Our Decatur Island Adventure

Washington Trip

Tuesday, July 14^th 2015

Anacortes, WA

Decatur Island, WA

After a late but easy flight we headed up North to my parents’ home in Edison, Washington. The kids all fell asleep in the car while I tried to keep my eyes open in the front seat to help Jeff stay awake during the drive. We pulled in at about 2:20am.

I was up bright and early by 6:30am because the sun rises so early here and I really wanted to talk to my Dad before he left for work. He gave me the rundown on getting across the Strait in the boat and some other tips for navigating the San Juan Islands. I was nervous but excited for our adventure!

After Kira and I did an early morning grocery run to stock up (there are NO services or stores on Decatur Island), everyone was up and helping Nana do a few things around the yard. Jeff picked flats of blueberries and absolutely LOVED it. He said it was so therapeutic and relaxing to harvest the berries. At dinner we talked with the kids about the Law of the Harvest and the lessons they can learn from Nana’s blueberries.

Once the coolers were loaded and everyone had packed their small daypack, we split up and Nana took the kids to Rosario Beach to play in the tide pools and Jeff and I went to pick up our little boat. It was a little intimidating to pick up our boat and go over everything with the owner because we felt a little inexperienced but felt like we shouldn’t necessarily tell him that! He was a really nice old man who went over everything with us. It’s a small 1994 15’ Boston Whaler Montauk with a 50hp outboard motor. He had built in a large 22 gallon gas tank that is used as the driver’s bench and once we were shown a few things, it’s really easy to use. I kind of put Jeff in a tough spot when I accidentally dropped a lifejacket off the dock ramp while we were loading our gear. We couldn’t even reach it with a pole or a net so Barney (the old guy) said, “Well, here’s a good test for you Jeff! Why don’t you go around the dock and pick it up.” (I had dropped it on the opposite side of the dock than the boat). Jeff managed it easily but it’s still makes you a little self conscious!

After ferrying our stuff across the strait to the island, exploring around a bit and taking turns driving the boat and navigating with the nautical charts, we felt pretty confident and headed back across the strait to meet Mom and pick up half the kids at Washington Park. The kids loved being out in the boat! It is chilly though with the wind and everyone was glad they had hoodies and coats. It’s about a 15-20 minute run from Washington Park to Davis Bay (that really is the name of the East bay on Decatur Island). And about a 20-25 minute run around to the opposite side of the island at Decatur Shores where we moored the boat. Not too bad but we are using up a lot of fuel ferrying back and forth!

We moored the boat at a buoy offshore and Jeff and I paddled back to the dock in a little dinghy. That was the hardest part of the day—my forearms were killing me! Maybe it’s time to get back to crossfit! ;)

Let me describe the house and the island: the island is one of the closest of the San Juan Islands, just across Rosario Strait from Anacortes (Skyline Marina). The front (or East) side of the island faces Anacortes and is protected partially by James Island. There is a calm bay on the East side of the island called Davis Bay. There is a county boat launch and a smooth, pebbly beach but no boat dock. Our house is above the White Cliffs of Decatur on the East side of the island, just in from Dot Rock. It has a beautiful view of Rosario Strait and Mount Baker. To access the house, we moored the boat at Decatur Shores, a small dock and a group of mooring buoys on the West side of the island between Trump and Center Islands. The bay is calm and protected by the shape of Decatur and also Trump and Center Islands. The dock is about 2 miles from the house. We have bicycles on the island, but no car so we have to walk or ride bikes to the dock. It's an easy ride DOWN to the dock from the house but it's pretty much uphill the whole way back home. The island has no ferry access, so people only come over on water taxi's or their own boats. The water taxi only comes once a day. You can hire a barge service to get vehicles and other supplies to the island but it costs $$$! None of the roads on the island are paved. I would say half are gravel and half are compacted dirt. There is a one room schoolhouse on the island and there is currently one teacher and one student (the teacher's son). The one little store on the island has recently gone out of business so there are no amenities on the island. You have to bring everything you need. There are about 37 permanent residents on the island. It is very rural and rustic. It had the charm of camping but the convenience of home! There is freshwater. Most homes are on wells so the water is clean, but has very little pressure so showers are tedious. The washing machine took all night to fill. They seriously had a sign on the tub that said it would take hours to fill so set a timer so you don't forget you're filling the tub. The house is really nice and comfortable. It’s a cozy two bedrooms with an additional playroom with a bunkbed but it’s plenty of space for us. The kids all crashed on the sectional couch in the living room anyway and the 2^nd bedroom was left untouched until Papa came on the last night. They are funny how they always want to sleep in the same room! The house sits above the beach and it's about a 15 minute steep walk down to the beach. The beach has tons of driftwood and rocks to search for crabs. They have 3 kayaks we can use to explore the shoreline. The house sits on 20+ wooded acres. There is a nice, big firepit and a hammock and homemade swingset. Just down the road from the house is a little 9-hole golf course that has no office but is maintained by the 93 year old owner who does it just for fun. There is a little caddyshack full of old clubs and balls and scorecards and you just make a donation to play. The island is wooded and hilly. We saw a ton of deer in our wanderings. We (well mostly Jeff, but Calvin and I did a few runs) all over the island. It's a beautiful place to run. Wooded but not scary. Only an occasional car. Perfect temperature and running at sea level is so much easier!

We made (and burned) homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner. The caretakers have 2 goats that roam the property so the kids had fun playing with them. We checked out the beach and  Kira and Calvin explored way down the beach and found an abandoned baby seal. There was a set of paints, brushes and some paper left for us on the counter so Kate, Isaac and Mikey sat on the front deck overlooking the ocean and painted the sunset.

After dinner we were all so tired, we rented Mall Cop 2 on Amazon and cuddled up and watched a movie before falling asleep.

Nana took the kids to Rosario Beach while Jeff and I rented the boat and took the first load over.

Captain Jeff!

Dropping the kids off in Davis Bay on Decatur Island. It really is called Davis Bay!

Taking the second group over. Kate was terrified but she was a trooper and had a great attitude. When we came to pick her and Mikey up at Washington Park she said to Nana as she walked towards the dock, "Bye Nana! I'm off on my death march!" By the end of the day she had pretty much overcome her fear of boats.

Painting the sunset on the back deck.

The view of Mt. Baker and Rosario Strait from the Dining room and back deck of the house.

The owners have two goats: Crimson and Shiya. The kids loved playing with them during our stay on the island.