Tips for Canoeing in Everett

One of the unfortunate program cuts we’ve experienced in Everett this year is the Jetty Island passenger ferry. Many people have lost access to our best beach, and I’m particularly saddened for the kids in our community who won’t get to spend time there this summer. To be honest though, in the past I have felt (and said) that the best days to go to Jetty Island are on sunny weekends just before the ferry’s summer service begins on July 5th. Who likes to avoid the crowds and enjoy a sunny, sandy beach almost entirely to themselves? This guy and his family. Selfishly, I’m looking forward to spending more time at Jetty Island this summer, not despite the ferry being out of commission but precisely because of it. How will I get there? Well, to quote Henry David Thoreau, “Everyone must believe in something. I believe I’ll go canoeing.”

Kite-boarders on Jetty Island // Courtesy of Tyler Rourke

I can’t tell you about paddle boards, kayaking, or any other seafaring method that might be employed in navigating Everett’s maritime environs, but I am familiar with canoeing and it’s great fun. Don’t have a canoe? No problem! You probably know a friend or neighbor who does and, although it goes against the advice of some Canadian bumper stickers, it’s actually ok to paddle someone else’s canoe. It’s also a well-established scientific fact that 99.9% of canoes go unused 99.9% of the time. So get your hands on an otherwise idle and seaworthy canoe and make your way down to the northernmost lane at the 10th Street Boat Launch.

This is where I must remind you about safety and tell you that you ABSOLUTELY MUST ALWAYS WEAR A LIFE JACKET while you’re paddling. By no means are these words a comprehensive safety guide, so please do some homework and make sure you’re aware of, and prepared for, all of the risks inherent in any type of boating.

Back to Jetty Island… Bring a cooler with your favorite snacks and (non-alcoholic, no glass) beverages, beach blankets, sunscreen, a book, and maybe a device for throwing some shade upon yourself. Load it all into the boat and set off. Once you’ve shoved off, if it seems like too great a challenge there’s no shame in turning around and having a lovely picnic on the grass back at the port. Otherwise, with some awareness of the tides and currents, carefully make your way across the channel and haul your vessel above the high tide line. Look for the highest line of seaweed and detritus along the shore, and go higher than that. (Tie it to something even higher, just to be sure.) Then schlep whatever good stuff you brought with you over to the West side of the island where you’ll find a glorious sandy beach, the likes of which one cannot set eyes nor foot upon within hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nautical miles.

Final note and PSA, if you go to Jetty Island please follow the rules. Even better, consider bringing an extra garbage bag and a pair of gloves. By picking up a little trash on Jetty Island you can transform that borrowed canoe from merely a “poor man’s yacht” into a zero-emission garbage scow, leaving our treasured gem across the channel in better shape than when you arrived.

A canoe trip to Jetty Island just might be the best possible day a person can have in Everett. Change my mind.

Tyler Rourke has lived in Everett since '06, and he's probably at least a head taller than you. He works as an engineer in Mukilteo, loves to make stuff, and gets around town almost invariably on a bicycle.