Exiting Deception Pass aboard a 16-foot Safeboat, we skirted Allan Island on a day trip to circumnavigate Fidalgo Island, home of Anacortes. This small town with its several marinas is known as the “gateway” to the San Juan Islands. Allan Island and Burrows Island sit on its western doorstep within sight of Skyline Marina. This is a photo of Cap Sante Marina with Anacortes in the background.
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 sea-savvy visitors away, but close enough to tempt those with enough skill and sense of adventure to meet the challenge of crossing a semi-protected stretch of saltwater and camp overnight on this treasured island. On a calm day, it’s an easy hour ride in an inflatable to the dock in the north cove. Here you can see picturesque Turtleback Mountain towering over Deer Harbor on Orcas Island, your point of departure for Jones Island.
Photo courtesy of Washington State Dept. of Ecology
“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 nautical charts aboard our sailboat. Sure enough, I spotted a small island between Decatur Island and Lopez Island. I wished I’d met her earlier to arrange a visit, but their property was for sale and sold a few months after our chat.
Photo courtesy of Washington Dept. of Ecology
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 my own private island. Of course, for the owners, their dream has turned into reality.
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 outboard, we heard a bell ring at noon from Camp Nor-wester. Throttling back the engine, I steadied the camera to snap a photo of the village of tipis on the western end of Johns 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 often stunned to see Mouflon sheep from Corsica, Fallow deer from Europe, and Sika deer from Asia grazing on its grassy slopes. Due to the rain shadow created by the Olympic Mountains, the island is dry on its southern side and wooded on its northern slopes.
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 skill painting flowers. Our first destination? A Turtleback Mountain farm where we gathered in an orchard of cherry trees, bursting in pink and white blossoms. Daffodils waved in the wind at our feet. If we didn’t have an assignment to sketch the flowers, I think all of us would have chosen to paint the exquisite view of West Sound, its sparkling blue waters dotted with sailboats and other watercraft below us! The next day, we boarded a Deer Harbor charter boat to sample the charm of Yellow Island.
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!
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. Bundle in warm clothing, keeping a sharp lookout for passing ferries and powerboats. They can leave steep waves behind them and it’s prudent to cross their wakes at a 45-degree angle. Sailboats, like the SV Dirigo below, leave a much smaller wake astern.
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 Island. Can you imagine the weight carried by the landing craft, Pintail, while it continues to float and remain seaworthy?
