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Orcas Island Secrets Exposed
by John Lund
Breaking the silence about Deer Harbor and West Sound
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There was a time not too long ago that the voyage into Deer Harbor -- Orcas Island’s mile-long, westernmost inlet -- was like a step back in time to the laid-back ambience of the 1950s. No longer.
Today, Deer Harbor Marina and The Resort at Deer Harbor have a modern face with new first-class docking facilities, service buildings and other additions to bring the premises squarely into the 21st century.
West Sound is not far away, though. West Sound is Orcas Island’s 3-mile-long middle inlet, where serenity rules and little has changed in 20 years. It is the home of one of the San Juan Islands’ top-quality boat service yards, West Sound Marina.
Orcas Island Yacht Club and the West Sound & Deli can also be found in West Sound. West Sound & Deli is a lovely Victorian-style shop for boaters seeking great food and drink.
The inlet itself provides some excellent anchorage spots and is a natural playground for family and crew of all ages.
With this large diversity of boating within such a small area, Orcas Island’s well-kept secret hideaways of Deer Harbor and West Sound have become increasingly popular. Northwest boaters looking for destinations slightly off the main cruising track can find first-class service and the serenity so many of us are seeking in our boating travels.
Getting to Deer Harbor
If you look at a small-scale chart of the region, you can see why Deer Harbor has remained a secret for so long. By simply glancing at the chart, you might be tempted to pass up these destinations as being too difficult to reach, tucked in as they are behind the Wasp Islands and larger Shaw Island. Do not be deterred; the route is actually quite straightforward. Use large-scale NOAA chart 18434 and you will have no problems.
Deer Harbor’s nearness to the popular cruising routes of San Juan Channel and President Channel (6 miles north of Friday Harbor) actually makes it an easy stop for boaters who want to top off their fuel and food before a longer journey north. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a day or two amid first-class (yet relaxing) surroundings.
To get to Deer Harbor from the west via San Juan Channel, stay north of the Wasp Islands. North Pass is an easy passage -- between Steep Point, Orcas Island, keeping Reef Island to starboard.
Entering Deer Harbor, you can pass on either side of tiny Fawn Island, but stay clear of the shoal running off its southern tip. Once past the island, you will see the docks of Deer Harbor Marina and The Resort at Deer Harbor on the slopes of the eastern shore of the inlet.
Deer Harbor
The Resort at Deer Harbor and Deer Harbor Marina are owned separately, but overnight guests at the marina can use the heated swimming pool, barbecue and picnic area located at the resort.
The marina portion was sold to a new owner in 1996, who completed a $1.5 million dock and building expansion in 1998. The new docks have 32, 40 and 50 foot basins, as well as parallel docking space for larger vessels up to 150 feet along the marina walkway floats. Ninety-two slips in all have water and 30 amp power and are connected to shore by a new pier housing a new sales building and restroom facilities.
The sales building has marine supplies, groceries, beer and wine, rental videos, fishing tackle, licenses and Espresso-on-the-Dock, a coffee shop.
The service building has first-class shower, restroom and newly added laundry facilities. On the south dock, there’s a pumpout station and a fuel station supplying diesel and gasoline year-round.
On the north dock, The Barge houses a gift shop, the Shearwater Adventures kayak rental shop and Deer Harbor Charters. Bikes and cars are available for rent nearby and the marina offers a shuttle bus service to the village of Eastsound.
Deer Harbor Marina is now one of the most modern facilities in the San Juan Islands, so you can expect it to be busy during the peak cruising season. Reservations are recommended. Call (360) 376-3037 to book a slip. Marina staff also monitor VHF Channel 78A.
Onshore, right across the road from the marina, the original 1893 wooden general store has been a lot of things over the years but now houses the Deer Harbor Store & Deli, with lots of great eat-in or take-out food. Behind the store, the Star Fish Grill, specializing in Northwest cuisine, has a deck with umbrella tables overlooking the bay.
Boaters who like to cruise during the winter should know that the resort’s cottages come equipped with hot tubs and wood-burning stoves as an enticement for off-season guests. There is a boat launch for guests at the front of the resort.
On the hillside, one-third mile up the road, sits the Deer Harbor Inn. Originally known as the “Norton Inn,” it was Orcas’ first resort. The inn began as a boarding house around 1910. At one time, the farmhouse, now gone, was converted into a hall capable of feeding 200 people.
Today, the Carpenter family operates the inn. They serve local produce and fresh-baked bread daily. Their chalkboard menu features upscale local fare with an emphasis on seafood. It changes according to the season’s offerings.
From the main road, follow the walk through the 100-year-old Norton family orchard that overflows with wildflowers in the early summer and leads through an old-fashioned arbor. The walk, coupled with a country meal at the inn, is a splendid way to end a day’s boating.
The inn offers a view across the bay to Cayou Quay, a private marina. The marina is named after Louis Cayou, one of four Hudson’s Bay Co. employees who first came to Orcas Island in 1852 to hunt deer, hence the harbor’s name.
At the head of the inlet is Deer Harbor Boat Works, a full-service yard offering haulouts to 50 feet, custom-built boats, mechanical repair, and marine and hardware sales. They also have a mobile marine towing and repair service. Call (360) 376-4056.
For the hikers among the crew, the 1 1/4 mile walk from the Deer Harbor Road intersection to the Frank Richardson Wildlife Reserve -- a 20 acre marsh at the top of the hill -- is a fine way to spend a few hours. Named after Frank Richardson, a University of Washington professor of zoology and Orcas Island resident who died in 1985, the marsh is a preserve for waterfowl and wildlife. It makes a rewarding hike.
West Sound
For centuries, the peaceful Lummi Indians of Washington’s north coast made Orcas Island’s 3-mile-long middle inlet, West Sound, one of their favored summer camps. They spent the warm months here fishing, crabbing and foraging the shores for shellfish; much like modern boaters do today. But, according to the report of an early white settler known as “Old Deschau,” that peaceful existence ended in 1858.
That year, 100 Lummis were left massacred on the beach by a slave-hunting northern tribe (likely the Haida of British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Islands). The attack wiped out this portion of the Lummi tribe and, today, a chart of West Sound echoes the past with names like Massacre Bay, Skull Island and Victim Island.
Despite the ominous place names, boaters venturing into West Sound today will find a very hospitable anchorage. Here an enchanting combination of natural and man-made attractions invites boaters to explore, drop the lunch hook or seek moorage at the community and Orcas Island Yacht Club docks, buy supplies and deli foods at a turn-of-the-century general store, or attend to boat repairs and maintenance at the West Sound Marina, a full-service boat yard.
Getting to West Sound from Deer Harbor requires you to pass between Crane Island and Orcas Island via Pole Pass. At only 200 feet in width, it is narrow and currents can be strong at tide change. Pole Pass is named from the time when Lummi Indians strung nets from tall poles across the pass to catch seabirds.
Looking to the north, you’ll get a good view of 1,500 foot Turtleback Mountain. West Sound Marina, one of the islands’ most complete yacht service centers, is tucked in behind small Picnic Island on the inlet’s eastern shore.
The Wareham family has operated this year-round marina business since 1974. It offers 300 feet of visitor moorage, 20 and 30 amp power, water, gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, a holding tank pumpout, restrooms, showers, a chandlery and haulouts to 64 feet and 30 tons.
The Warehams can handle just about any repair task you can name, including fiberglass, welding, cutting, milling, shaft and prop work. You can reach West Sound Marina on VHF Channel 16 (for 24-hour emergency mobile service), or call (360) 376-2314.
The village of West Sound is located to the east of Haida Point and is marked by the yellow Orcas Island Yacht Club building. The yacht club dock to the east is available to yacht club members with reciprocal privileges. The public dock to the west is for day use and is only a short distance from the West Sound Store & Deli, a favorite hangout for boaters visiting West Sound. Built in 1900, the revitalized building has a patio deck with a view of the bay, great lunches, seafood, deli foods, a wine and beer shop and espresso.
West Sound is the place to laze about or go exploring by dinghy. The best places are Skull and Victim islands, undeveloped state parks. The islands have no amenities other than weathered trees, wildflowers in early summer, breathtaking views and blissful silence away from the crowds of summer.
On your next trip through the San Juan Islands, make sure you include Orcas Island’s Deer Harbor and West Sound on your cruising itinerary and discover for yourself why the secret is out on these great destinations.
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This article first appeared in the August 1, 2000 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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