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Paddlers' perspective: Small boaters get an up-close-and-personal view from urban waterways
By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
So you think you know Seattle.
You've dined at waterfront restaurants, rotated at the Space Needle, taken ferries and harbor cruises, and tuned in to the traffic reports.
You've even marveled at the Emerald City on TV and in print when the sun shines and photographers provide panoramic views from helicopters.
But until you've paddled local waters, you can't really know Seattle -- at least not intimately.
That's the firm conviction of kayakers, canoeists, rafters and other small-boat aficionados. Their willingness to use elbow grease instead of motors has given them an up-close-and-personal sense of the water-framed city unfathomed by most tourists, motorists and even other boaters.
"Seeing Seattle from a kayak or small boat gives you a whole new perspective on this city," said Mary Monfort, executive director of the Washington Water Trails Association.
Paddling can be a peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable way to get away. It is virtually an all-comers activity. Nearly anyone, regardless of age and even despite some disabilities, can paddle a small boat without soaking themselves or their pocketbooks.
Day- or short-trip areas to explore close to Seattle are abundant: Lake Union, Portage Bay, the central waterfront and Elliott Bay, Ballard and the Locks, the Arboretum, Lake Washington and the Eastside's Sammamish and Mercer sloughs.
On a windy day, where you go may depend on which type of spray -- salt or fresh water -- you prefer in your face. On a calm day, you can't lose.
One recent blustery morning, I joined members of the Washington Water Trails Association as they kayaked Lake Union along one of several urban water trails being proposed by the non-profit organization.
Clouds -- some billowy and white, others darkly puffed with rain -- streamed overhead as if on a conveyor belt, opening up a broad patch of blue sky behind the Space Needle. Eager for a water-level view, we steered our kayaks out of our launching site, the Northwest Outdoor Center on Westlake Avenue North.
We immediately headed for the south end of the lake, smack into the south wind, but we were prepared. We had zipped up required life jackets and, aware of how much water can sneak into a kayak in choppy conditions, we had battened down our hatches with nylon spray skirts.
Turning the corner around a yacht rental business, we were struck by the wide-angle view of the downtown skyline, the sun reflecting off glass buildings shiny from recent rain.
The fresh air pumped new life into us. As our kayaks cut through the wind-thrashed waves, water dripping rhythmically at each paddle stroke, our urban-professional stress seemed to wash away.
"Ahhhh," said one member of the group. "Things are looking up."
This could be a motto for kayakers and other small boaters. Not only do you feel rejuvenated after paddling, but you are dwarfed by just about everything around you.
In a kayak on Lake Union, one feels a bit like Alice after swallowing the shrinking pill. Those megamillion-dollar yachts look humongous. Those docks are high. I thought tugboats were smaller. Is that restaurant on stilts or something?
Even the space-cramped houseboats seem big, and that is curiouser and curiouser.
But this is where the intimacy thing comes in.
Being small means you can go where others fear to tread. Where they might get stuck, wedged or grounded, you can explore narrow inlets, shallow waters, and -- respectfully, of course -- paddle right up to people on park benches, houseboats, restaurants or docks and greet them or ask them where the nearest public restroom is.
While the number of kayakers has grown in the Puget Sound area, those in spray skirts are still considered unique -- or odd -- enough that most people, especially other boaters, wave back.
Houseboaters, while not keen on strangers scoping out their property, are nonetheless kindred spirits; many own small craft. Paddling by an "open house" is a great way to check out a houseboat for sale, although real estate agents may snub you unless you tell them your Porsche is in the shop.
Still, being small has its advantages. You can sneak up on people and animals, for example. A turtle sun-bathing on a log didn't mind. Accustomed to sharing the lake with motor boaters, chugging tugboats, roaring seaplanes and honking geese, the turtle seemed grateful for a little peace.
At the protected southeast corner of the lake, the water was smooth and glassy. Paddlers love the relative silence of small boating, so we stopped paddling and drifted while staring contentedly at the turtle.
Vivian MacKay, a trails association member who often paddles from her Ballard home to work on Lake Union, broke the silence. She pointed to a boat ramp that had seen better days. It was weather-aged, slimy, with holes instead of planks, but MacKay thinks it could be turned into an asset with some work and civic cooperation.
"It would make a great launch site," she said, noting that the ramp is adjacent to a small park with picnic tables.
Upgrading the ramp is among the proposals made by the association to improve urban waterway access for small boaters. The group's development plans include creating lower docks designed for small craft, developing more launch sites and small park areas -- particularly at street ends -- and even developing such scarce urban amenities as public toilets.
"One paddler said to me, 'Without a small boat, you can see the water, but you can't touch it,'" MacKay said. "I think that's the whole point of the urban water trails proposals: to make the city more accessible."
We continued eastward, paddling by the U.S. Naval Reserve property, the Center for Wooden Boats, and laid hands on the 170-foot Wawona. The last remaining wooden schooner of its type in Puget Sound, the 100-year-old sailing vessel is being restored.
Keeping urban waterways unpolluted is important to many small boaters, Monfort said, adding that debris such as floating cigarette butts "drives a lot of us nuts."
Along the western shore, you can't find a place to get into or out of your boat. That's true until you come to a small, neatly mowed pocket park called the Yale Street Landing on the southeast corner of the lake. It is one of a limited number of places from which to launch, or stretch your legs.
We kept paddling, past the Challenger, a tugboat-cum-aquatic bed and breakfast, and other charter boats.
We passed the Moss Bay Rowing Club, another place to rent kayaks and canoes. We found another public launch site -- near Kamon restaurant and ZymoGenetics (formerly a steam plant) -- converted to private use in a land swap with the city.
We then rounded the lake's southeast corner and headed north along the eastern shore. Ahhh, a tail wind.
We were chatting so much that we nearly bumped into a piling protruding just inches above the waterline.
As we got ready to go back across the lake, it began to rain. Now we had a crosswind, which can only be fully appreciated by the aerobically inclined. We paddled hard, particularly after I took one last look at the downtown skyline.
"Do you think that seaplane really sees us?" I ask. "Maybe a yellow kayak would have been a better idea."
"Yes, they see us. They're really good about watching out for smaller boaters," said MacKay.
"That's the beauty of the idea of urban water trails. The vision is to make it so everyone can use the lake for different purposes and coexist."
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