May 16, 2006
Animal Friendly; laceName w:st="on">MassacrelaceName> laceType w:st="on">Bay & SkulllaceType> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> and laceName w:st="on">BlindlaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> off of laceName w:st="on">ShawlaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>.
Position: 48’ 35.17’ N x 122’ 56.01’ W; 48’ 37.64 N x 122’ 58.55’ W
Captain: Arieyeh J. Austin
Time on Water: 7 hours, 12 minutes.
Before I begin to even discuss the days events, I think it would be prudent at this junction to mention the wildlife of the San Juan Islands. We have noticed so much, in such a condensed period of time that we have become remiss at noting the different species of both plant and animal life which frequent these waters in such a large magnitude. Honestly, Barb and I had left our home port in the hopes of seeing perhaps one or two bald eagles, etc. Since these have become daily occurrences, we have left them out of our notes, or have begun to at least. So, I will begin this entry with a few notes on the most frequently sighted creatures, with the preface that we truly do see them almost every single day. For the naturalists out there, I would recommend the islands as a great opportunity to see these creatures very… “up close and personnel”. We’ll start small and work our way up.
On every island we have stopped at, we try to spend a hour or so combing the beach. You can usually find hundreds of different plants and animals there. We have noticed that the region is very thick with aggregating Jelly fish (Eutonina Indicans). They are in every harbor and bay we have been in. They have a transparent umbrella with short tentacles, and are about 1 3/8’ in diameter. We have even seen some clusters of these creatures in the thousands, floating harmlessly on the tides. In a lot of the marinas, you can see Plumose Anemone (Metridium Senile) growing/attached to the docks. They are smooth and white, sometimes brown as well, with fewer then 100 tentacles. They are usually about 2-5 in long. Sophia loves poking them and watching them retract into themselves, although I try in vain to stop her now. Although I hate them, all of the rocks on the beaches are covered with Spiral Tube Worms (Spirorbis sp.), which are small white snail like worms in white shells attached to the rocks. They are only ¼’ in size, but when you see one, there are trillions. As far as mollusks and clams, go, this has to be the center of the universe. When the tide resides, the ebb shows the home of the mudflat snails (Batillaria Curningi) which coat the beaches. They have a small screw like shell which is grey and brown with only 8-9 swirls. You can also see the Pacific Blue Mussel (Mytilus Trossulus) which coats all of the pilings in the marinas. They grow in infinite numbers, so much so that they coat one another, growing right over the shells of the ones attached to the hard until you pull them off in groups of 30 or more. I do not know if they are good to eat, but have never seen anyone try to do so in the marinas. I do think you can get them in stores, and would recommend doing so as the water in most marinas is stagnant at best. At any rate, they are blue or brown with a smooth small shell, about 2-4 inches long. It seems these little guys can attach themselves to almost anything, including dock lines and the bottom of some boats. I’ve already related the tale of the Pacific Oysters we have been eating along the way. I thought they would be harder to find, but are not. I can not see how anyone could ever go hungry here. Just find a bay where no one is at, walk along in the shallow water, and pick up every oyster you see… Shuck, and eat… At any rate, they are technical referred to as Crassostrea Gigas. They have grey or white shells with a dark purple hue. They are ruff edged and a bit hard. Pry them open from the front. If you try anywhere else, it will crack the shell. Believe me when I tell you, if the shell is closed, an oyster is in there! I’m not going to mention barnacles… there everywhere, and the enemy of all boaters, so we will steer clear of these. They are like fenders and bouyes, they just keep popping up.
Enough on the smaller things for now. Here is what I would think will interest most people interested in traveling to the islands. Every island has a tour boat which it advertises will show you the wildlife of the islands and Pacific Northwest. Barb and I always get a kick out of these. We have not spent a single day on the water where we have not seen them. Some of these unfortunate couples are spending $2-300 dollars for a daily cruise, most because they have no alternative. I would gladly take anyone out for a day with us, as long as they were willing to arrange their own transport upon arrival at our destination. It is a one way trip, after all… The American Bald Eagle is not an endangered species – believe me. Every island has one-two of these magnificent creatures swirling over head. It is one of the top predators of the bird world. Some of the pictures we have taken have some with wingspans of over six feet! They are brown at younger ages, something we did not know. At times we have confused them with the Golden Eagles, which we also see a lot of as well. We have seen River Otters on several of the islands, to include Port Ludlow and laceName w:st="on">JameslaceName> laceName w:st="on">IslandlaceName>. The Harbor Porpoise (we were hopping to get lucky enough to see one) joins us on every trip. They are marine mammals which are smaller then Dall’s porpoise’s and a solid brown color. We noticed a lot of them around laceName w:st="on">OrcuslaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> over the past few days. Something I did not expect from them, however, is that they seem very uninterested with swimming along the side of the boat. Actually, they try to avoid it. You can not miss them when they come up for air, fortunately, as they glisten in the light. Harbor Seals, such as the one in laceName w:st="on">FridaylaceName> laceType w:st="on">HarborlaceType>, are absolutely everywhere. They should make a hunting season for these guys! They are up to 6 feet in length, and can weigh up to 200 pounds. Every rock you can see on the water is covered with these guys. Their partners in crime, the Steller Sea Lions, cover every bouy in turn. They are truly magnificent to view in the wild. They have a beautiful golden brown color, and are huge, weighing in at up to 2,000 pounds! The Huron Crane is always on the shore, particularly at low tide. We see them digging from clams and crabs. They are splendid creatures, with very long legs and necks… We mentioned the deer on laceName w:st="on">JoneslaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>, as well as the bats, and of course the famed raccoons on James island. What more is there to see? Orcas – that what… Barb and I plan on watching “Moby Dick,” with Gregory Peck tonight in preparation for our hopeful, “whale hunt” in two days. We will spend several hours on the water in search of a Minke Whale, Killer Orca Whale, or a Gray Whale, all of which are reported to be North of Orcas Island in the fall and in May, on the 18th. If we are lucky, this will have made every pain we have experienced along the way well worth it, and complete any and all expectations we have had for wild life. I know it would thrill Barb to death if she could see one, and so I plan on letting Barb captain that day.
As for today, the tides: the Low Tide/Ebb was at 1248 PM at 2.6 feet negative, with a high tide at 9:34 PM, at 8.8 feet. This meant that the optimal time to depart from Jones Island would have been around 1100 AM during the slack, as the tides flow from the South to the North in the flow, and North to South during the ebb conversely. This always seemed to mess with my mind, as I am used to the opposite in the Puget Sound. The currents around the islands are always messed up because the water is broken up by all of the shoals and reefs, etc. In order to travel with the flow around the South Side of Orcus Island, we decided the slack, or shortly before or after it, was our best bet. For some unknown reason, and against all logic, I wanted to travel to a place called laceName w:st="on">MassacrelaceName> laceType w:st="on">Bay & SkulllaceType> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>, mostly because of its unique history.
As it turns out, in the mid 1800’s a band of marauding Indians from the north, which were reportedly on a slave gathering expedition, destroyed the Lummi villages which were located on this bay. The grim names which have been given to them serve as reminders of those past slaughters, and were simply to good fro me to pass on. Getting to them was another entire matter, however.
Barb and I thought that getting into the laceName w:st="on">WestlaceName> laceType w:st="on">BaylaceType> and more specifically laceName w:st="on">MassacrelaceName> laceType w:st="on">BaylaceType> would be a simple matter from laceName w:st="on">JoneslaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>. We had underestimated the currents again within the islands, and again it would haunt us. We traveled South from laceName w:st="on">JoneslaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> around the West side of the laceName w:st="on">NorthlaceName> laceType w:st="on">PasslaceType> and attempted to enter to the East through Neck Point, traveling through Wasp Passage South of Crane Island. The wind was more then favorable, and so we raised all of the sails shortly after our departure and were traveling at a brisk 7 knots as we reached our intended entry point. We found jagged rocks in every direction we looked, and had to hastily re-plan our route. We ended up going North of Cliff Island. It is not the best way in the guide books, but it is the only one we trusted after looking at the water. The tide currents were strong, and pushed us around quite a bit. We had soon passed Broken Point on a broad reach, and were able to tack into the West Sound and run with the weather all of the way past White Beach Marina to our destination. In the past there had perhaps been some great events which had occurred here, some unfortunate calamity of destruction, but all we could see now was a simple island and bay. There was nothing to indicate that we were at the famed “laceName w:st="on">SkulllaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>” or laceName w:st="on">MassacrelaceName> laceType w:st="on">BaylaceType>. Disappointed, we tucked tale and close reached all of the way back to the South side of laceName w:st="on">OrcaslaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>. We spotted several different clusters of Dolphins along the way, as well as two different eagles which were floating lazily over laceName w:st="on">PolelaceName> laceType w:st="on">PasslaceType> and laceName w:st="on">CranelaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>.
Once we reached site of laceName w:st="on">BlindlaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType>, we made a decision to stop at Orcas Landing at the ferry dock to get some much needed groceries prior to our landing. The weather was perfect, and we were coasting at a clean 7-8 knots at a broad reach in the channel. Nesaru was handling very smoothly, and was heeled clean over. There were waves coming over the bow, and I was gleaming with contentment. Few things can satisfy my hopes and dreams as a good brisk sail. I delayed moving onto the channel until the pains of hunger forced me to repent. We tacked and headed in. There were several different people that met us at the dock and commented on the view. They had been watching us in the channel and seemed to have liked the show. Rather that was for or against our benefit is unknown to me (we are after all only mediocre sailors at best). Their was an old hotel, “The Orcas Hotel”, at the top of the ferry landing which offered views of both Blind Bay and Blind Island, as well as Harney Channel and Shaw Island
After getting several steaks and other such meals we headed immediately over to laceName w:st="on">BlindlaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> laceType w:st="on">State ParklaceType>, off of laceName w:st="on">ShawlaceName> laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> in laceName w:st="on">BlindlaceName> laceType w:st="on">BaylaceType>. The island had several mooring buoys which we tied up to. We dinked into the rocking shore and enjoyed a Grilled Chicken Dinner with Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Corn, and Wine. Sophia spent the time gathering fire wood, and then eating roasted marsh mellows. There were several Canadian Geese which shared the fire with us. As we returned to the boat for the evening, a Huron Crane was fishing for crab off of the East shore. It was nearly perfect. After we put the girls to bed, a fishing boat moored to a buoy adjacent to ours. I told Barb they would be stinking drunk within the hour simply from looking at the condition of their boat. As sure as rain on a cloudy day or a spinnaker ripping on the last leg of a winning race, by 10 PM we could hear them screaming gaily over at least two bottles of rum. I was not sure if they would make it through the night. It seemed becoming, however, in some odd sense of the way. If there ever was someone who deserved to drink rum, a fisherman would seem to fit the cue. They awoke us again around midnight with screams of another boat coming to moor. I checked my anchor light, and could see them bustling around thier deck in an attempt to light there’s. I could not locate the boat they were speaking of, and so drifted back off to sleep. A check the next morning showed no boat, and I chalked their sighting up as a phantom apparition of drunken debauchery. I wish I could have seen it, though…
