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Fisherman Bay
by Chuck Gould
     Entering Fisherman Bay, located on Lopez Island, will confound a careless navigator. Boaters rounding Flat Point to the north and following the shoreline are well advised to remain outside the 10-fathom line and avoid a pod of spoilsport rocks. The hull breakers (just awash at many tides) are located between 1/2 nm and 1 nm north of the harbor entrance.

      The intricate approach begins at a red beacon, mounted about 18-feet above MLW, near 48° 31.51' N and 122° 55.16' W. Inbound boats will leave the beacon to starboard and then turn to starboard just beyond beacon "4" on the end of the nearby spit.

      The buoys and beacons are in close proximity for the first two turns required to hold the very shallow channel, but the final buoy (red nun #8) is a fair distance from the rest of the group. Boaters failing to round the last red buoy, or electing to "short cut" the route, will likely be rudely disturbed by crunching and grinding noises originating under the keel.

      Once within the confines of Fisherman Bay, transient facilities are encountered in close sequence. Islands Marine Center is a good choice for boaters seeking standard transient moorage and marina accommodations. The Islander Resort, just beyond Islands Marine Center, charges more for a slip but includes the use of a swimming pool and other resort amenities associated with the adjoining hotel. The Galley Restaurant, just beyond the Islander Resort, offers free moorage for dinner patrons. The shallow depths of Fisherman Bay permit easy anchorage, but the bay is very exposed to southwesterlies.

      Jan and I docked at Island Marine Center in July 2002. We found wide concrete docks, lots of shorepower and a cantankerous part-time dockmaster (filling in on Sunday while the IMC office was closed). Moorage rates were reasonable, and the only minor negative was the very long walk to the shoreside restrooms and garbage compactor.

      After "inspecting the restrooms" and dumping the accumulated trash, we rented bikes from a roadside stand and went exploring. Lopez is often referred to as the "flat" island (good news for my aging cardiovascular system), and we found the island roadways almost devoid of truck and auto traffic. The Lopez Islanders might drive past slowly and give a cyclist a wide berth. When a horn sounds, it is typically accompanied by a friendly wave.

      Lopez Village is a pleasant 10-minute pedal for two middle-aged, amateur rent-a bikers. Wild sweet peas bloom in late July, bejeweling the roadside with aromatic white and magenta raiment. The warm, listless air would be virtually silent if not for the murmur of rubber bicycle tires and the chattering of invisible birds.

      The Weeks family originally homesteaded the area around Lopez Village in the 1850s. Traces of their original farmstead remain. One of their two remaining wooden water towers has been pressed into service as a bookstore. We found the bookstore staffed by a free spirited young woman, and worthy of a visit.

      The contemporary edition of Lopez Village includes services and shops providing staples for islanders, as well as a cluster of boutiques and galleries trolling for tourists. A splendid antique residence has been converted to a bed and breakfast, with the landscaped grounds a riot of swirling colours and scent. The shops are tossed casually along the roadside, with an open, rustic public commons around another of the Weeks' family water towers.

      Meandering through the mottled midsummer greens of the undulating common's meadow, the eye delights in the flourish of lemonade-yellow dandelions. Over-achieving blackberry vines with emerald leaves arch triumphantly above the seedy stalks of unmown brown turf on the perimeter of the field. In the still, dry air, the ripening grasses smell almost like a bakery.
On the uphill side of the commons, a visitor discovers the Lopez Historical Museum. The free attraction (donations appreciated, of course) packs more interesting artifacts and curious exhibits into a few hundred square feet than might be found in more pretentious collections occupying far more space. Children are invited to touch, examine and wonder about anachronistic household gadgets on convenient tables. A small nautical steam engine, reputed to be from the collection of Captain Robert Beebe (Voyaging Under Power) is displayed in the middle of the room. Against one wall, a wooden-bodied antique car is displayed with its original sales literature. When new, the car cost $375, unless ordered with a fancy two-speed transmission (in that case the price was $425).

      Exhibits in the museum usher the visitor through the early 20th century, when Lopez was considered the "Guernsey Island" of the region. By 1930, 134 farms on Lopez comprised the largest agricultural community in the San Juan Islands. Exports from Lopez included oats, vetch, barley, peas, eggs, pork and apples. While today nearly all of the commercial apple orchards in Washington are east of the Cascades, there was a time when the phrase "Washington apples" would conjure a vision of Island County orchards and freshly crated produce hauled to market by boat.

      As we toured around Lopez on the rental bikes, we noted that nearly all the farms are now defunct: subdivided into plots too small to be commercially viable. Peaked roofs of ancient wellhouses seem to float atop fluttering weed stalks. Neglected fields surround abandoned orchards. At the far edge of such clearings, it is not unusual to catch a glimpse of an elaborate modern home. The working farms have been reduced to "acreage": the life's commitment of a previous generation to a weekend islander's possession.

      A block back from the "main" road through Lopez Village, two relics of a proud, independent and industrious island past are being preserved and restored. A clapboard structure with a huge rusting windlass in the front yard sports a badly weathered but faintly legible sign reading "Lopez Ship Supply." A false-front commercial building, once almost certainly the primary retail enterprise on Lopez, has been jacked onto a new foundation and is now ready to encounter a future perhaps more generally sensed than strictly defined.

      Economics and logistics will continue to challenge Lopez Islanders. The survivors will cheerfully adapt and change, cherish resources and take a very long view indeed: attitudes that even a short-term visitor might come to appreciate as the "island way."