I was first introduced to Kenmore Air when living at my family’s beach compound near Tacoma in the mid-1980’s. At the time, I was cooking professionally aboard large private yachts and also provisioning for long-distance sailboat races. Given the time-sensitive nature of food for these races, for any race with a Northwest start, I would charter a Kenmore float plane to land on the beach in front of my home to be loaded with two weeks of food in dry-ice packed fish chests and off we would go!

Since that time, I have been a regular on Kenmore… read full article

Again, remembering that I work all the islands here for real estate, there are occasions when my schedule or the nature of my trip simply prohibits the luxury of a leisurely ferry ride with Romeo or perhaps I need to be on a non-ferry serviced island in a timely fashion. Every so often I will do a real estate transaction in out of the way locales such as Port Townsend or Whidbey Island or I will face time constraints for quick mainland appointments in Skagit or Whatcom counties. On these occasions, Island Air comes to the rescue.

Since… read full article

As an islander who has been riding the ferries in sickness and in health ever since I first came to San Juan Island on one in 1977, I have developed a few attitudes about etiquette regarding the ferry. So, here goes with my pet peeves for your enlightenment!
1. Turn off your car alarm for gosh sakes. The rolling of the ferry will start the alarm sounding if someone doesn’t actually have to carefully brush by your car when getting out of their own. This usually happens, setting up a loud and obnoxious repeated alarm until the… read full article

Given that I work all the islands in the San Juan archipelago, I am a regular on the inter-island ferry. I recently had occasion to show property on Lopez Island, which gave me pause to ponder just how extraordinary this commute really is, yet how very typical of island life.

I view this commute as a mini-road trip – an adventure! After a brief stop for a latte to go and a treat for my faithful companion, Romeo (think big black Orcas Shelter mutt), I got in line for the inter-island ferry with scheduled stops at Orcas and… read full article

Once you have located the ferry schedule online and looked at your options and chosen a boat, you are ready to head off to the ferry terminal in Anacortes. Here’s a hint: pack some food or stop in Anacortes and get some. The food, if available on the ferry, will be limited and spendy. Riding the ferry will make you hungry, even if you have eaten. Another hint: take a good book or some knitting. Yes, the scenery is beautiful and you will most likely have a window seat on the boat. The waiting at the terminal or… read full article

Useful Information if you are new to the Washington State Ferry System and want to go to San Juan, Lopez, Orcas, or Shaw. This Blog is in three parts.

Get a ferry schedule before you tell anyone when you will be arriving.  You can go online to www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.  This is the department of transportation’s ferry website.  It has the most up-to-date information.  For example, sometimes the ferries are on special holiday schedule and occasionally one will break down or be late.  Also, note that the ferry schedule (and also the prices) changes four times a year. … read full article