This was the first real river trip planned from Don Armeni Boat Ramp in West Seattle to Fort Dent in Tukwila, WA near the Easy Rider factory. The day Saturday July 21, 2001 was chosen for a high tide at 7.42 am, which would reduce the outflow current of the Duwamish river to a minimum. This would get me past the cataract beside the Boeing building located on the site of the old Duwamish Theater.

Unfortunately that day there was a very strong southwesterly wind with gusts of 35 mph. This made the upstream going very difficult and by the time I arrived at the cataract the water was moving fast again and I had to get out of the river. The pulley mechanism I had installed on the kayak worked well to pull the fully loaded kayak up the steep embankment. I converted to the bike mode all the time harassed by a dog in an adjacent yard straining on its leash to get at me. Mike and Dale watched patiently then I rode off to meet them at the Easy rider factory. When I got there the place was closed up and Mike and Dale were nowhere to be seen. This failed trip pointed out the importance of the weather aspects of any such trek.