Poulsbo, WA to Friday Harbor, WA

Departing Poulsbo we ride a nice little tide until we get back to the Strait of Juan de Fuca where the wind and waves are nasty. We bounce and crash our way through the next 30 minutes and thankfully enter Cattle Pass into Griffin Bay leading us around to Friday Harbor, WA (63NM).

The Cattle Point Lighthouse

Friday Harbor on a Monday

I think if you’re going to deal with other people’s sh*t all day you might as well have a good sense of humor about it

Admiring our view of the Independence here…

…and here

So crushed that the best looking pub in town had closed down. RIP Cask & Schooner

Normally, the ferry is lodged in this terminus, constantly filling with cars and people - running from 6AM until after 10PM. As the info plaque reads, the means of transiting these waters has changed greatly over the years. From Coast Salish canoes in the 1900’s to the Mosquito Fleet Steamers of the 1860’s to 1920’s, then followed by several small steamship companies which then became the Black Ball Line. In 1951, the State of Washington bought out the private companies and constructed the main terminal and waiting area in this present location..

Popeye the harbor seal was named this due to her cloudy left eye. She was part of the Friday Harbor views from 1995 until sometime around 2019. They still liked her even after she bit a tourist in 2017…maybe even more.

Larry off to discover Friday Harbor on Mountain Bike. He ended up at the San Juan Island National Historic Park. The brochure gave a bit of history that told of the tussle of ownership over this bit of land. Evidently, …………WE now interrupt this posting with a guest author, Jamie is getting ready to go out at the beautiful restaurant here in the harbor, ok, just like neighbors near your house there was a dispute about the boundary of the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. had settlers on the southern part of the island and established a sheep farm, it’s lonely and cold, say no more, it was called Belle Cue Sheep farm, site of today’s American Camp. The British in the meantime, did not like this because as with much of the world they said it was theirs. On June 15, 1859 an American shot an English pig, what can I say, it gets lonely and cold up here. Luckily this did not start a war but troops were sent from both sides in case fighting broke out. The English sent three warships, 400 Royal Marines. Of Course the U.S. had to respond and soon there were 461 soldiers. Fortunately, no shots were fired during the ensuing 12 years. In 1871 the boundary question was submitted for arbitration to Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. This was because Germans have always been known for being peace loving and wishing to avoid conflicts. It was ruled that the San Juan Islands belonged to the U.S. The museum does not give the reason why the U.S. won but what I heard years ago - was because old Wilhelm liked the Americans more and knew they had surveyed the surrounding waters and knew the depths. His solution was to award the Islands to the country that knew the area, the depths. Who knows if it’s true but history is written by the people who write it and I wrote it so it’s true. (Yes, Larry did take over this post and do a fantastic job)

Nice light over the back bay and all the boats in the Friday Harbor Marina