Tacoma Narrows Evening Paddle

This weekend Jason Goldstein, Theresa and I were invited to join the South Sound Area Kayakers on a night paddle through the Tacoma Narrows. The new moon would provide both the swift ebb current and darkness to enjoy the abundant bio-luminous during the paddle.

The plan was to meet at Titlow Beach for the put and take out at the Tacoma Marina where we'd have shuttle cars waiting for us. Our float plan called for us to be on the water by 10 pm and the SSAK group had us on the water right on the dot.

It didn't take long for the bridges to come into view and it was somewhat intimidating to be paddling under so much steel at night not being able to see what was in the shadows. The original suspension bridge came crashing down during a windstorm on November 7, 1940 after only being open four months. I kept having the vision of some piece of machinery coming loose and sinking the boat. However, that didn't stop be from enjoying the view which was somewhat reminiscent of Christmas with all the strings of lights hanging from the suspension bridge.

We continued northward and as soon as we had the small community of Salmon Beach on our stern, we started to notice the glow appearing with each paddle stroke. By the time we reached the light tower off the point, not only where our paddle strokes glowing, but the wakes off our bows appeared to be a green molted lead.

Rounding the point we where treated to the nights finale, hundreds of hatchlings just under the surface started to bolt, kicking up what appeared to be a meteor storm under our hulls. One by one the paddle strokes fell away and we all drifted in silence with the current just observing the incredible show.

We arrived at our takeout just after midnight having thoroughly enjoyed our paddle. It was a pleasure to paddle with such a skilled group of paddlers. I want to thank Mark and all the paddlers of SSAK for having us along.