Seattle area recommendatio (with kids)

My family will be traveling to Seattle area in August for about a week,
and we're looking for a relatively calm water to paddle around.

I'll be the only one to have taken an introductory kayaking class by
then, so I like to keep it safe and not cause trauma to the kids. No
WW, no open sea, etc.

My kids (7yo, 3yo) have been in tandem & quad kayaks on a calm lake
(other than power boat waves), in addition to a canoe on a calm river.
So far, my kids (especially 7 yo son) like kayaking/canoeing a lot, and
I want to keep it fun without pressure, so we can hopefully turn it
into a family hobby/sport.

We'll be around Auburn, WA for a week, with a couple of nights in
Olympic National Park. I get the sense that Lake Crescent might be too
cold & choppy? Is Lake Union calm enough? What kind of water
temperature are we looking at this time of the year? I'm near Boston,
MA, and it's been very hot and humid so far (i.e., warm water).

Oh, we won't have car racks, so we'll need rentals at the paddling
site. Thank you all in advance. (I've been reading this group for a
few weeks now.)

Lake union should be fine, and you can check out all of the houseboats,
see some working shipyards, maybe even go down to the very southern end
and take a look at the exhibits at the Center for Wooden Boats. I'd
rent from a place called Northwest Outdoor Center - www.nwoc.com.

Lake Crescent is also doable. The waves can get big if the wind is up,
but often it's just a nice warm lake at this time of year. The western
most end has a general store right beside a pretty nice campground - I
believe the general store also rents kayaks (sit on tops), though I
can't say for sure.

Both places have warm water, with Lake Union being warmer then lake
crescent. It's definitely swimmable.

M

On 18 Jul 2005 11:53:49 -0700, fastgreen2000.RemoveThis@yahoo.com [fastgreen2000@yahoo.com] wrote:
Seattle area recommendatio (with kids)
| My family will be traveling to Seattle area in August for about a week,
| and we're looking for a relatively calm water to paddle around.
|
| We'll be around Auburn, WA for a week, with a couple of nights in
| Olympic National Park. I get the sense that Lake Crescent might be too
| cold & choppy? Is Lake Union calm enough? What kind of water
| temperature are we looking at this time of the year? I'm near Boston,
| MA, and it's been very hot and humid so far (i.e., warm water).
|


--
Max Stevens