Monday, December 31, 2012

All the San Juan Island Ferry Terminals




I know we've been laggin', but the day before my 65th birthday, we decided we needed an adventure.  We'd take the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor (San Juan Island), and from there to West Sound on Orcas Island, on to Shaw Island, over to Lopez Island, then back to Anacortes.  We would need a total of three different boats to accomplish this.  We'd start with the 8:30 AM out of Anacortes, and finish around 2:15 PM.  We'd have about an hour and a half in Friday Harbor, but most of the rest of the time would be on the water...maybe a half an hour on Lopez changing boats.

It was a typical winter day in the Northwest...38F and raining...but it is always fun to be on the water.

We boarded the Elwa as the sun was coming up.





















We headed out of Anacortes, across the Rosario Strait, through Thatcher Pass, up Lopez Sound, around Lopez Island, into the San Juan Chanel, and, an hour later, Friday harbor.























































Us "walk ons" disembarked from the car deck.











































We had enough time to tour Friday Harbor and have a latte.











































My favorite boat in the harbor was this 1950's Skagit...



















Our next boat, Evergreen State, arrived right on time...


















...and we were off to Orcas Island.

























Orcas is reached through the narrow Wasp Passage...





































Big entertainment on these inter island ferries are jigsaw puzzles.  Many is some state of progress.  Mimi got sucked in...



















Arrival at East Sound...Orcas Island...



















Then across the Harney Channel to Shaw Island.  Three cars got off at Shaw.

























Over to Lopez Island.  We had to get off here.  The Evergreen State was headed back to Friday Harbor and the Sealth would be along in about a half an hour to take us to Anacortes.























































End of the day.  Anacortes.  A great adventure.  $18 total cost (plus the lattes).  Mimi kicked my butt in Shanghai on the way back.  We saw plenty of marine wildlife including some Dall's Porpoises.  We stayed warm.  The perfect birthday celebration.

























CLICK HERE to see the whole day as a slide show.

1 comment:

  1. what a FUN adventure! and extra fun with the quintessential northwest weather. i would love to do this tour someday with y'all, jigsaw puzzles and all! happy b-day pop!

    ReplyDelete