Category Archives: Writing

Finding Frost Island

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Deb Garland

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

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Deb Garland

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

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Deb Garland

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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Delightful Decatur Island

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Deb Garland

My first impression of Decatur Island, upon spotting a sprawling farmhouse, cherry trees in full bloom with black-faced sheep grazing beneath them in sunny Sylvan Cove, was pastoral. And inviting! Homes, some of them built by award-winning architects, peek at … Continue reading →

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Tranquil Blakely Island

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Deb Garland

Steep hills, forested with evergreens, surround two pristine lakes, Horseshoe Lake and Spencer Lake, nestled in the middle of this private island. Its residents, many of them wealthy, enjoy the convenience of electricity, a general store, cafe, and post office. They travel … Continue reading →

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What’s on Waldron Island?

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Deb Garland

Waldron Island is one of the outer primitive islands that is a bit “off the grid” and its 70 full-time residents like it that way. Most of the families, some of them fourth generation homesteaders, retrieve their water from private wells … Continue reading →

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Matia Island’s Hermit

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Deb Garland

Anchorage at beautiful Matia Island is enjoyable, yet it depends on favorable weather in Rolfe Cove. In 1792, Spanish explorer, Francisco de Eliza, accurately named the island Matia, meaning “no protection.” Exposed to northwest and west wind, waves can build and … Continue reading →

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Light on Patos Island

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Deb Garland

Zipping through Active Cove, a cozy anchorage, in our neighbor’s 16-foot Safeboat gave me a glimpse of Patos Island. And a desire to return someday soon to one of the most scenic islands in the San Juan Islands. Sandstone walls ring … Continue reading →

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Gift of Sucia Island

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Deb Garland

Smugglers on Sucia Island? Following our first sail to the island in the early 1980s, I read about a man who’d settled on South Finger Island in Echo Bay the prior winter. He believed that he’d found a remote spot to … Continue reading →

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Gem of Stuart Island

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Deb Garland

We squeezed our first sail to the San Juan Islands into Christmas vacation in the middle of my third year of teaching. Weather proved to be windy and wet, so we donned our foul weather gear. And when we arrived, … Continue reading →

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