Outdoor activities

This week here in western Washington we will be having temperatures in the upper 70s.   It will give us the idea of summer coming up real soon.  We say summer begins on the fourth of July.  Generally the first half of June it rains, and sometimes sunny the second half, however, we don’t count on it.

It is amazing to think that Memorial Day Weekend is only in just over two weeks.  A lot of the college students are out of school already, although the primary schools don’t get out until mid June. In Gig Harbor you will see a lot of motor boats on Memorial Day weekend.  They hook up to each other, and do a lot of socializing along with drinking beer or some other alcohol beverage.   When I was a kid and took a row boat out on that weekend, I felt I could almost walk from one side of the harbor to the other by climbing from one boat to another. You can also see sailboats, and kayaks out as well.

A couple of other sport activities popular are windsurfing, and jet skiing. Since Gig Harbor has limited space they are more common to be done on Henderson Bay.  There is a place called the Purdy Spit which has one of the few beaches on the Olympic Peninsula nearby. During the summer especially Memorial, and Fourth of July you can see a lot of cars parked along the Purdy Spit.  You may see some motor boats and sailboats but primarily you will see the windsurfers and jet skiers.

I have a new friend named Blake who has taken up windsurfing. He is originally from Santa Barbara, California where he says windsurfing is quite popular. He did some down there, however, until this year started windsurfing again.  He has two sails, the larger one used in light winds, and the smaller one used in heavier winds.  Since he is a novice at this point he is windsurfing at the Purdy Spit.  The sport does take a lot of upper body strength to keep you up on the board.  Also, people will windsurf on Commencement Bay in Tacoma, and on the Puget Sound in Seattle, however, the winds are heavier so it is better for the experience windsurfers. They are popular spots as well for jet skiing, and sail boating. The heavier winds means you should take out a medium to large sail boats as well.  A small sailboat has a better chance of sinking as well.

As I have said before there are many different activities that can keep you busy in the outdoors on the Puget Sound.  So this is a really good spot to come out on  your summer vacation.