Meetings are held the last Tuesday of the month, 7:00 p.m. at the Seattle R.E.I. flagship store.

2010-2011 Meeting Schedule
If you have any ideas for programs please contact
Judy Blake or Linda Roubik

This will be a great training opportunity!! Be sure to put September 28th on your calendar for the SSKC Meeting at REI, one important reason being that this will be the first part of the Forward Stroke Clinic training with Dan Henderson of Cascade Canoe & Kayak Center on Lake Washington.

The second half of the training - on the water - will be on October 10th; there will be several sessions...8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

    10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
    1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
    3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

IMPORTANT - It will be necessary to attend the class session at the meeting on September 28th in order to take the whole class. The cost of training is being subsidized by the Club, and the participant cost will only be $10-12 (to be determined later). Class size is being limited, but if there is enough interest, another on-the-water training session will be arranged. You will need to sign up at the meeting on September 28th...participants will not be able to simply show up at the Renton site.

For more information on Dan Henderson, you can go to www.canoe-kayak.com/about-us/cascades-founder, or www.canoe-kayak.com.

Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours and Mountain to Sound Outfitters will introduce us to the latest paddle sport: Stand Up Paddleboarding. You've seen SUP's along Alki Beach, or maybe at the Round the Rock race around Mercer Island last month. It's a new sport that's here to stay... and it provides a surprising, unique physical workout.

Greg is a longtime sea kayaker, however, and he will also give us a sense of what's the latest in the industry. He started his West Seattle sea kayak rental and guiding business (www.kayakalki.com) 6 years ago, and just 1 year ago also opened his new West Seattle sports shop. Both feature SUPs as well as sea kayaks. Next June 25-26th, he and Sea Kayaker magazine will be sponsoring a new Northwest Paddling Festival in West Seattle to bring a symposium-type event to the shore of Elliott Bay.

From the curious seal poking its head up to watch a passing kayaker to the enormous killer whale breaching the water with startling force and grace, the Northwest’s marine mammals fascinate us. How are they doing these days – and what should kayakers do around them?

Buzz Shaw has the answers to many of our questions, and he’ll share them with the Seattle Sea Kayak Club on Nov. 30th. Besides killer whales (also known as orcas) and seals, he’ll bring us up to date on the state of gray, humpback and Minke whales, as well as porpoises and sea lions, and on how we should behave when near them.

A zoologist by training, Shaw was an educator with the Seattle Aquarium for 28 years. Now retired, he continues to speak on marine issues. A long-time kayaker, he also continues to observe marine mammals in the wild. Come share in his expertise.

On foot and by kayak, this show takes you within yards of the grizzly bears of Katmai National Park in southwest Alaska. See how we can carefully view these magnificent creatures, even sows with one or more adorable cubs, while avoiding creating major risks for ourselves or the bears.

This area allows anything from just day paddling to a long, multiday circuit with only one portage. Backpacking is also possible. Advance planning is important, as the best viewing season is short, and flights, rental kayaks, and prime camping places are limited. Melanie Rowland and Randy Brook will show photos of their two visits to this area and discuss trip planning.

One of our region’s finest outdoor photographers, Gary Luhm, takes us on a Baja kayaking adventure with striking photos and tales from a circumnavigation of unforgettable Isla Carmen.

Lying in Mexico’s Bay of Loreto National Marine Park in the Sea of Cortez, Carmen is a kayaker’s and photographer’s dream. Luhm and his fellow paddlers found themselves in two fascinating worlds: an offshore realm of whales, dolphins, tropical fish, pelicans and a huge whale shark, and an onshore desert world of organ pipe cactus, agave plants, scorpions and starkly beautiful desert scenes – all brought to life through Luhm’s camera.

Luhm also offers a professional’s tips on how all of us can get better photos on a kayak trip. A longtime paddler, he has kayaked much of western North America, from Alaska to Baja, and specializes in photographs of sea kayaking, kayak surfing, birds and mountains.

Join us for a sea kayaking adventure in the Lofoten Islands, off the northwest coast of Norway, presented by Curtis Mobley. In June 2010 Curtis and friends paddled under the midnight sun through the spectacular fjord country of arctic Norway. His presentation is illustrated by photos of this remote part of Norway known for its raw beauty, quaint fishing villages, and friendly locals.

Travis Keay takes us, through digital photos and lively stories, to Southeast Alaska, where he and two friends explored the watery wilderness of Prince of Wales Island by kayak. In nearly two weeks of paddling along remote shores, they kept company with black bears, sea lions, humpback whales, white-sided dolphins, sea otters and 30 species of birds. Yet people provided some of their most memorable images, as they watched Haida tribal members carve new totem poles to replace the ancient ones are decaying in the village of Hydaburg.

Most of us who love to kayak agree that the Northwest is a paddler's paradise, yet at times we overlook some of our region's most fascinating or beautiful paddling destinations.

For our May 31st program, Carole Trout takes us, through striking photos, to an alluring assortment of easy-to-reach kayaking destinations, both freshwater and saltwater, that may have escaped your attention.

From that unique fjord to high mountain lakes and a desert lake bordered by rugged basalt cliffs, you'll see a variety of nearby Northwest gems that will have you wanting to slide your kayak into the water - without having to prepare for a major expedition.

Trout, a long-time SSKC member who has displayed her photographic talents in previous programs, will show us once again some of the reasons we love kayaking in the Northwest.

The Social Event of the season is on Tuesday, June 28. We gather between 5:00 and 6:00 P.M. and the pizza arrives at 6:30 P.M. (Hint: don't be too late or it will be all gone). Come to Magnuson Park on Lake Washington and look for shelter #1. Some of us will be coming early to hold the table.

 Jul-Aug, 2010 - Gone Paddling!!!! See you in September.