Sailing the San Juans: Cypress and Orcas Islands

The next morning brought rain and drizzle, but that's not unusual for the Pacific Northwest. Melissa had chartered the Gato Verde for today's sailing to Cypress Island and then Orcas Island.

The Gato Verde is a "green" catamaran ("Gato Verde" is Spanish for green cat), which can sail under wind power, or a bio-diesel fed engine, or, for silent cruising, up to two hours on batteries. The captain/owner, Todd Schuster, also uses open source software for his GPS mapping, which endeared him to me even more. Here we are gathered in the stern for a briefing from Todd. We're still at the Bellingham dock.

The rain gradually let up over the morning hours. Here several of us are practicing our deck-walk from the stern to the bow and back.

After the precipitation ended the first adventurous souls relaxed on the net on the bow between the two hulls.

There is a (very small) bathroom in either hull. In the bathroom is a window, with the ocean rushing by a foot or two below. There is an admonition posted on the window, "Do not open this window while the vessel is under way." Yessir!

Our first destination, Cypress Island, is the last largely undeveloped island in the San Juan group. Over 90% of the island is managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources; the population is about 40. The island was named by the explorer George Vancouver, who misidentified its juniper trees as cypress.

We took the opportunity to hike across the northern neck of the island, commuting to and from the beach by zodiac.

From the zodiac we could finally see the complete lines of the Gato Verde.

For those who preferred not to wander through the wet vegetation, that is, not to take the hike, the beach offered its own opportunities.

Almost immediately we encountered our first banana slug. Now I knew we were truly in the Pacific Northwest.

These creatures come in plain green, green with dark spots, green with dark stripes, or sometimes with a brown background, and sometimes even black. It became quite ordinary to see one after the first hour, but still we kept an eye out for them, lest we coat our boots with squished slug.

Cypress Island was certainly green. Even though the San Juan Islands are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and, to a lesser extent, Vancouver Island, and generally get half the annual rainfall of Seattle, the wetness varies widely from island to island, and even from one point to another in the larger islands.

Flowers also loved the weather.

Our halfway point was Duck Lake, which is slowly turning into a marshy wetland as it fills with eroding soil and dead vegetation.

We began to descend down the eastern side of the island towards Eagle Harbor, where the Gato Verde and its zodiac awaited us. This side of the island was less choked with low vegetation; whether it is due a difference in the microclimate or the history of the island I cannot say.

After reboarding the Gato Verde we sailed through Obstruction Pass and started up the East Sound of Orcas Island, which was named for a viceroy of Mexico, not for the marine mammals (orcas, or killer whales). It looks in outline like two islands glued together, or perhaps like an island that had been gouged by the claws of a monster.

View Larger Map

Todd tried valiantly to sail up the sound with the wind -- the Gato Verde can sail in breezes as low as four knots -- but we were moving too slowly for the schedule, and the engine was turned on. We were approaching the docks next to the Rosario Resort & Spa, halfway up the East Sound, where we would say goodbye to Todd and the Green Cat.

The back steps are built into the catamaran.

The story of the Rosario is a familiar one. An industrial baron of the Gilded Age, in this case Robert Moran, who arrived in Seattle in 1875 with only one dime and became a shipbuilding magnate, bought 7,000 acres and built himself a mansion. The industrialist eventually died and the property passed through several hands, its purchase price declining each time, until it opened as the Rosario Resort and Spa in 1960. The expense of maintaining an century-old property is considerable.

We arrived at the end of a Saturday organ concert, and had time for a quick visit in the main building before the next event, a wedding. Here is view of the concert room from the balcony.

The organ keyboard must require dexterity and practice.

Part of the waiting room next to the restaurant.

The mansion is also known for its stained glass; here, a Tiffany chandelier and window.

The nautical theme of this window is appropriate for Robert Moran.

It was quickly time to reboard our bus and check into our accommodations, the Outlook Inn, located in town on the neck of land connecting the eastern and western parts of Orcas Island.

We had a spacious room and a small balcony with a view of the water.

Tomorrow we would explore more of Orcas Island.