You guys, I am still in awe over here. Patrick and I just had the most amazing experience and I wanted to share it. I decided a couple months ago to buy tickets for a bioluminescence kayak tour up at Port Gamble.
[A brief description of bioluminescence: In the most basic sense, bioluminescence is the light emitted by a living organism through a chemical reaction happening in their bodies. Bioluminescence often happens in the ocean and in the water as this is where the most bioluminescent organisms are found. This is a great article that also has some really cool pictures of bioluminescence].
Something to note here: Patrick and I have never kayaked before. And our first experience was going to be at night - and a very dark night - because a new moon is the best time to see Bio, and Port Gamble was a place with very little light pollution. It was really good timing over all because we were just coming off of a pretty intense heat wave, which is great for bio tours in general, plus it was still going to be quite warm that night. We had no idea what to expect, and I was, as per usual, freaking out about it. I tend to do that when I'm walking into unknowns. Plus, I wanted to take my camera in hopes that I could capture some amazing photos [which, sad to say, I did not], and I was freaking out about capsizing and losing my camera. That was actually my biggest worry. The camera actually remained in the dry bag the entire time we were out on the water because steering and maintaining stability on the kayak was hard enough and the last thing I needed to do was fumble with an expensive piece of (not waterproof) equipment.
Instead, we just decided to enjoy the experience, which I really don't do enough of. For me, pictures are great reminders of past experience. I can look at a photo I took and remember all the circumstances surrounding it. I do go back and look at my photos and fondly remember things. Living in the moment for me can be kind of difficult when I'm busy trying to capture it for later.
So anyway, we had four guides, and their 30 second "this is how to paddle a kayak" info was really not enough to go off of. There were roughly 40 people on the tour, and probably only a handful of them have never been on a kayak before, so... yeah. Their kayaks were the double sit on top kind (yay? lol), and we were first in the water. Eep.
We sat in the water as everyone got pushed out into the bay, where we were playing bumper boats like, the whole time while waiting. The boat kept swaying and I was not at all confident that we would stay upright, but it got better with time. We were going to kayak about a mile out, staying close to shore the whole time, and then head back.
To say we were slow was an understatement. Considering neither one of us knew how to paddle, and Patrick was a much stronger paddler, it took all of our concentration just to go straight. And we failed at that. A lot. But in the end it didn't matter because what we saw when we were out there was incredible. I'm going to borrow a picture from their website to show you roughly what we saw.
I can't even adequately describe to you how beautiful it was in person. The boat itself would disrupt the phytoplankton and caused glowing waves lapping against the kayak. In some spots, it was barely visible; just pretty sparkles in the dark water, while in other spots it was bright and intense. It would disappear just as quickly as it showed - you could slap the paddle and it was gone in an instant. But that is what is so unique about choosing a kayak to see bioluminescence. Your presence in the kayak itself is enough to make them emit the light. All you have to do is move through it and enjoy.
We were in bio pretty much the entire time we were out there. It was just so amazing. The stars were so bright, the night so dark, and the glow was mesmerizing.
As we made our way back, we began to get really tired. Paddling is hard work, and neither one of us have any stamina to speak of. Plus, our paddling technique (or lack thereof) was soaking our pants. But we had a great time. Even Patrick, who had started out not very excited about this endeavor, ended up enjoying it immensely. Would I do it again? You bet I would. 110 percent. And you should too. If someone with no experience in a kayak can do it, so can you! Worth every penny.
Shout out to Olympic Outdoor Center for doing these tours. It was fun!
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