"People are ready to play at Fort Worden," said Steve Hiegel, owner of Port Townsend Paddlesports, which rents kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and bicycles during the summer from the lawn across the street from the Fort Worden State Park wharf.

With its soft sand beach stretching toward the iconic Point Wilson Lighthouse and Mount Baker appearing to float above the sparkling blue Strait of Juan de Fuca, the expansive vistas of the Fort Worden beach can inspire a thirst for adventure – an urge to not just look at the water, but get in it, get on it and go somewhere.

"I like to get people on the water. On it and in it. And don't be afraid – unless you go around Point Wilson!" Hiegel said.

PT Paddlesports has had several owners in the past 15 years, Hiegel said. He and his wife, Amy Recker, who met while kayaking in California, bought the business in 2014. At first, he was indecisive about turning something he loves into work, Hiegel said, but paddling in the Wooden Boat Festival's rowing race "calmed me down," he said. At the end of the race, Walter Washington, who was owner of PT Paddlesports at the time, approached in another boat. "I saw him. I was totally out of breath, but it just got rid of all the negative energy, and I said, 'Walt, let's do it,' and we shook on it on the water."

PT Paddlesports has "six or seven" employees, Hiegel said. His daughter Jenna, 13, and son Will, 10, also help. This year, employee Zephyr Petrick, a senior at Port Townsend High School, is coordinating the business's marketing for his senior project.

"I'm not the marketing guy. I like to paddle," said Hiegel.

Last year, PT Paddlesports tried having an outpost at the Northwest Maritime Center, situated at Point Hudson. "We tried to do two locations, and due to our lack of marketing, we found that only one location was working well for us," Hiegel said. "We're still leaving that option open."

In winter, Hiegel works two maintenance jobs, for Jefferson County and for the Port Townsend School District. PT Paddlesports is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

"The fun part is meeting people from all over the world," Hiegel said – Egypt, Sierra Leone, all over Asia and the U.S., a lot of Canadians.

"Campers come, they're ready. They want to do an active sport.... They like to do kayaks."

Family reunions at Fort Worden are great for his business – last summer, one family did the "trifecta," renting kayaks, paddleboards and bicycles.

"Everybody brings back a story for me, and I want to hear the story," Hiegel said.

PT Paddlesports also offers guided tours and lessons. A Wednesday paddling and safety course in which people can practice their rescue skills is in the works.

SAFETY FIRST

Hiegel's employees learn safety from Erik Wennstrom of Salish Rescue.

Everyone renting a kayak or paddleboard is told to avoid Point Wilson, where currents are strong. "Everybody gets the safety speech three times."

He tells people to keep lifejackets on, stay close to shore, not to go around Point Wilson, and not to drink alcohol while boating.

"Most people go around Point Hudson and into town." He directs them to landing spots with access to coffee, ice cream and pizza.

"I like to have a destination when I go kayaking," he said.

It takes about 45 minutes to get to Point Hudson, and "90 percent of the time, the current along the shore here is going toward Point Hudson."

Because of that current, it takes longer to get back to Fort Worden; usually about "an hour-plus to come back." Along the Port Townsend waterfront, the current is also usually moving toward Point Hudson.

He and his employees keep an eye on their kayakers from Fort Worden. "If they've gotten around the [Point Hudson] corner, they're doing pretty good," he said. "The only time we've had people go over is right off the [Fort Worden] pier." He offers everyone wetsuits to wear, but few take him up on it. Even in summer, the water temperature is about 54 degrees.

A zippy inflatable boat with a fast engine is on hand for rescuing people, and Hiegel keeps Wennstrom on speed-dial. "If anyone does go in the water, he's the one I'm gonna call. Then I'll call 911, then I'll go in myself," he said. "But we haven't ever had to do that."

Last summer, a family in two double kayaks got into some trouble between Fort Worden and Point Hudson.

"They were out by the red buoy. I could see by the angle of the boat they were not coming by the most direct route." They'd been caught by the wind, and were too far from shore. Hiegel kayaked out and met them, and suggested they paddle into Point Hudson, where his wife picked them up in her van and drove them back to Fort Worden.

PT Paddlesports has about 22 kayaks and seven stand-up paddleboards. Kayaks are by far the most popular choice. "We recommend doubles," he said. The business rents 21-foot, two-person Necky brand sea kayaks. "They're a lot more stable." It also rents 17.5-foot single Necky sea kayaks. It has about 10 beach-cruiser bikes for rent, and might move the bike rentals to a place nearer Fort Worden Commons this summer.

One-person kayaks rent for $35 (two-person for $45) for two hours, $5 for each additional hour. Bike rentals are $20 for a half-day, $35 for a full day.

RACE TO ALASKA

Hiegel has been a competitive surf kayaker for 25 years. In 2015, he took part in the inaugural race's 40-plus-mile qualifying first leg from Port Townsend to Victoria, British Columbia, as Team Eagle, paddling a 17.5-foot P&H Cetus sea kayak.

"It kind of rhymes with Hiegel," he said of his team name.

"About 5 miles off the Dungeness Spit lighthouse, I took a 6-foot wave over the top of my head and I was side-surfing for a few seconds," he said.

The Cetus is a "rocking" kayak, shaped to ride up over waves instead of plunging into them. It was "up, down, up, down, all the way to Victoria, with breaking and occasional 5- to 6-foot breaking waves in the tidal rips."

R2AK racers had mandatory spot-tracker devices that broadcast their position every 10 minutes, so everyone's track line and position could appear on a map on the R2AK website.

Hiegel's spot-tracker was washed overboard in that first dunking, and he didn't notice it until his wife called his cell phone and said, "You're heading too far west."

That wasn't him – it was his spot tracker. It went west for a while, then was carried by the turning tide back toward the San Juan Islands and got caught in a circular weir, which showed up on the online R2AK tracker map as a series of dramatic zigzags. "That's where my tracker went," Hiegel said. "I kept going this a way," he said, pointing to a chart.

Hiegel didn't make it to Victoria; he was stymied by currents off Trial Island, just a few miles away, off the tip of Vancouver Island. After more than seven hours of paddling, he was at Trial Island at about 1 p.m. Tidal currents running east were pushing him away from Victoria. "I should have known, but I couldn't access the chart at that time," he said. "It happened to several other people." He was picked up by a "sag wagon" boat called the Seductress, "a big, 50-foot, gleaming white boat" run by some guys named Peter and Michael, to whom "I'd like to say thank you very much," Hiegel said. "My abdominal muscles had totally given out."

He's also grateful to everyone in Port Townsend who showed up at 5 a.m. to see off the R2AK racers, "to see everybody on the docks waving goodbye. When I'm out there side-surfing in the 6-foot waves, those things mean a lot."

Look for PT Paddlesports at Fort Worden from May until September. For more information, call 379-3608 or visit ptpaddlesports.com.