Finally About Our Boat Trip

The pictures above are from Sucia Island State Marine Park, our first stop. This is a huge island with many bays for the boats. Many yacht clubs raised money to buy this private island in 1960 and it was given to the state of Washington for a park. Ralph was at the dedication. It is accessible only by private boat. There are docks available in one of the bays, which is where we anchor so getting to shore is much easier. This island was a limestone quarry and so has many left over roads for hiking as well as many trails. The only animals are otter and mice - the mice left the ships that came for the limestone and have multiplied over the years! There are many kinds of birds including bald eagles and a rapidly growing flock of Canadian geese - the eagles cannot keep up! We ended up staying here for a month - it is our favorite place!

Next stop for an overnight was Jones Island, another marine park known for its tame deer that like to raid the campsites. It is a small island, but has gorgeous views of the San Juan Islands. This deer had already gotten several other containers off the picnic table and had opened them. This container proved to be difficult and no amount of hoof pounding seemed to work.




Our final stop was at Garrison Bay on San Juan Island. This is the British camp from the Pig War of 1859. Tension was mounting over a boundary dispute between the US and Britain and ultimately the ownership of San Juan Island. A crisis came when an American settler killed a British pig. British forces grew at this location, while further south on San Juan Island the Americans had their camp. However, the leaders advised that they would not involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig. A token force from each nation occupied the island for the next 12 years until a final treaty was signed and the boundary line was through Haro Strait and San Juan Island became an American possession. This will be long remembered as a military confrontation in which the only casualty was a pig. It is the only place in the US that a British flag is flown.

Two years ago when we were here we met fellow boaters Bonnie and Montee. They were here again this year, so we all hiked up Mt. Young to see the beautiful view of the Canadian Gulf Islands.












From here, we took our dingy over to Roche Harbor which had its start with the lime industry. John McMillin discovered the richest and largest deposit of lime in the northwest here and bought the property and claim in 1884. Starting in 1886, he began to build the town with the Hotel de Haro which still stands today and is operated as a hotel. The town was sold in 1956 to Reuben Tarte and Roche Harbor became a popular resort for boaters and vacationers. We have watched it grow over the years with many new docks, shops and condos. John McMillin built The Mausoleum near the resort ( within walking distance) to leave to posterity a memorial to the dreams and aspirations of the the things his generation believed in. The table represents the family table around which all the family would symbolically gather in the hereafter. There is a chair for all the sons and daughters of John and his wife, Louelle. The chairs are also the crypts for their ashes. The broken column represents the broken column of life and signifies the unfinished state of man's work when the string of life is broken.




Cookie learned all about boating and seemed to enjoy most of it. Here she is in "her" kayak, one of the activities she enjoyed the most. Of course, one of us had to paddle her around the bays so she could see everything.


It was a great, relaxing 7 weeks and for the most part good weather. We love the water and especially enjoy walking and seeing the beautiful scenery. We will leave you with one of the many gorgeous sunsets we enjoyed from our boat.