Reflections of the Captain

His life on the water and changes in the San Juan Islands.

Our Intrepid Captain at 3 years old!

While cruising along one beautiful day on my way to watch the Orcas, it dawned on me that we started all this whale watching stuff back in 1978. There were a few years when we were the only boat out here watching the whales. Then came a boat from Friday Harbor. Next a boat out of Victoria, and now I am about to encounter anywhere from 10 to 50 other boats, maybe more. How times have changed.

I was raised on a Lake Whatcom, and my father gave me my first boat at the age of three. It was a 12 foot boat with a 1 H.P. Briggs and Stratton engine. It went about 4 miles an hour and I was allowed to go 150 feet either way from the family home, as long as I wore a life jacket and took the Dog. My father had trained the Airedale to grab my life jacket and drag me to the beach should I fall in the water. By the time I reached 15, I was on the staff of a Boy Scout Camp and was driving a 25 foot boat for the camp, hauling scouts across the lake and back. There I earned my Eagle Badge.

At the age of 17, I got a job reef net fishing off Shaw Island. The following 3 years I spent purse seine fishing in Puget Sound and Alaska. When I reached 20, I sat for my Captain's License. Soon after, I got a job running the U.S. Mail boat in the San Juan Islands. (We were the last boat to haul the mail. I hope this was not a reflection of my boat driving abilities!) The mail boat departed from Anacortes and serviced all of the San Juan Islands. The mail now goes by airplane.

After this, I bought the Mail boat and spent a year converting it to a passenger boat and began a passenger boat service out of Bellingham through the San Juan Islands. A couple of years later I met a gentleman who had a big yacht. We licensed it to carry passengers and I started doing extended fishing and sightseeing charter trips to Northern BC and Alaska. While I was gone on these trips, I hired a Captain to run my passenger boat in the Islands.

I started a Yacht Brokerage next, the only one north of Seattle at the time. After that, a U-Drive boat rental service. Then I started a Ship Launch and Chandlery, servicing the big ships that came into Intalco and the refineries near Anacortes. We hauled out at the Cap Sante marina out of Anacortes. I then bought a shipyard, servicing both commercial and pleasure boats, including much of the Alaska fishing fleet. Next, I acquired the molds for building both pleasure and commercial boats, 28/45 feet, and merged that company with the shipyard.

After selling the shipyard and boat building company, I built a Dry storage marina. Sold that and bought an 83 foot passenger boat and expanded my passenger and charter boat service. For years I provided back-up ferry service from Anacortes to Guemes Island. With this boat, I came up with the Whale Watching idea. There were many other things going on during these times, such as a Log salvage license picking up logs that had broken away from flat rafts. There was also some towing and salvage work, freight boat work to the islands, etc., but all the time, the passenger and charter boats were in operation.

Earlier on, the passenger service attracted people from all over the world to see the beauty of the San Juan Islands. Sunset Magazine, Holiday Magazine and many more came out, rode with us on the boat and did articles about the Islands. At that time, no one paid any attention to the Orcas (they were often called "Blackfish" or "Killer Whales"). If anything, they were considered a nuisance, especially by all fishermen.

The primary activities in the islands used to be farming and fishing, along with a few retirees. Now there are many retirees and the main trade is tourism. I remember when the Evergreen State ferry was built. It was the biggest thing we had ever seen. Now it is a little inter-island ferry--Wow!

At times, it seems like the only thing talked about now is the whales. People no longer talk about the beautiful San Juan Islands. Don't get me wrong, I love the Orcas as much as anyone. That is why I started this Whale watching to begin with. But there's a lot more out here to see and learn about besides the whales. Our Naturalist gives you a complete narrative about the Islands, their history, (We are now a part of it!) and the present day activities, birds, other marine mammals, geology, botany, tides, Native Americans of the area and much more. If you don't hear what you want to know, please ask. After 44 years, we have learned a lot. However, there is still a lot more to learn. We have even written a book about it all (not yet published).

Still just a boat driver at heart.
--Your Captain