Category Archives: San Juan Islands & Vicinity

Jones Island – A Favorite of Campers

One of the best things about the San Juan Islands are the number of marine state parks that can be visited by marine craft, self-propelled or driven by an inboard/outboard engine. The island is remote enough to keep the less … Continue reading

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Center Island – Oysters Anyone?

“You have a cabin?” I asked our remedial reading assistant in the school district where I taught grades K-5. She replied, “On Center Island in Lopez Sound.” Being the informed sailor I am, I needed to consult one of our … Continue reading

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Bell Island – A Fairy-Tale Paradise

Curiosity is my middle name. A few years ago, Bell Island, an approximately four-acre island in Wasp Passage sprouted a new timber-framed “castle” on its south shore. Its appearance prompted me to imagine what it’d be like to live on … Continue reading

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Johns Island – Home of Camp Nor’wester

We sped across Spieden Channel from Roche Harbor in our inflatable, eager to hike the trail to Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island. Warm sunshine and calm wind beckoned us across the smooth water. Above the roar of the Suzuki … Continue reading

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Spieden Island or Safari Island?

Exotic big game animals and birds in the American San Juan Islands of Washington State? Visitors passing Spieden Island on a Washington State ferry on their way to Sidney, British Columbia, Canada from Anacortes or travelling by private boat are … Continue reading

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Yellow Island – A Sea of Flowers

An artist’s dream! Two friends and I signed up for a watercolor painting workshop held in the spring on Orcas Island. Each morning, our instructor taught us a specific technique before leading us on a fieldtrip to practice our new … Continue reading

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Blind Island – Hiding in Plain Sight

Why would anyone name an island, visible from the sea on all sides, Blind Island? I don’t have an answer. But as a mariner, I always enter Blind Bay with my eyes open!

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Finding Frost Island

Evening stars shone brighter with every stroke of the oars as we circumnavigated the 70-acre island after sunset. Rowing around Frost Island in a 9-foot dinghy in the middle of winter is possible, if the wind and waves are calm. … Continue reading

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Tiny Pearl Island

Celebrating my husband’s birthday at Roche Harbor last week gave me a perfect opportunity to capture a few photos of a cement truck being ferried across one of the most popular summer anchorages in the San Juan Islands to Pearl … Continue reading

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H is for Henry Island

An island shaped like an H, settled by an early pioneer, Henry Perkins, and named Henry Island in 1841 by explorer, Charles Wilkes, for his late nephew, Henry Wilkes, killed in a skirmish in Fiji? Believe it! (Photo courtesy of the … Continue reading

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