From Washington State Ferries

The Samish, Cathlamet and Kaleetan vessels have been reassigned to full service on the Anacortes and San Juan Islands routes for Thursday, April 15. 

The Chelan has been out of service since April 14 due to steering issues and needed repairs.

This will restore full service, following earlier cancellations.

Now,  M/V Samish will replace the M/V Kaleetan as the No. 1 vessel. The Kaleetan will be moved to the No. 3 vessel, replacing the M/V Cathlamet. The Cathlamet will move to the No. 2 vessel position, replacing the M/V Chelan.

For real-time arrivals and departures, visit Real-Time Map . Reservations are available online at TakeAFerry or by calling Customer Service at 888-808-7977. Phones are open, daily, 7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 

Carol invites you back to browse at Serendipity Bookstore – Contributed photo

Serendipity books has reopened for in-store browsing. The used bookstore has over 40,000 titles and a computerized inventory to help you find that book you’re looking for.

They’re located just a block from the ferry lanes at 223 “A” Street.

Hours are Monday through Saturday 10am – 4pm.
(360) 378-2665
serendipity@rockisland.com

Contributed Photo/San Juan Island Sculpture Park. Bird watching at the San Juan Island Sculpture Park.

From the San Juan Island Sculpture Park

Join us from 9-11 a.m. every third Wednesday of the month through September to watch for our fine feathered friends at the San Juan Island Sculpture Park located next to Roche Harbor Resort.

The next event is 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 21.

Phil Green, a local bird enthusiast and member of the nature conservancy, has identified over 40 bird species this winter at the sculpture park. He will lead us to several places around the sculpture park where we can look for and identify the various birds now visiting.

We also have a new trail along Westcot Bay to get us closer to sea birds! So bring your binoculars, cameras and curiosity for an adventure in bird watching.

Don’t forget your masks!

“Freezer-Burned: Tales of Interior Alaska” is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi.

Contributed Photo/Dylan Taylor on Unsplash. Inian Islands, Alaska.

The Pitfalls of Fuzzy Thinking

A decade ago, our fourth summer here, my Alaska pal Archie left a phone message that he would be visiting in Washington state.  Waiting through his practiced, jolly jibes about us living in “la-la land, surrounded by a dying Salish Sea, noshing on kale”, I heard that he might stop in.  

Why Washington? As far as I knew, in his handful of white-knuckled trips Outside in 50 years of living up north, his whole exposure to Washington State was pretty much flyover or bending his elbow in smokey lounges with fisherman and Bering Sea crabbers at SeaTac.

I wasn’t born yesterday, so I had an inkling there was much more to this story when I rang him up at his slough cabin.

Hey Archie, Steve here. 

Well, I’ll be damned, how goes it Champ!  

We’re good, Archie.  We are learning to build a house by ourselves wading through damnable nanny-state codes.   I know how to do it now and will never do it again!  You still gillnetting those beautiful Yukon kings?

Naa, the run and my old 50 horse outboard both petered out, but the smokehouse was full. 

Ah, good. Best salmon in the world!  What’s up with this trip you mentioned?  Maybe you could bring me some king strips?

Well, I’m flying out tomorrow on the ol’ redeye.  I have booked a week in the woods riding an ATV with Bigfoot Expeditions run by a guy named Johnny Styne around some town called Darrington.  

Archie, have you lost your mind?  We both know that Bigfoot is non-existent; a fanciful hobgoblin wrapped in malarky bundled in pure bunk!  I got a better idea.  Why don’t you charter me and my boat out here on San Juan Island to look for cases of Canadian booze dumped overboard by nervous westside rum-runners during prohibition?  Bound to be more productive than searching for a non-existent ape!

In the pause, I could hear Archie exhale after a deep drag. Read More »

From the League of Women Voters of the San Juans

The League of Women Voters of the San Juans is holding its membership meeting, which is open to the public, at noon, Monday, April 19 over Zoom.

We have an exciting and informative speaker: our own Susan Martin, who is a league board member. She will discuss her newly released and substantially revised second edition of her book, “A Nation of Immigrants.” 

This second edition analyzes the evolution of U.S. immigration policy from its origins in the colonial period through the Trump administration. The final chapter sets out recommendations for reforming a largely broken system. 

Register for the event here. You don’t want to miss this thought-provoking introduction to Dr. Martin’s new book. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Susan Martin is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown
University. She was the founder and director of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration.

She received her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Martin has authored or edited more than a dozen books and numerous articles and book chapters.

She serves on the boards of the Center for Migration Studies and Jesuit Refugee Service USA as well as the advisory councils of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the UN Migration Agency.

Contributed Photo/San Juan County Land Bank. A patch of uncommon native cactus discovered near the Turtleback shoreline during a monitoring outing.

From San Juan County Land Bank

The San Juan County Land Bank Commission will hold its monthly meeting from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Friday, April 16 via Zoom.

This meeting will include the Conservation Agriculture Resource Team’s final report on the Coffelt Farm Preserve on Orcas Island.

The public is invited to attend. Download the agenda, which includes the Zoom link and meeting materials, here.

To learn more about the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank, visit sjclandbank.org. If you’re interested in volunteering or joining our mailing list, contact tanja@sjclandbank.org.

We look forward to engaging with you!

Six Cases Out of 6.8 Million Doses Nationwide Resulted in Brain Blood Clots

From the Washington State Department of Health

The Washington State Department of Health will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine statewide starting immediately, following the guidance of the FDA/CDC.

Use of that vaccine will be put on hold until we receive further recommendations from our federal partners about how best to move forward. Safety is the highest priority when it comes to all COVID-19 vaccines.

This action is being taken out of an abundance of caution based on the appearance of a rare but serious side effect including serious brain blood clots combined with low platelet counts in six patients, all women under 50. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will review these cases in the days ahead and will recommend guidance going forward. 

About 149,000 doses of J & J vaccine have been administered in Washington so far, out of more than four million doses total.

At this time, we have no knowledge of the six patients who experienced these blood clots being Washington residents.

For those who got the vaccine more than a month ago, the risk of this complication is very low at this time. Read More »

Items Can Include Mattresses, Scrap Metal, Furniture

From the Town of Friday Harbor

The Town of Friday Harbor is pleased to offer its residential refuse customers a one-time-only curbside pickup of items that are too large or too heavy for their refuse cans the week of April 26-30.

Pickup will take place on their regular collection day.

“The town saw an opportunity to encourage neighborhood cleanups and assist our customers with their spring cleaning efforts,” said Town of Friday Harbor Administrator Duncan Wilson.

This is the fifth year the town has been able to offer this spring cleanup service free of charge to its non-commercial customers.

Specific rules apply regarding the volume and type of items that will be accepted, including that items must fit in a standard pickup truck bed and weigh no more than 60 pounds.

This pickup is for non-hazardous, non-liquid items such as large toys and scrap metal, mattresses, carpet, and unusable furniture. Read More »