![\"Jack-and-Vendovi-MtBaker-Ferdi_Businger-SJPT-1024\"](\"http:\/\/debgarland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Jack-and-Vendovi-MtBaker-Ferdi_Businger-SJPT-1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto credit: Ferdi Businger \u2013 San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n At some point, we learned that he owned Vendovi Island, a 217-acre island located seven miles north of Anacortes and sandwiched between Guemes, Lummi, and Samish Islands near the entrance to Bellingham Bay. He used his private boat, the Lyla M<\/em>\u00a0(named after his wife), to reach the family retreat. One summer, we sailed to Desolation Sound in British Columbia, Canada, for our vacation and anchored in the same cove with the Fluke family enjoying their vacation. Quite the surprise, since it took us five days to reach this remote wilderness.<\/p>\n Photo credit: San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n Day use is permitted May 1st<\/sup> through September 30th<\/sup> from 10 am to 6 pm. \u00a0Visitors are required to use\u00a0the 80-foot dock behind the rock breakwater or land on the beach in the northern cove of the island to protect the underwater eel grass habitat. The two caretakers\u00a0are often willing to give tours of the island’s two developed acres. These include the\u00a0Fluke family home, cemetery, and several outbuildings, one of which houses an old steam engine that used to run a sawmill.\u00a0Groups of 10 or\u00a0more are requested to contact the caretakers in\u00a0advance of a visit.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Photo credit: www.omshanti2.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n Relatively unknown, this new island destination offers pebble beaches, old-growth forests, wildflower meadows, and wetlands. Three miles of easy trails allow a hiker to walk through Douglas firs, big leaf maples, and western red cedars. Sword ferns, salal, salmonberries, and thimbleberries fringe the paths. It’s a great place to take the family.<\/p>\n Photo credit: N. Knoll – San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n In\u00a0the spring and summer months, the southern grasslands bloom with flowering camas, paintbrush, and fawn lilies. No deer are living on the island to eat them.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Photo credit: Ferdi Businger – San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n Many\u00a0sea birds, eagles, raptors including Peregrine falcons and long-eared owls, and a\u00a0colony of nesting pigeon guillemots (photo below) visit or live here.<\/p>\n Photo credit: Ferdi Businger – San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n Native\u00a0Americans used the island as a seasonal camp due to its proximity to the Fraser River Sockeye salmon. Shell middens, piles of seashells, dating back to the 19th<\/sup> century indicate they gathered shellfish. Berries and roots supplemented their diet.<\/p>\n Photo credit: Will Fisher – San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n In\u00a01841, Captain Charles Wilkes arrived from the South Pacific with a captured Fijian chief named Vendovi who he\u2019d apprehended for the deaths of the crew of a U.S. whaling ship,\u00a0Charles Daggett,<\/em> and was transporting to New York for trial. The island is named for this man.<\/p>\n Photo credit: Ferdi Businger – San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring Vendovi Island. It’s there for the visiting.<\/p>\n Thank you for reading!<\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n Deb<\/p>\n Photo credit: San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My husband and I met John Fluke, Sr., the owner of Vendovi Island, in the early 1980s while employed at his high tech engineering firm, John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., in Everett, Washington. I helped the new in-house patent attorney … Continue reading <\/a>The Fluke family purchased Vendovi Island in 1965 and sold it on December 15, 2010 to the San Juan Preservation Trust<\/a> for $6.4 million. It was the third largest island under single private ownership, so it is significant that the land trust acquired the property, protecting it for future generations for the purposes of education, scientific research, and low-impact public access.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n