About Paddling the Salish Sea
My newsletter explores day and overnight paddling trips, on-water insights, and historical highlights from across the Salish Sea, inspired by my newly updated award-winning book “Paddling the Salish Sea: 80 Trips” from Mountaineers Books.
With 175+ named islands in the San Juans, dramatic fjords, quiet beaches, ripping tidal rapids and mountain-lined coastlines, the Salish Sea has endless adventures to explore.
In this newsletter, you’ll also find:
Guidance on how to paddle the Salish Sea
Photography advice for on-water adventures
Route suggestions from my book and beyond
Trip planning strategies, plus outfitting and packing tips
Conservation insights for the Salish Sea
Insights for paddling at night, in wind, in rough water and more.
Routes suitable for all paddle craft from SUPs and kayaks to rowers, outriggers, and more.
Each newsletter also includes my upcoming paddling classes through my paddling school, Salmon Bay Paddle, plus updates on my future book talks. Past presentations have included REI Seattle, Village Books and several kayak and outdoor clubs.
Where is the Salish Sea?
The Salish Sea extends from south Puget Sound to north of Vancouver and Victoria BC outwards to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Learn more here, (link from the SeaDoc Society)
About Rob Casey..
I’ve been kayaking since 2000, later adding whitewater, surf kayaking, and stand-up paddling when it arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 2006.
A photographer since the early ’90s, I document my paddling adventures, local travel, and conservation work, See my images.
I live in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, where I enjoy paddling local waters and exploring (and cleaning) area beaches. I often paddle, surf, and beach comb around Port Angeles, where my family has a beach spot.
With a passion for surfing everything on my sup and surf ski I’m known for riding waves from freighter and tug wakes in Seattle, downwinding in Hood River, surfing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, surfing the standing waves in Deception Pass, and catching stern wakes from small boats.
And exploring calmer back bays, coastal river estuaries and quaint shoreline communities.
Transitioning to a Touring Surf Ski
These days I paddle a Carbonology Cruze touring surf ski — fast, stable, and far lighter than a traditional sea kayak. I updated my book with this boat covering hundreds of miles of Salish Sea shoreline.
Learn more about these types of boats in my newsletters.
Building a Paddling Community
As a pioneer of stand up paddling in Seattle, I helped build a local SUP community in my neighborhood of Ballard, which led to weekly summer races and the beginning of the Ballard Elks Paddling Club which now has over 80 members.
In 2010, I founded Salmon Bay Paddle, a Seattle-based school offering personalized SUP and surf ski instruction.
I’m also the founder and the former director of the Professional Stand up Paddle Association (PSUPA) and have trained dozens of coaches and businesses.
My Other Books
In 2011, authored “Stand Up Paddling: Flat Water to Surf and Rivers” (Mountaineers Books, 2012), the first instructional book on paddle boarding.
In 2012 I updated the 3rd edition of “Kayaking Puget Sound and the San Juans 60 Trips” also for the Mountaineers adding 10 trips.
Dedicated to Conservation for the Salish Sea
Whether paddling or walking beaches, I collect beach debris (trash) and try to recycle or reuse as much as possible. I also like to arrange each find into still-life images which have appeared in publications and was on display at the Burke Museum in Seattle in 2023.
Check out my other SubStack page - Salish Sea Now and Then
This newsletter explores the region’s past and present through photography, revealing the changing landscapes and coastlines of the Pacific Northwest.
Tribal Acknowledgement:
I acknowledge the lands we’re on today are the ancestral and current homelands of Indigenous Nations who have stewarded them since time immemorial. I respect their sovereignty, support their Treaty rights, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. Some of these Indigenous Nations include the Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Lummi, Makah, Nooksack, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Samish, Stillaguamish, Muckleshoot, Duwamish, Skokomish, Swinomish, and Tulalip Tribes.
Do I have to pay?
My page is available as both free and for paid subscribers. Subscribe to paid to help support my research and time building newsletters which take time to research and write.
$5 a month subscribers receive weekly newsletters.
Annual subscribers receive the book discount and access to paid posts.
Founding members receive paid post access, the book discount and a signed complimentary copy of “Paddling the Salish Sea 80 Trips.”
Who Should Subscribe?
All levels of paddlers and rowers from beginning to advanced.
Kayakers, stand up paddle boarders, rowers, prone, outriggers, surf ski and canoeists.
Those seeking to learn more about paddling opportunities in Puget Sound from south of Seattle to Vancouver, Victoria, the San Juans and beyond.
Those who love the Salish Sea and are seeking to learn more about the area.
History buffs of the Salish Sea
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