyable day out. Or maybe a day in. Puget Sound, that is. As it turns out, it's quite fun, and even more relaxing.

From Surf Ballard, we cut straight down to the water and climbed up on our boards in a shallow little bay. Then, because the wind was strong and not going to allow us to head southwest towards the lighthouse at Discovery Park, we curled southeast along the shore and followed the inlet towards the Ballard Locks.

After exploring the north side of the channel, and not finding a sea lion (I think they said "sea lion") that apparently usually hangs out back there behind a sailboat, we crossed the channel to the south side and paddled around there. Crossing the channel was pretty fun as the boat traffic created wakes that we had to ride out. We stopped near Commodore Park, just west of the locks, and waited for the group, which had gotten pretty strung out by this point, to get back together. The day was warming up so I took a quick dip. One of the benefits, I realized, of paddle boarding as opposed to, say, kayaking is that the board doesn't fill up with water so diving off (or tipping over) is no problem. You can just dive in and climb back on the board.

The way back was a leisurely paddle along the south shore out towards the sound, then across the bumpy channel again, and back towards the little bay where we started. The group had again gotten strung out so our instructor let us cruise around the marina a bit. I took the opportunity to take two more dips, one voluntarily. Here's a little tip if you don't want to go swimming. Be careful when looking backwards. Your balance goes a little wonky and you might find yourself doing the "paddle board dance" as you try to regain your footing on a board that's not doing a good job staying stationary.

Not Unimportant Sidenote

We capped off our little adventure with a sandwich at Paseo's for lunch.  The Caribbean Roast (#2, I believe) is so explosive on your tastebuds they should have a warning label on it. I've had it a few times now and it still catches my 'buds off guard.