Kitsap Kayaking Resources

From my experience in Virginia, I was always doing the same Google searches and going back to visit the same websites to get data for planning kayaking excursions, so I wrote my Virginia Kayaking Resources post as a quick reference for me and anyone else who is looking for certain data for planning.  Now that I'm living on the Kitsap peninsula in the great state of Washington, I haven't found any pre-existing quick-reference list of links, so I'm going to create one here.

I will periodically come back and update this post with new links as I find more useful websites.

Water TEMP:
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System:  Environmental monitoring buoys at Hoodsport, Twanoh, and Dabob Bay
- NOAA:  Port Townshend

Water LEVEL (Tides or Gage Heights):
- Saltwatertides.com:  Table format only, but for whatever date range you desires
- WSDOT Hood Canal Bridge:  Graphic format for next 24 hours
- National Weather Service:  Gage heights for rivers

Water CURRENT:
- NOAA Tidal Current Tables

Sunrise / Sunset:
- Wunderground Silverdale

Routes / Maps:
- Washington State Park maps.
- WDFW Water Access sites.
* * *  Don't forget your Discover Pass. * * *  As of 7/1/2011, you must have a Discover Pass to park at / use Washington State Parks.  You can purchase either a 1-day pass for $10 or an annual pass for $35.  If you buy one online, then they will email you a temporary pass you can print out and put on your dashboard until your permanent pass comes in the mail. 
- North Kitsap Trails Association string of pearls map
- Kitsap Water Trails map
- Paddle Kitsap route map
- Mason County recreation map (South of Kitsap - down around Belfair and Allyn off Rt. 3)

- Paddling.net under the "Go Paddling" pull-down menu, select "Places to Paddle" and then "Virginia Washington."  They have both an alphabetical list of place names and a GIS map showing verified and unverified water access points.


CLUBS:
- Olympic Kayak Club. 
- Paddle Kitsap is an organized two day event that paddles around the Kitsap Peninsula in August.

GUIDES / OUTFITTERS:
- Pacific Edge Outfitters on Naval Base Kitsap (for military folks).  I have not yet rented any kayaking gear there, but the staff was VERY friendly and helpful when I went to rent snowshoes and snowpants for hiking on Mount Ranier in the winter.  They DO rent kayaks and just about any other outdoor activity gear you could possibly want.
- Navy MWR offers organized paddling trips such as Wednesday evening paddles (5-9 p.m. about once a month) and the Paddle-Pedal-Pack excursion (4 mile paddle, 10 mile bike ride, 2 mile hike).  Search for these under "TRIPS" on their menu.  Searching under "ACTIVITIES" will only return classes.  
- Jackie's Marine & Kayak at the Brownsville Marina. Searched BBB and Yelp, found no results.
- Kayak Brinnon.  This is across Hood Canal over by Dabob Bay.  I hope to do their naturalist-guided paddle in the Dosewallips Estuary sometime.  Searched BBB and Yelp, found no results.
- Olympic Raft and Kayak.  I hope to go on one of their guided paddle trips before we leave the area.

BOOKS:

- Kayaking Puget Sound, the San Juans, and Gulf Islands.
- Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast
- Paddling Washington: 100 Flatwater and Whitewater Routes in Washington State and the Inland Northwest