From Waldron to Orcas – by canoe –The trip was a lot tougher than his Hudson River one

I lived in a tent on Waldron Island for a year. Before that I lived in Manhattan for 10 years. I went from eating at the finest restaurants to having rooster stew at Waldron islander Jimmy Bucknell’s. He didn’t remove the bones or testicles.

In New York I worked in Times Square at MTV Networks as senior producer of on-air promos. I directed and produced station IDs and short spots about the channel.

A love of islands and canoeing plus the desire for a different kind of life led me to purchase land on Waldron Island in 1998.

One year earlier I circled Manhattan in a canoe. I started upstate, paddled 100 miles down the river, rounded Manhattan Island and returned. I even spent one night in a cove under the World Trade Center towers waiting for the tide to turn.

The San Juans can get a lot rougher than the Hudson River, but there are few, if any, barges. I don’t think any of them go through President’s Channel.

I used a 13’ Grumman aluminum canoe. Most people who I knew on Waldron were surprised that I crossed to Orcas Island in a canoe. The others who make the crossing usually use kayaks. I like the canoe because it can carry 750 pounds of cargo.

In the canoe it was a pretty straight shot from Mail Bay to North Beach. The Waldron mail boat launches from the county dock at the other end of the island and lands at Deer Harbor.

As the weather improved and I had less cash on hand, it became practical to canoe cross the channel when possible, between April and December.

At first I tried to predict the currents, but I soon learned there was no way of knowing what the middle of the channel would be like until I got there. It was safe as long as there was no wind. If the tide was going my way, I could pretty much surf across.

I landed at North Beach because it was a short walk to Eastsound. It meant more paddling but less walking. The currents on the top of the island would pull me along if I went out wide enough. If they were going the other way, I could hug the shore and ride the rip tide.

One time I beached, rigged up my dolly and hauled it into town. The fuel tanks and grocery bags drew attention. On my way back to the canoe, one guy said,

“Dude, you are totally ‘hard corin,’” one guy said. “Do you live on a commune?” another asked.

On the same occasion a Lear jet took off over my head. By the time I fueled, ate and bought groceries, it was late in the day.

On most trips I paddled home in the dark. One calm night the tide was going my way so I towed a large drift log home while eating dinner. I brought some tobacco and wine for a friend who lived on one of Waldron’s northern beaches. The currents were going that way so I rode them over and dropped off his supplies. When the tide turned, I surfed back to Mail Bay.

I moved from Waldron to Orcas a year ago. It took awhile to get things loaded onto the canoe. I had a two-month-old feral kitten named Eloise. She wandered off just before I was ready to paddle, so I lost some daylight before I finally found her.

I put her in my shoulder pouch, hung it on an overhanging tree branch and lowered the canoe down the high rock bank. Once on board, I reached up and grabbed the pouch. Eloise got in my way by climbing on my lap for warmth. I picked her up and scolded her. “You’re jeopardizing the mission.” She curled up between my ankles and fell asleep. The current was strong around Point Doty. A tidal stream runs between the rocks. I didn’t want to go out wide around them and fight the current, so I paddled up the stream. I rested after making it around the point. The sea level suddenly dipped three feet, which hung me up on some rocks and made the canoe roll about half way. Then the sea swelled back up and we were clear.

Eloise now has a good home on Orcas. I see her riding around in a truck sometimes.

Om my first trip back to Waldron I saw Jimmy at the dock and told him I had moved to Orcas. “You come and go quietly in the dark. No one knows where you are. You’re an Indian,” he said.

I’m currently living in Eastsound, setting up an office to produce videos and web designs.

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