I Could get Used to the Island Lifestyle

So since I last left you we’ve been out in the absolutely beautiful San Juan Islands meeting with some amazing people who’ve chosen to make their home in paradise. It’s been a big couple of days for SWAE Sports here in the islands. We’ve signed several amazing outfitters including Outdoor Odysseys, Discovery Sea Kayaks and San Juan Classic Day Sailing. My meeting with Outdoor Odysseys was actually quite funny. Before we started Clark Casebolt, the company’s owner, said it looked like we hadn’t had a shower for a minute and asked if Elliot or I wanted to take one while the other spoke. Hilarious, right? So I jumped in the shower while Elliott told him about what we are doing and then I got out and finished signing him up while Elliott scrubbed down. So after it was all said and done we had partnered with one of National Geographic ‘s top 200 outfitters, were clean, and left with enough GORP to snack on for the next few days.

We were peddling back up the hill towards Friday Harbor when I got a call from Dan who wanted to meet up for lunch at this awesome little café where we had been working out of earlier. He had just signed this great sailing organization named San Juan Classic Day Sailing and they had asked if we wanted to go out on one of their boats for the rest of the afternoon. Long story short it was a great ride out into the harbor and really my first time true sailing experience. Capt. Morgan (seriously) was a purest and refused to drop the outboard motor into the water either when leaving the dock or coming in, which made it really cool to sea how traditional sailors “tacked” back and forth until they could safely dock their ships.

Morgan and her boyfriend Jonah invited us to stay at their place that evening and so we packed up the bikes, bought some brats to bbq, and took off across the island. We rolled through some incredible countryside that felt like being in a foreign country. Freshly cut fields of hay were silluted between quaint farm cottages and the sea, which stretched out until being dramatically interrupted by the Olympic Mountains like the Fjords of New Zealand. Their home rested safely in forest a few hundred yards away from False Bay and had the quenisential woodsy feel of a north western home with its cedar shingles and well-manicured vegetable garden. They we’re as hospitable with their home as they had been with their boat and we had a wonderful evening of conversation. To top things off, while getting dinner ready, a double rainbow swept across the island and landed into the ocean. This is a gorgeous part of the country with even more beautiful people.

I’m writing this on a ferry heading towards Orcas Island. We’ve got a couple more people to meet with in the morning, plus we hear that its one of the most beautiful places to visit in the San Juans. From Orcas it’s back to the mainland but I’ve got a 9-mile ride from the port over to Deer Harbor that I’m sure promises to be another amazing ride.