Kayaking around Hat Island

I did a 18 mile kayak around Hat Island (map, Hat Island web site) from Everette’s 10th Street Boat Launch.

It should have only been around 14 miles but I got lost in the shallows. I’d seen the satellite image but, it has to be REALLY shallow for a kayak to bottom out. But, I did, repeatedly, even very far off shore.

You definitely want to hit this at high tide (I didn’t) and try to time for slack around Jetty Island as the currents get pretty brutal there. After 16 miles I had to paddle my ass off to barely make headway the last two miles – which means a current of around 3-4 knots.

Kayak put in options at 10th Street Boat Launch aren’t great. It’s either the very busy boat ramps or, to the left of the boat ramps is a very steep, rocky, slippery area – which is where I put in.

There’s a fairly long, fairly exposed crossing to Hat Island but, in 10-15 mph winds and moderate currents it wasn’t too bad.

Hat Island is pretty nice. It’s a bit run down and is completely private (so I didn’t go ashore) but it’s a 10 minute motor boat run from Everette and has pretty affordable property and is probably within evdo range… so, it could be a fun place to live.

Definitely not a novice paddle, at 14 miles + current… but very do-able if you’re comfortable paddling in moderately rough conditions for 4 hours or so.

Here’s a link to the flickr group with more shots.

SE Side of Hat Island – huge, unstable bluffs (with some nervous owners living on top)