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San Juan Islands
Not too long ago when someone mentioned island sailing, the video inside my mind would conger up a scene of palm trees, sandy beaches, scantily clad young women, gin clear water and snorkeling among thousands of tropical fish. Today, that mental video has been replaced by rocks, crabs, sea lions, seals, orcas, tides and currents. In 2005, Melinda and I discovered the San Juan Islands. When I first mention the San Juan's, people immediately think I'm talking about some place in the Caribbean. Although discovered by Spanish explorers, the San Juan Islands are located in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
Our first visit to the islands was by ferry rather than by sail and that was at night so the majesty of the islands was not readily apparent. Later on the same vacation trip we saw the islands from the coast of Washington state. The number of Islands changes with the tide, and several never quite break the surface, even at low tide. Pushed up by the glaciers, some of the islands bear rocks that are not indigenous to the area, but from further north on the mainland of Canada, evidence that the ancient glaciers pushed the earth to form the islands.
Our first sail in the Islands was in 2009. The second half of July and the first half of August are the best bet for excellent weather. Melinda does not like the summer in Oklahoma and welcomed the 70's highs and the 50's lows. Our first charter we shared with Mike and Christy Moore, who we met at the lake and were members of the sailing club, and who look forward to returning when they find the right boat.
The charter began at Bellingham, Washington, with Belhaven Yachts. We selected a 36 foot Hunter Dream Catcher which was pretty comfortable and easy to sail. I have always said that if you can sail in Oologah Lake you can sail in the Virgin Islands. Sailing in the San Juans is a little more complicated. Tides can run 10 to 11 feet and currents can be in excess of 5 knots. Our first cruise was a learning experience in many ways!
We relied upon the charter company to help us with the currents and they gave us departure times that were designed to take advantage of the currents. Apparently there was some breakdown in communications, because we later learned we were bucking a very strong current. So strong that the paddle-wheel speed indicator showed we were making 7+ knots, but the SOG on the GPS Plotter indicated we were actually only making 1 knot. We could see the same lighthouse for over 3 hours!
The roughest part of the trip was the very first 4 miles when we left Bellingham. The wind was on our bow and was blowing about 15 knots. This particular stretch of water is open clear to the ocean and waves can build up to 4 or 5 feet even in mild winds. We looked at each other wondering whether our entire trip would be under these conditions. We soon got our answer. Once we had cross the bay and came under the leeward side of Lummi Island the water was smooth and we were able to sail for the first time.
We were not comfortable with the distance and time required to get to our first destination so we motored much too much. Part of the problem was that we had pick a destination that was much further than any of us had ever sailed at one time. Thirty-five miles is much more than you can sail on Oologah Lake unless you're willing to overlap your trip. We motorsailed the entire first day and got to our first stop, Roche Harbor with plenty of time to spare. We have subsequently learned that you came to the islands for the sailing and the destinations will be there whenever you arrive.
Roche Harbor is a resort, not a town. It's located on San Juan Island and is basically the marina with support facilities such as restaurants, ice cream stand and general store. After radioing the marina office to announcing our arrival, we were assigned a slip and given directions. I had made reservations earlier and had a map of the harbor which helped. We were met at the slip by a couple of college kids who helped us tie up. I wish I had known about summer jobs like this. When we arrived, the Columbia River Yacht Club was having a social event. These were power boaters with big, expensive toys. They were a pleasant bunch and we enjoyed walking the dock looking at all the extravagance. I also discovered they were cooking crabs that they had caught. That really got my attention.
We enjoyed dinner ashore at a fine restaurant and enjoyed exploring the area. After being on the boat since 7 am it felt good to stretch our legs. We had a dingy but no outboard, so it served no useful purpose. Retiring to the boat for the evening, we prepared for our second day and our first time to sail to a foreign country.
Next morning we had a quick breakfast on board and shoved off for Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. Again, we motored through the channel careful to avoid the dangers we had been informed of at our briefing in Bellingham before the sail. The biggest danger is the deceptive shoreline. Its shallow where it would appear to be deep and deep where you would expect it to be shallow. There are navigation aids and if you know what you are looking at you won't have any trouble. At last we were through the channel and had open water to Victoria.
This stretch of water is where most Orca sightings take place. Melinda and I had gone whale watching out of Victoria in 05 and saw whales in the area we would be sailing. We had seen dolphins, seals and sea otters the first day and were anticipating seeing some of the 75 resident orcas. Unfortunately that did not happen, but it does keep you on the lookout.
TO BE CONTINUED………………….