Living on Orcas Island
sunrise ferry  
Summer mornings come early in the Pacific
Northwest, as early as 4:30 am. Shortly after dawn, the first ferry leaves the dock at Anacortes for the Orcas Island. It winds its way through a maze of islands shot like stars in the clean waters of Puget Sound. The sun breaks over Mount Baker, you can see a seal and her pup hauled up on a small rocky outcropping, an eagle calls.

The air is clean and salty, and it's quiet. There is a feeling of mystery and solitude and magic. You relax. You're headed for Orcas Island. If you are one of the lucky ones, you are headed home.  
cascades

orcas hotel   You know you're at Orcas Island when you see the red roof of the old Orcas Hotel. Roses climb everywhere, and the hollyhocks and foxgloves grow 9 feet tall. It takes less than a minute to leave the hamlet of Orcas, and you find yourself winding along Horseshoe Highway toward Eastsound. On your left is an old orchard, and a sweet meadow that leads down to the water, in the distance you can see the ferry.

Soon you'll be in Crow Valley, the most pastoral part of Orcas Island, where farmers are raising sheep, horses, hay, cattle and you'll find organic vegetables and fresh flowers. In the distance you can see Mount Constitution, rising 2400 feet, the highest mountain in the Islands. The mountainsides are clad in firs, hemlock, pine, salal and madronas. In Moran State Park, which covers twenty percent of Orcas Island, there are old growth firs, mountain lakes full of trout, miles and miles of trails for hiking.   holly hocks

meadows   The views from the mountains on Orcas are extraordinary offering vistas from Mt. Baker to Mt Rainier, the Olympics and Cascade Ranges, the Canadian Islands, and lights of Vancouver!

Twelve minutes from the ferry landing is the quaint village of Eastsound. There you will find picket fences, clapboard houses, the old Church, the beach, and of course, flowers are everywhere. Some years the roses bloom in December! If it's Saturday, visit the Farmer's Market for fresh, organic berries, home-baked pies, and hand knitted hats. Stop at a local cafe for a latte and warm chocolate chip cookie. Everything you need for Island life can be found in Eastsound. We have a modern well-stocked grocery store, pharmacy, medical center, alternative healing arts center, banks, fabulous restaurants, and delightful shops. While you are in town, stop in an see us, we are on North Beach Road past Teaser's and Wildlife Cycles, our office faces the street - OrcasDreams - Island Properties.   Eastsound


madrona point


kayacks   It's still early, and you have a day of adventures ahead of you: kayaking the Wasp Islands, sailing in West Sound, whale watching, hiking, biking up Mount Constitution, swimming at Cascade Lake. In the evening you plan a picnic at Obstruction Pass, and watch the ferries glide by in the distance, you take in a musical at Orcas Center. You notice that everyone smiles and looks you in the eye, people are helpful, time moves more slowly. It's rural and remote, but luxurious. It's quiet, but never dull. The locals love gardening and traveling and politics. There are lots of artists, writers and musicians as well as retirees, tele-commuters, farmers and carpenters. The food is fresh, local and made with care. Orcas Island is very special. Come see for yourself.


About 4000 people call Orcas Island home year-round. Its an interesting, well educated group of retirees, young families, tele-commuters, artists, carpenters, teachers and writers. They generally share a love of nature, an appreciation of the arts, and a desire for a community. It's a place where people help one another, a community where you might chat with a half a dozen friends on the way to the post office.

gOrcas is a wonderful  place to live.  People often say they feel safe and protected here.  It has a gentle climate and gentle community in an extraordinary beautiful environment. Many come here to get away from an increasingly confusing world, to find a simpler, and yet sophisticated place to live.  It's a special place, because the people who live here, choose to be here!

At first glance some might wonder if there is much to do here, other than hike, kayak, bike or sail. It can look kind of sleepy. It can be that way if you wish, or you could join a group for writers, artists, gardeners, potters or dancers. You could volunteer at our library, hospice, fire department or lead a Girl Scout Troop. Sundays there are services at 6 churches, Friday nights there are sailing races at the West Sound Yacht Club, and summer evenings there is Yoga in the Park. World class performers come to Orcas Center, and with our local talent provide us with a fantastic variety of entertainment year round. You can also Contra Dance at the Oddfellows, join a Marimba Band or sing with the Choral Society.   In the summer there are often several choices of entertainment each evening. 

We are in the rain shadow of the Olympics and Vancouver. So not only are we centrally located for some spectacular trips, we get much better weather than most of the Northwest. The Olympic rain forest gets 200 inches of rain, Seattle and NYC get 42 inches, and we get 22 to 26; just enough to keep our island lovely and green. Summer days are warm, in the 70’s, sunny with brilliant blue skies, and light breezes. Evenings are cool, and you'll need a flannel shirt. The weather is perfect for hiking, swimming and sailing. Nothing is better than a summer day on Orcas!

g

 

Monday, October 19, 2009

Down at the Deer Harbor Dock
















Sunday morning brought the sun back. Everything was washed clean by Saturday's rains. We had grandson Caleb for the night, and he wanted to go to the dock looking for seals. Ken was busy scraping the corrals with the tractor and once I was done putting the 6 loads of soaking manure into the compost bins, Caleb and I went off to the beach and the dock.


It is hard for me to tell who loves the beach more, Caleb or Cassie! Caleb rolled in the sand, jumped from the dock to the beach, danced and pranced!  Cassie hunted things under water and watched Caleb and his antics.
 
Deer Harbor is the most maritime of the
hamlets and towns on Orcas Island. It has two marinas, both of which offer live-aboard slips. The easiest access from Orcas Island to San Juan Island and the Gulf Islands is from Deer Harbor. It is a south facing harbor and is very protected. In addition, Deer Harbor gets the most sunshine and the least rain of any location on Orcas. It's a great place to live but there are fewer homes for sale in Deer Harbor than in some other areas of the Island.


Here is the map, on it you can see how convenient it is to sail to so many places. It's a short run to the charming Canadian city of Victoria, which is more British than London!  You can tie up at the city marina and have high tea at the Empress Hotel!

If you are kayaking, take a day trip around Reef Island out to Yellow Island, owned by the Nature Conservancy and carpeted with flowers each spring.
Spend the night on Jones Island and look for cactus. I promise they are there!  I will tell you all about these Islands in a future post. I was a kayak guide for many years, and Deer Harbor was my favorite place to paddle.




 


On the dock, is a small grocery store.
It has all the necessities: eggs, milk, bread,
chips, chocolate and coffee. You can get a
bowl of chower or chili, a burger and fries.
Caleb and I got peanut M&M's.


There are all sorts of boat; this sailboat happened to be my favorite of the day! Our friend, Dave Lutz, has a charter business called Emerald Isle Charters. He takes small groups on his lovely sailboat around the San Juans and up the wild side of Vancouver Island. Dave worked in Bristol Bay, Alaska flying a small plane spotting for the herring fishery. He is a great story teller and knows the waters all the way from here to Alaska.
If you are thinking of living aboard, you may want to consider this tug. It's for sale! There are showers and laundry facilities, gas,  food, and even DSL at the Marina.






Can you tell what this is a picture of? My little grandson, has great eyes and he spotted these shrimp. Can you see them?









Reflections - living on an Island gives you time for reflections; time to see the changing leaves, time to admire the colors, time to write poetry and reflect on life.


Orcas is a Magic Island; people often come here to heal... the surrounding water making so many people feel safe and protected. Time passes more slowly here and your attention can at last be turned inward. The native Lummi Indians considered Orcas a Sacred Place.


There are wonderful homes in Deer Harbor, beautiful places to live. Here is an old Craftsman that in the 1970's was a boarding house, run by a friend of ours, Dave Page. It has been restored and is now a very fine B&B.





Our mission was complete when we found our seal! We were so lucky to have him get so close and to catch it on my camera!
You'd be happy here too!...



Saturday, October 17, 2009

Bubbles in the Puddles - Rain on Orcas Island


Yesterday we had showers, today it poured.  Ken and I sat on the window seat over looking my dressage arena and it was raining so hard it made bubbles in the puddles.  I had never seen such a thing. We checked the rain gage. Yup, it had rained buckets overnight. Our rain gage said over an inch of rain!  How could we complain, after such a beautiful Indian Summer. It was 59 out, so it wasn't even cold!  We needed the rain to make our Island green again.
Now, many people believe it rains here all the time. The truth of the matter is that is rains about half as much as it does in Seattle, or Manhattan, or North Carolina.  We get about 24 inches of rain a year in Deer Harbor. At the east end of the island they get about 28 inches of rain. On the Olympic Penninsulia, it can rain up to 200 inches each year, and for every mile that you go east from Anacortes, it generally rains one more inch. There are many pilots who have moved to Orcas Island, and what they all say is that there is a blue hole over Orcas.  We get just enough rain to have a green island and never any flies or mosquitos. After growing up on the east coast, I think I have found heaven!
 
Our rain is usually more like mist. For years I never owned a raincoat, I just wore wool or polar fleece. Even while leading kayaking trips, I never owned a raincoat.  But, today you needed one!
 
I don't want you to think I only go into the office when it rains, but that was where I was today.
 
 
While in the office, our daughter, Jeni and granddaughter, Trinity stopped in to give us Trinity's school picture and treated to some ballet moves!  We got an offer on a parcel of land, we had listed. Yahoo!  All cash - that was the good news. Ken had a date with grandson, Caleb to get hay and then go home to work on a Cub Scout project.
After work, I went to the market and as usual had several in - deapth conversations while shopping. I must have been in there over an hour to get one bag of groceries! That is something I find so special about Orcas Island, all the little interactions, the rich conversations over the produce, at the post office, or library. In fact, it is not uncommon to stop your car in the middle of the road to exchange a few words with someone you needed to talk with, who was walking by. It's the web of interconnection that is so richly satisfying here.
 
As I drove home that evening, the sun came out briefly lighting up the trees. This often happens at the end of the day, an hour or two of sunshine, even on the darkest of days. About a mile from home, I saw Ken and Caleb walking down the road saving newts. Living next to a marsh there are thousands of newts that cross the road spring and fall. Walking with Ken then is very slow, as he has to carefully pick up and move all the newts to safety.  Caleb seemed to share this passion.
Rescuing Newts
 
Our walks, this time of year
are interrupted - by Rough Skinned Newts
fearlessly treading ancient trails
back to water

now crossing the county road
littered with the slow
and the unlucky

I want to save each one
regardless of merit
so,
our walks go slow.
  
K.A.Wood