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.

Sailing the San Juans: Begin in Bellingham

After returning from Boston, we had six days to prepare for our next adventure, three weeks in the state of Washington, starting with a visit to the San Juan Islands with Natural Habitat Adventures. This is the same company we traveled with to the Great Bear rainforest in British Columbia, in 2009, and many of the same people from that trip would be with us; it was another group pulled together by Candice Andrews.

Given the long chain of our route (Columbus to Cleveland to Seattle to Bellingham), we flew out a day early. Being early, we planned to take a taxi to the group's hotel, the Chrysalis Inn, but our NatHab guide for the trip, Melissa Scott, had some time and so met us at the airport. This was an unexpected bonus and set the tone for the trip.

This is an overview of the area near the Chrysalis Inn, which is very close to Fairhaven, a community in the southern part of Bellingham.

View Larger Map
From our room we could see southern end of the South Bay Trail and Boardwalk, which is over the water on the southern end and then travels overland to downtown Bellingham. You can see it in the lower left of the map above.

The boardwalk gave me a good viewpoint to take a picture of the Inn.

Yes, that's an operating railway right in front (but slightly below) the Inn. In the Bellingham area and for a good distance south, we could see that development (homes, roads, railroads) favored a strip near the ocean. Perhaps everything grew up near the ocean originally because that was the easiest method of transportation. And ocean views are now the most desirable. As for the Chrysalis Inn experience, the railroad was not a true nuisance. It wasn't a location where the trains were obliged to blow their horns, so there was just the rumble of the trains going by every once in a while, and earplugs were available for those with sensitive ears.

Joan and I explored the boardwalk north to the Boulevard Park, returned to the Inn for an excellent dinner, and turned in. Our body clocks were still 3 hours ahead of the clocks on the wall.

The next morning we were on our own; our other group members would be trickling in during the day. Joan and I started off by adopting one of Melissa's suggestions, to see Sehome Hill Arboretum. The road rose steeply for several blocks as we walked east from the Inn, and then we went down a pedestrian path to the southern tip of Western Washington University, and arrived at the Arboretum. We immediately plunged into the walking trails.

It was remarkable to experience a wooded getaway tucked in between the university campus and, not so far away, Interstate 5. We even did some bird watching, and I took a few pictures of flowers. Back in Columbus spring was definitely over by late June, but here in the Pacific Northwest the climate was different.

After completing a loop at Sehome Hill, Joan and I walked down to Fairhaven through well-maintained neighborhoods with compact but expensive houses. The city was launched in 1889 in anticipation of a railroad terminus to the Pacific being built here, but a few years later, its investors were bitterly disappointed when the railroad went to Seattle instead. The historic district is well preserved and full of shops -- bookstores, cafés, arts and crafts, and other commercial businesses. Joan and I had some ice cream from Papa's Sweets before embarking on a longer walk on the Interurban Trail, a bike/pedestrian trail along the route of an old interurban railway. This trail includes dirt paths, gravel paths, sidewalks, indeed just about any surface, because the interurban rail had died many years before the trail was constructed, and much development had transpired in the meantime.

We felt like exploring and wanted some exercise to help our body clocks adjust. I did take one good picture, where a retaining wall of interlocking concrete blocks hosted some sun-loving succulent plants.

As we approached the Chrysalis Inn on our return, we saw familiar faces: the rest of our group had made it to Bellingham. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged, and later Melissa gave an overview of what the next several days might bring. Joan and I repacked, because we were carrying luggage for three weeks and for the first week we certainly didn't need everything! One duffel was stored at the Inn and one was taken with us, starting bright and early the next morning.