Sucia Island State Park, San Juan Islands

The San Juan Islands

Blaine WA 
We spent two days at the Semiamoo Marina visiting with our old cruising buddies, Richard and Sue, formerly from MV Lionheart, and now aboard their 41’ Camano, MV Windfall. It was fun to catch up, swap war stories and reminisce about our cruising adventures on the East Coast of the USA and Bahamas.  

We had a fantastic German meal with great service at the Black Forest Steak House in Blaine. 

A view of Mount Baker from the rear of our boat in Semiamoo Marina.

After re-fueling and pumping out, we cast off the lines and headed out to the San Juan Islands.

Sucia Island

Arriving at Sucia Island around mid afternoon on a Sunday, we were fortunate enough to get a space on the parks dock in Fossil Bay for three nights.

Sucia Island is referred to by many as the “jewel of the San Juans” and after a short walk ashore it is easy to see why.

An afternoon hike in Sucia State Park

As we age we are fascinated and enjoy just watching the local wildlife.

This environment can be harsh, especially in winter, but these trees are tenacious, clinging to life for decades. Truly amazing how some of them survive.

This ancient, gnarly old tree epitomizes how I feel somedays with my arthritis.

There are numerous trees in the vicinity with this stripped bark. Need to do some research to learn what type of tree it is. Totally foreign to a Texan.

Washington State Parks acquired one third of Sucia Island in 1952. Yachtsman, Everett Henry of Seattle was concerned that the rest of the island would be developed as vacation homes.  He founded the Inter Club Boaters Association, which was comprised of many area yacht clubs, who raised $25,000 to purchase the island for public use. In 1960, the property was donated as a state marine park.

No matter where one cruises, it is frequent to cross paths with folks that you have met previously, as was the case today. A dinghy tied up at our dock and we discovered that it was Tom and Kay from Alaskan Sea-Duction, a boat we met last year at Beacon Rock State Park on the Columbia River in Oregon. They were anchored in the next bay and headed.

Tomorrow we depart Sucia Island for the 15 mile run to Stuart Island, another marine state park.