23 Jun – 2 Jul: The cornerstone for planning this year’s trip was a week-long cruise with friends Gordon & Catherine in their 34-foot sailboat Gypsy Soul. They moved from southeastern Washington to Sequim on the Olympic peninsula seven years ago. Gordon and Paul were grad students together in Maine in the early 1970s. Catherine, an accomplished and creative quilter, explained the details and symbolism of the quilt “Boys in the Boat” on display in Sequim’s museum (she made the largest and most detailed panel of the group-effort quilt). We highly recommend reading the book by the same name telling the inspiring story of gold medal Olympian and Sequim resident Joe Rantz. While Catherine was working on her design for the quilt, she met with Joe’s daughter Judy.
Catherine couldn’t go on the cruise due to schedule conflicts, so we went with Gordon (Amy filled in admirably as ship’s cook). We cruised across the Juan de Fuca Strait and stayed two nights each in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, Echo Bay on Sucia Island, Reid Harbor on Stuart Island, and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island before returning to Sequim. Winds were too light to sail effectively much of the time, so mostly we motored, sometimes with a sail raised for additional speed, but sunny days and pleasant temperatures were with us the whole time. We explored the town amenities at Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor, including visits to the historical sites of English Camp and American Camp (San Juan Island National Historical Park). Those were military garrisons during the “Pig War,” when San Juan Island was jointly occupied during 1859-1872 by both English and Americans during the border dispute. Tensions escalated when an American farmer shot an English pig. The dispute was eventually arbitrated and resolved with the help of Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm I.
On Sucia Island and Stuart Island, there are some residents but no significant towns. We took advantage of the very pleasant hiking trails on both islands (Sucia is a state park and there is also a small state park on Stuart). On our hike out to the Turn Point lighthouse on Stuart, we passed two “treasure chests” containing locally designed t-shirts, etc., on sale by the honor system with mail-in payment. Amy bought a t-shirt as a souvenir of our time in the San Juans. The snow-covered volcano of Mt. Baker was a prominent landmark visible from several places during our cruise. We didn’t sight any whales or orcas, but we did see several seals and one harbor porpoise.
