2008 – Week 11

Tuesday, July 8, 2008:

When I took Daisy for her walk at 8:00am this morning, there was a fog bank hugging the Vancouver Island shore, and the wind was mostly calm. Two hours later, it was blowing hard from the southwest with whitecaps, and the edge of the fog bank was 300 yards offshore. We thought that it was good we were not going on the kayak trip today. All morning we heard foghorns from the freighters traveling north and south in the Haro Strait. The tide was going out, and we saw a few sailboats beating to windward. There was lots of pitching motion as the boats slogged to windward. One of them on port tack disappeared into the fog bank, and we both wondered aloud whether she wouldn’t be safer closer to our shore and out of the shipping lanes than vice versa. About 20 minutes later she popped out of the fog bank. It must have been cold on board with the cold water and air temperatures in the low 60’s, but I guess that this is what they are used to. Every so often we would see wakes from powerboats, including a bright yellow one that we believed was the PILOT boat, traveling north very quickly. We had a very late breakfast and then traveled north to see Roche Harbor at the northwest corner of the island. We stopped at the British Encampment during the Pig War and toured for about a half hour. The best view was a nesting osprey family that was visible with the naked eye, but there was a telescope and we saw more detail, including the young being fed by the parents. Continuing north we stopped at the Westcott Bay Reserve for Art and Nature. This Park was established in 2001 and features sculpture displayed in a 19 acre field.
There are narrow mowed paths between all the pieces and most of them were quite fun. There was a small pond and floating in the pond were 3 model freighters, each about 6’ long. Resting on the deck of one of the freighters was a mother duck and 3 ducklings. There was a metal horse constructed with all sorts of miscellaneous parts such as locks, gears, stable door latches, strap metal strips, etc. We finally made it to Roche Harbor. This is a nice harbor with a big marina full of large yachts. Not many sailboats, but lots of powerboats, many larger than large. In the late 1800’s Roche Harbor was a company town with the sole purpose of manufacturing lime from limestone. McMillan, a lawyer rom Tacoma WA, bought the land in 1884 and was producing lime in 1886. The 800 workers were paid in script and that script was worthless except in the company store. There were more than 20 kilns, each one burning 10 cords of wood every 6 hours. All the trees in the area were cut down to feed the kilns. McMillin also developed a way to manufacture barrels that were used to ship the lime by sailing ship to places as far away as Japan and China. Rather than using individual staves and metal hoops, he used a large knife blade to cut a continuous sheet of wood from a spinning log that had been cut to the proper length. His company was able to make 4,000 barrels per day with this method. McMillin also built a hotel to house business acquaintances and family friends. The hotel was an expansion of one of the Hudson Bay Company buildings. The company and land holdings were sold in 1956 and redevelopment began as a tourist destination. A portion of the original pier where sailing ships docked to load and unload materials still remains, as do several of the kilns, the power plant and the hotel. We had ice cream as a final treat. We were returning to the campground when the phone rang, and it was Diana returning an earlier call. We had to turn around and find a good cell spot, which turned out to be a driveway. Susie was just about finished with the call when a man stopped and asked what we were doing. Turns out he was keeping his eye on the property and was just checking us out. We drove on to the campground, had dinner and then went down to the shore again to see what we could see. Just as we arrived, so did the Orcas. We must have seen 30 of them over the space of an hour and a half. It was amazing. However, there were 2 people in a kayak who had the best view. They were much closer, but most exciting was when a large male Orca left his pod and came over to investigate. The Orca must have thought they were not a hazard because he went up close, rolled over, slapped his tail and waved his flukes. From our vantage point, the distance between the kayak and the whale was less than 50 feet. He played around the kayak for 20 minutes before going south to herd the rest of his pod north. A bald eagle flew overhead, and the sun went down. Not a bad end to the day.



Wednesday, July 9, 2008:

Today was our day for a kayak trip. The morning wind was from the south at 10 knots, the seas were generally flat, except for the wake of numerous ships traveling to and from the Port of Vancouver, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The water temperature was 48 degrees. We left the beach at 11:30am and headed south along the coast, consisting mostly of volcanic rock on our port (left to the non-sailors) side. We had a gentle paddle just a bit short of 2 miles before pulling up on a small pebble beach just north of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. As we were the only 2 paying customers, we had great interaction with the guide, a very laid back fellow who farms organically and reads some pretty advanced books. In the middle of the meal, he stopped talking and pointed to the north where we saw 2 fast moving orcas. It wasn’t but a minute more that another set appeared and it didn’t stop until at least 30 had passed by our location. Unlike the orcas we saw last night, these were in a hurry and acting much differently. Jesse, the guide, indicated they had probably found a school of fish and were on the hunt. Two or three orcas breeched, sending up large splashes when they crashed back into the water. The show went on for about 45 minutes, and we all sat silently marveling at what we were seeing. It is impossible to describe the wildlife we have seen since Sunday night. We launched the kayaks and headed further south to a point a bit south of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse where we turned around and headed north. At the Lime Kiln Lighthouse, a scientist was placing a microphone system in the water to record the orcas as they passed by. We paddled slowly north tight against the coast. We passed by a log stuck on the racks until Jesse asked us if we had seen the seal. Looking back at the log, it was a log with head, eyes and flippers, so it must have been a seal. Further on we saw a seal that turned out to be a log. We saw the nests of bald eagles and osprey. We paddled close to shore, running aground on unseen rocks twice (just like the Exxon Valdez). We returned to the Park at 4:00pm and felt that we had had a marvelous day. We have seen wildlife ever day, but the most exciting has been the orcas. I have been on the water for a long time, but never seen anything approaching these last days. We just don’t have it on the East Coast. Several people staying in the campground had been on other kayak tours today, and everyone was overwhelmed by the sites of the last 24 hours. It is impossible for me to put into words the thrills we have experienced. We returned to the campground and did some cleanup, ran the generator for the 2nd time today and had a snack. The weather report is for the wind to turn to the northwest at 20-30 knots this afternoon, but the only sign of a change is fog on the Vancouver Island (west) side of Haro Strait. We went to a talk about the wildlife on San Juan Island that ended with 2 bald eagles, one with a fish in its talons, the other circling around, flew overhead. Everyone wondered how the lecturer did that. We learned that there are 3 resident orca pods in the Puget Sound area, and the pod we saw last night and today was Pod L with some 40 members.



Thursday, July 10, 2008:

Another beautiful morning, absolutely clear skies with an 8:00am temperature of 58 degrees and very little wind at 9:30. A tug with several tugs in tow was headed south and a small coastal freighter headed north. It is very quiet, with the exception of an occasional car behind and small piston-engine aircraft above. We hung out at the campground and talked with several families before heading out to visit the American Camp during the Pig War. It is on the south end of the island on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is a beautiful view, but it must have been miserable during the winter months. The officer in charge was the same Captain George Pickett who gained some notoriety as a General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The officer in charge of constructing the fortifications was Lt Roberts, fresh out of West Point. He later became head of the Army Corp of Engineers and then wrote Roberts Rules of Order, the “bible” of parliamentary procedure. The beach area, known as South Beach, below the fortifications is covered with logs that must have been driftwood. It is said that at high tide it is a log walk, not a beach walk.
We had lunch, at 3:30pm at a DNR Interpretative Center that was formerly one of the first radio direction finder (RDF) systems in the US. It was used to assist ships coming through the straits. The RDF I remember had an aid to navigation send out a radio signal that the ship would home in on and take a bearing. By using 2 or more different aids, it was possible to determine our location. It turns out in the earlier systems the ship sent out a Morse Code message requesting a location. Three different shore locations homed in on the ship’s signal, determined the location and transmitted it to the ship. A bit more cumbersome, but still a great improvement from dead reckoning. We also saw Etchells #42 sailing out from Friday Harbor into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We found a doggie-daycare place for Daisy tomorrow so we can take a ferry to Lopez Island and ride our bikes. We drove into Friday Harbor to check out parking areas. We think we have found the right one, so we’ll drop Daisy off at 8:00am, drive into Friday Harbor and bike down to the ferry that leaves at 8:45am and gets us to Lopez at 10:20am. Back to the campground. As of 8:00pm, there are no whales in site. Oops, at 8:15pm we saw 3.




Friday, July 11, 2008:

Up at 6:30am for a walk with Daisy and then a scramble to leave the campground before 7:45am to get to the doggie daycare facility at 8:00am. We made it and at 8:10am left for our selected parking spot. We stored all the necessary stuff on the bikes, rode them down to the interisland ferry and waited for the ferry to leave. It was a beautiful day with a light wind, but with a 15-knot ferry, it was a bit cold. We stopped at Orca Island, Shawn Island and then Lopez Island at 10:20am. The only wildlife we saw was a harbor seal and a pair of nesting seagulls with babies. The babies were primarily brown with some black and were nesting in the steel structure for the ferry bumpers. Neither Susie nor I have ever seen a baby gull before. We landed at the north end of Lopez Island and rode our bikes from the dock to the top of the island. It was a bit steep, but we knew about it and so were not discouraged. At the top of the hill, we shed the long pants and lightweight jacket we had needed on the ferry trip. We rode to Lopez Village through woods, open fields, woods, farms, etc until we reached this very small, but only real village on the island. We had coffee and a bagel, and hen went searching for a place to buy a lunch to go. We ended up at Vita’s Wildly Delicious and bought a turkey panini to go. On the counter, I saw rhubarb and custard pie with a whole wheat crust, top and bottom. I bought a piece for Susie, and she didn’t get out the door before she took the first bite. I was a hero. We continued south on the west side of the island, passing by Fisherman Bay. Fisherman Bay is a protected anchorage and about 30 boats were moored there. It had a different feel from other anchorages because there were no large marinas. We continued south for a bit and then turned east on Dill Road north on Center Road, west on Lopez Sound Rd and finally north on Port Stanley Rd. We visited the Spencer Spit State Park on the east shore, hoping that we could follow the shore while approaching Swifts Bay. No such luck. We backtracked to Port Stanley Rd and continued north to Swifts Bay. One of the houses had a great wind mobile with sailboats.
We stopped to look and noticed the owner looking out the window. He came out, and I asked how he found it. He thought he had a card but could not find it. It came from Whidbey Island so I’ll go on the web when we have an internet source. Continuing north we went into Odlin County Park, sat on a driftwood log and ate lunch while looking over the water. Our ride was 18 miles and pure joy. When a car passes, you can tell the locals because they all give the bicyclists a wide berth and wave. The visitors drive on by, looking grim. This place has the feel of the Maine Coast, but it is much better. The weather is clearer, although some people have told us it is unusual to have so many clear days in a row. There are many more islands and water seems to be used more even though the temperature is in the high 40’s. We returned to the ferry for the 19 mile return trip to Fridays Harbor. Just as we left Lopez Island on the return ferry trip, we had some fantastic views of Mt Baker (top elevation 10,778 feet)
and the Cascades and then as we approached Fridays Harbor, two more mountains appeared.
Talking with 2 locals, we think one of them was Glacier Peak (top elevation 10,513 feet) and neither of them knew the other. So much for local knowledge! We were a bit late so we had to scramble to get to the doggie daycare before it closed at 6:00pm. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Back to the campground where we had dinner. Susie brushed Daisy and we had sponge baths. We didn’t see any orcas tonight. There has been a bigger volume of shipping headed into Vancouver BC during the last few days. Tomorrow we head to the Farmer’s Market to select some local vegetables and bread. Organic farming is big here, and we had many opportunities to buy today, but no method to bring them home on the bicycles.



Saturday, July 12, 2008:

Usual morning drill today except that while walking Daisy a bald eagle flew over our heads. It couldn’t have been more than 50 feet above. We left the campground at 9:45am and found a place to park that wasn’t far from the Farmers’ Market. We bought frozen salmon, fresh carrots and a beautiful apple pie to give to the de Garves, friends from NJ who we haven’t seen is some 23 years. We then decided that better than a cup of coffee was a full breakfast at a restaurant that the locals seemed to favor. We then headed back towards the campground but took a small detour to visit the Lavender Garden. The story behind this wonderful garden is that a wealthy gentleman first bought the land to live on and then decided to move. Rather than sell the land and let it be developed, he sought to find an agricultural use. First, the land could not compete with the of agricultural uses on the island, second given the relatively low 20 inches of rainfall a year, the use could not be water intensive and last it must be a use that was financially successful. The result was growing lavender. The garden and growing areas covers about 40 acres and is in color from July through September.
Due to the late spring this year, it was not in full bloom but was pretty good. Across the road, and we’re not sure if it is part of the same complex, there is a pond of about 30 acres with 8 El Toro dinghies that were being used to teach kids to sail. I suspect the water is much warmer and thus a safe place to learn. On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the Lime Kiln Lighthouse again to confirm details of the activity of the whales. At 3:30pm we left the campground for the De Garves house. There are on the southeast shore of San Juan Island, with a piece of land that is bounded on one side by the American Camp and on the other by a large tract owned by a dot-commer whom they have never seen or talked to. They are wonderful gardeners and when you look to the east from their back porch, you see Mt Baker and the Cascades. They were quick to point out that the sky is not always as clear as it was today and Mt Baker isn’t always visible. With the limited rainfall of 20 inches, Rob had developed a water capture system with a capacity of 80,000 gallons that provides irrigation for the entire summer. We learned that all the employees on the interisland ferries live in the San Juan Islands and took great pride in those ships. The ferry gates at Shaw Island were manned, or womanned in this case, by the nuns from a nearby convent. Unfortunately, this little quirk was terminated a few years ago as the nuns aged and could no longer perform the function. We also learned that a few years ago, when the ferries were being repaired, a workman with a chipping hammer put a hole through the hull. Oops! It turned out that these interisland ferries had no bulkheads so it the hull was punctured, they would sink quickly. The US Coast Guard became involved, and there was a scramble to get replacements. Lots of great things you learn from locals but not from the tour books. We stayed for 3 hours, probably much too long since Rob had a bad back, but the time flew and Daisy and their young German Shepherd Dog Tiki had a great time running all over the place, stealing each others toys, etc. Tiki even went into the RV and was ready to settle in. We returned to the campground and ate some of the goodies we bought at the Farmers Market. There were no whales tonight, but a bit of fog was visible of the Vancouver Island side of the Strait.



Sunday, July 13, 2008:

It was a bit warmer last night up where we camp, but down nearer the water it was at least 10 degrees cooler. Spotty winds again and the visibility is terrific (again). I had an idea this morning while walking Daisy, We feel that we have not seen as much as the islands as we would like and maybe we can stop at Orcas Island on the way back to Anacortes and to the Winn ebago shop in Marysville tomorrow. We are planning to go to the Strawberry Festival today and we’ll check in with the Ferry Office to confirm we can do what I want to. We saw 2 orcas this morning, and one of them spy-hopped for us. Spy-hopping is when they stand in the vertical position with about 6-10 feet of its body out of the water and swivel around on the vertical axis. There were so many whale watching boats in the area (most too close) that this may have been a defensive maneuver. We left the campground around noon and headed in to Friday Harbor to have strawberry shortcake at a church fundraiser. It was fun, and we talked to a few people who were either year-around or summer residents. I talked with a man who had owned a wooden Hinkley but now owns a trawler they use to cruise the area. It turns out that the summer season has the least wind and sailing can be very intermittent during July-August (sort of like Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay), but the weather never gets very hot during that period. Susie talked with a lady who was securing easements from landowners to prevent too much development. We left after an hour and went to the ferry office to check out my plan. It works so we went to the grocery store and the Shell station to put in gas at $4.829/gallon. What fun! We went back to the campground and started to get ready for tomorrow. The wind is from the southwest at 20-25 knots, and this has lowered the temperature in the campground. At 6:15pm it is still blowing and the waves are big enough that if there were orcas out there, we couldn’t see them. When taking Daisy for a walk, I looked up and saw 2 mature and 1 immature bald eagles flying above the campground. They were all in close proximity so I think it is safe to assume they are from the same family. Bald eagles do not get their characteristic white heads and tails until they are 3-4 years old. Susie saw an amazing thing tonight when she took Daisy for her last walk of the day. She was walking long the road and a black fox kit popped out of the grass in front of Daisy and her. The kit looked at Daisy and Daisy looked back! The kit had a grey tip on its tail plus a grey spot on its stomach. Susie talked to the naturalist who said that all the fox kits on San Juan Island are colored this way at birth and then turn red or gray as they mature. We have seen several red fox during the week so the only question is “Why black?”.



Monday, July 14, 2008:

We left the San Juan County Park for the last time this morning at 7:30am after having taken a last look for orcas without any success. We went to the ferry and loaded without incident (Susie was driving). We left the ferry at the Orcas Island stop and planned to spend a few hours driving around the island, planning to be back at the ferry landing in time for the 2:10pm trip to Anacordes.
We were on time, but there were so many vehicles ahead that we didn’t get to load. Orcas Island is 56.9 square miles, almost double the size of San Juan, the one we just left, and it has a population of 4,894 people about 65% that of San Juan. The terrain is much more rolling, and the top of Mt Moran is the high point of all the islands at 2,407 feet. Not much compared with where we’ve been. The farms are much larger and the main village, Eastsound, is small and touristy. The coastline consists of some long beaches but there are numerous coves that provide protected anchorages. There are several oyster farms in the bays that have sandy beaches. The island is loaded with artists, authors, potters and maybe a few curmudgeons. I don’t believe that I have mentioned this before, but all the houses have 8’ high fences around the property to protect the gardens, flower and food, from the black-tailed deer and other animals. Susie said it reminder her of Lesotho Africa where everyone fenced their houses to keep out the cattle. It is colder today than yesterday, the result of more wind blowing across the cold water. We are now waiting for the next ferry at 4:20pm to go to Anacordes. A bit of ice cream to help the time along, and suddenly it was 4:20pm and the ferry wasn’t there. It was late and then it took a long time loading because of the number of cars. We made the passage and headed south to a RV Park on a lake. We had the first real showers in more than a week, but the sponge baths had done a pretty good job. Tomorrow we’re off to the Winnebago dealer to get started on the repairs.