A Narrows morning
It’s not quite 5:00 am on a tranquil Sunday morning. The tide is still rising and the currents in the Narrows are moving along nicely out there; I’m going to wait another hour for the slack, try to time my crossing to take advantage of that short window of time. Learning to work with the current, rather than against it, is key to paddling in Puget Sound, especially in a place like the Tacoma Narrows.
Actually, I don’t really have to wait for slack. I’m only doing it today because it’s Sunday and I can. If I didn’t have the option, if I had to go when the current was strong, I could. Once you have the current figured out, that part of paddling starts to become a game. You learn to set ferry angles until you go by feel, and you become like a dancer moving with his partner. Current becomes fun.
It is still dark out there. I don’t know when it will happen, but one of these mornings I’ll be out there and it will start to become light. There will be a glow anyway, a sign of life in the eastern sky after another long winter. Maybe tomorrow, or even today. That movement in light and color from black to gray, and then into the varying shades of gray that constitute another March day around here.
It will happen soon.
About Ken Campbell
New Release
A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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