The Salish Sea is a beautiful maze of islands, rocks and currents. On a recent cold December morning we took our boat from its usual moorage buoy in Barlow Bay up to the marina in Fisherman Bay, at the other end of the island. We left around 9 am, shortly after sunrise. The low angle of sunlight and the layers of clouds muted the light most of the way. But the clouds, winter sun, water, mountains and wildlife made this a lovely quiet journey.
Follow me below the fold as we wend our way through the channels and rocks of these inland Pacific Northwest waters on a December morning.
(all photos in Lightbox; click for a larger view. Camera is a Nikon point and shoot Coolpix S9200)
Departing the bay, we come out into the more open waters near the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the Olympic Mountains to the south:
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Iceberg Point and its navigation marker on our port side:
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Sea ice remains on the cliff where big waves splashed far up in the icy Nor'easter storm just past:
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Fuel tanks at Richardson, where all the gasoline sold on the island gets barged in. Richardson was a major fishing town back when, docks and canneries:
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Mount Rainer visible far in the distance, 130 miles as the crow flies. Some strange low cloud formations out on the sea, creating mirage images:
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Coming around the corner, the sky begins to lighten. We pass Mummy Rocks, where Harbor Seals haul out. There's at least one youngster there:
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Sheep graze on small Charles Island. No fencing needed:
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Whale Rocks is the winter home of male Steller Sea Lions. They are a ways off here, but those brown lounging animals are 10' long and weigh over a ton. They share the Rocks with cormorants and gulls. The Olympics are in the distance:
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We enter the narrow channel Cattle Pass, between Lopez and San Juan islands. The water races through here in an ebb tide. We have chosen a time when the tide is somewhat with us, going north. Cattle Point Lighthouse is on San Juan island:
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On our starboard side we pass Deadman Rocks at Shark Reef, where Harbor Seals are always to be found. Usually I see them from land, standing on the bluff over there:
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Looking back, we can see the cattle Point Lighthouse with the mountains to the south now:
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Coming up San Juan Channel we start seeing waterfront houses high on the bluff. A Madrona tree separates two:
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Further along, bedrock changes into glacial till, an unconsolidated sediment deposit that is continually weathering and falling into the sea.
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Black and white and orange Surf Scoter ducks, out fishing:
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Cattle Pass, looking south. Lopez on the left, San Juan on the right:
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Time to turn into Fisherman Bay. The channel marker is a good perching spot for Double-Crested Cormorants:
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A spit of land shelters Fisherman Bay. Our last - but not least - sight as we approached the marina...the pair of Bald Eagles that live over on the spit, eating something near the shore:
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Great being out on the water on a beautiful day!
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