Spring arrived early on Vancouver Island and the Islands of Georgia Strait, with an abundance of blooms - all early - a few sprinkles of rain, and temperatures soaring to unseasonable heights up to 27 degrees centigrade.
A good time to get back from the Deep South, namely Buenos Aires, which was putting on somewhat dreary fall colours.
One puts one's house (and garden) in order and heads off again - at least for a short stint to our neighbours, the United States, and their charming San Juan Islands - neighbour to our Canadian Gulf Islands.
It's not much of a journey to speak off, as the Washington State Ferry covers the distance from Vancouver Island (Sidney) to Friday Harbour on THE San Juan Island (USA) in just over an hour of scenic sailing. It also is very affordable, a round trip costs a mere US$12 for someone above a certain age.
I am fortunate to have friends 'afloat', who invited me to meander around with them on their 37 foot Crealock sailboat, cruising, docking, anchoring, hiking and just plain enjoying a few of these attractive and unspoilt San Juan Islands.
The San Juan Islands are located in 'the crook of the elbow' between the juncture of Juan de Fuca Strait and Georgia Strait. Tides reach impressive heights when swirling around 'the corner' and bring strong currents which make a sailor cautious when timing passages on a 'slow boat'. Fierce winds can whip quiet anchorages from being a safe harbour and turn them into a dangerous trap....but: they are very very pretty islands.
The 'International Ferry' arrives at Sidney, where a traveller clears US immigration before boarding. One wishes the friendly, easy, efficient way of 'processing aliens' would spread to US Airports, as the ferry terminal experience was nothing less than pleasant.
A large pod of Orca whales provided the highlight of the passage. The animals were hunting for prawns alongside a small fleet of fishing boats, closely followed by the usual 'whale watch vessels'.
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| US Customs Clearance in Friday Harbour: Anything to Declare??? |
Friday Harbour. the Hub of Summer Boating Season in the San Juan Islands - meet up point with my friends for a mini cruise on lovely SV Juniata.
Summer sees this little port filled to the last slip with pleasure boats of any size, which enter and leave the port like a continuous armada, making it somewhat challenging for inter island ferries to thread their way through a mess of slow moving sail boats and a ever changing criss cross of power boats and their wakes. Add to that a flock of float-planes trying to find a 'landing strip' amongst the ever moving floating obstacles, one may imagine the general chaos of Summer in Friday Harbour. Visitor sit enthralled in a line up of pubs and restaurants along the waterfront, watching non stop activity.
First anchorage: Spencer Spit on Lopez Island. An evening of R&R, catching up on the latest news, and generally taking in the quiet surroundings....
Morning - Leaving Lopez Island for Blind Bay on Shaw Island...
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| Summery scene on Shaw Island, Blind Bay, our second anchorage |
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| We are in the USA....property owners own guns and are allowed to use them. If your little pooch delights in chasing chickens, goats, of sheep you may find him rather limp with a bullet hole in his furry head. But you are still allowed to light a camp fire - carefully. |
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| Wild Roses - papery thin delicate blossoms. |
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| Lilies in full bloom... |
Shaw Island rush hour....
Not very big, and all park, Jones Island...we docked in North Bay and headed on foot 'for the hills'. The 'around the Island route' is no more than two hours of leisurely hiking. But, steep cliff sides and hilly terrain do a number on legs not used to the ups and downs of nature but to the plains of dance halls...
The Island is populated by a healthy herd of small deer, who do not appear at all put out by human intruders crossing their path...
Typical Island Beach on all the Gulf Islands: Logs, logs and more logs...washed ashore during winter storms...
Island Flora...slow down and smell the (poisonous) lilies....
Winter storms fell trees, others survive - only broken off branches give witness to the fierce winds whipping through the islands like 'whetted knifes'...
Beauty in miniature...
Bark of the iconic Arbutus Tree (or Madrona Tree) depending on which country describes it...
Tiny blossoms hidden among the grassy slopes
...and another nosy neighbour checking out the visitors...
Succulents growing in tiny cracks of rock and forest debris...
Thursday at Sucia Island...despite its Spanish name, meaning 'dirty', very clean, a lovely park setting, and a good spot to tie up to a mooring buoy - as long as the wind blows from the opposite direction.
Sucia Island (next port on the agenda) lays on the north western outskirts of the San Juan Islands and is open to the winds of the Strait of Georgia. However, as coves are situated at either end of the island, listening to the weather forecast and choosing the appropriate 'exposure' may avoid unpleasant surprises.
Sucia Island offers pebbly beaches, sandy beaches, grassy beaches, gravelly beaches...each cove has its unique characteristic and charm. No one lives here, apart from a park ranger, who collects park fees, maintains facilities, and supplies the island biffies with the necessities.
Lovely vistas across rose hedges and driftwood logs towards neighbouring islands.
Immigrants from Canada...the Great Canada Goose with a flock of chicks on a beach of Sucia Island...to many of these birds, and Sucia Island will be very 'sucia'.
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| The kids taking in the sun.. |
Helicopter Parent watching out - not for humans - but for undesirable fellow immigrants of the goose kind.
Siblings wearing their baby fluff....for a couple of weeks longer
Barefoot beach combers beware...this round pebbles are moved hither and thither on the beach by a lapping surf, creating a soothing 'Rolling Stones' sound, which has no equal anywhere...not even in the world of Pop music.
Surviving the wild in slow motion - a banana slug makes her way across a path
Washed out galleries along the shores of Sucia Island create a kayaker's pleasure ground.
California vulture in waiting....don't lay down and play dead!
Fossil Bay on Sucia Island, showing one of the two moorage docks in the cove. This dock served as 'happy hour' location during the late afternoon hours for the few boaters (and their dogs) who chose this cove to overnight.
And finally: yes, there is a boat involved. Here she is, lovely SV Juniata, Crealock 37, at a mooring buoy in Fossil Bay on Sucia Island. My home for the duration....
The winds are fair - or absent - which is even better, when 'parked' on Sucia Island.
Last Evening on Sucia Island before heading back to Friday Harbour
Riding the currents and going 7.8 knots...a reciprocal course would reduce the boat speed over the ground to about 3.5 to 4 knots. Good strategy to wait for the tide to turn in one's favour....
Spring time in Friday Harbour....nobody but us chickens on Dock H, the visitor's dock...
Friday Harbour and the Testosterone Boats...one man showing off his 730 horses on the stern of his toy. Ben Hur of the Seas....
A faint outline of Mount Baker, our resident volcano, adorns the horizon beyond Friday Harbour.
Good Bye, Friday Harbour and its garden of sea anemones, Juniata and Friends...homeward bound again.
Clearing Canadian Customs and Immigration: Anything to declare??
Home again, and the peonies have opened their buds, the rabbits are multiplying, and the deer are looking heavily pregnant...
Just beyond the horizon, shrouded in evening haze, a glimpse from my balcony of San Juan Island silhouettes...terra firma again.
One gets by with a little help from one's friends....thank you Juniata!
