Summmer / Fall recap (part 4) - Double Bluff

Double Bluff

September the 25th ushers in true Fall weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest.  This means that the wind will be blowing from the south, and usually is much stronger than summer winds.  10m is average, but 6m-8m conditions are not uncommon.

 

I pick K.C. up and we meet other kiters in the ferry line to head over to Whidbey Island. The plan is to hit up Double Bluff.

 

And DB doesn't disappoint, as there are 10 or so kites up when we arrive.  It felt pretty light onshore so stupidly I pumped the 13m.  It becomes apparent quickly that it is way too windy for a big kite.  So I pump up my 10m.  Needless to say I am litski!

 

I have two things to tell for you from this epic day.

 

The first is that somehow I must not have connected my leash completely to my safety line.  How do I know this?  Well because the first time I wiped out while unhooked and let go of the bar...I get to watch my leash go tight, snap back at me, and my kite flies off to land in the water 50 or more meters from me. 

 

I am a good 300 meters from shore...maybe a bit more.

 

I luckily get a fellow kiter to tow me for a bit hanging off the back of his harness, and with a ton of additional swimming I get within feet of another kiter who has grabbed my lines.  Right as I get 15 feet away or so the kite powers up and yanks out of his hands.  Off it goes again.

 

Eventually after much more swimming I get to shore.  Some high school kids have grabbed my kite and kept it from continuing on, in what would have surely damaged my kite, if not at least stuck it on the roof of a beach house.

 

It takes me a good 20 minutes to untangle my lines and rig up the kite.  A break which I gladly took as I was still out of breath from the long swim in.

 

Lessons #1)  Recheck the leash connection to the safety lines before launching.

 

Once I make this check and recheck, I self launch and head out.  I am between the main riding area and the slick at the other end of Useless Bay.

 

I start riding towards the slick where I can see a few kites belonging to my friends up in the air.  After riding about 200 meters or so, I see black shapes moving in the water off my left hand side.  At first I think that it may be a group of Sea Lions swimming, however upon closer inspection I can clearly see dorsal fins as the backs of the animals arc out of the water.  It is most definitely a pod of porpoises, and they are swimming in a trajectory that should intersect with my current direction.

It is hard to tell how many of them there are as I am not sure how deep they are diving or if they are just staying right at the surface.  My estimates are between 8 and 16 porpoises.

I adjust my speed slightly trying to time it perfectly and riding through the midst of the breaching mammals.

As I get closer to the moment of intersection, I realize I have timed it perfect.  I lean way back, getting myself as close to the water as possible, hoping that if one breaches I will be close enough to touch it. 

Seconds later I am cutting through the middle of the pod.  Behind me two porpoises breach, and with quick reflexes and almost wiping out, I am able to run my hand down the back of a porpoise from right behind the dorsal fin down to mere inches from its tail.

I instantly look around me hoping that there is someone close enough to have seen my magic moment.

I am not that lucky.  Oh well, it was amazing and maybe a moment I wasn't supposed to share.

When I get to shore I ecstatically tell several of my friends to their amazement.  I am sure none of them would have believed me if it wasn't that a fellow kiter remarked that the porpoises had been sighted in Useless Bay several times over the recent weeks.  He also believe they were Dall'ss porpoises.

I mistakenly say at one point to Darcy (wicked good female kiter) that I saw a dolphin, before I corrected myself, and before she corrected me with a "You sure they weren't porpoises?  I am pretty sure there are not dolphins in the Pugest Sound."

Anyways, later I did some research.

I am positive that the porpoises were in fact Harbour porpoises, and not Dall's porpoises.  I can say this with certainty for three reasons. 

• One, they were the smallest looking porpoises I have ever seen. 
• Two, because the dorsal had an arc shape.  (I know this because I got a very up close look)
• three, because there was not any white on the bodies of any of the porpoises in the group.

One last thing to note, is that when I was researching the type of porpoise my encounter was with, I found this picture.

It is a picture taken in July 2011 in the Olympia WA area of the Puget Sound.  And that my friends is a "common dolphin".  So I guess that while I misspoke when telling my story to Darcie, it is certainly not outside of the realm of possibility...which is just another cool thing about being a kiteboarder in the Pacific Northwest!!!