— by Lin McNulty, Editor —
It’s a stunning late-July Monday morning with not a cloud in the sky and all the makings of an ideal day to, let’s say, sail to the San Juan Islands. East Sound has been dotted throughout the weekend with anchored pleasure craft and weekend mariners soaking up the island’s atmosphere from just off-shore.
In what may have been a weekend trip to die for up until this morning, one sailor encountered a problem. His anchor became lodged in who-knows-what just under the surface.
So it occurs to me that this is one area in which we could ease the tourist problems. Let’s pave the seafloor in Eastsound. It doesn’t have to all be done at once, but at least pave a parking (oops, mooring) area, you might say, where anchorage would be simplified.
We Orcasians are resourceful and talented. We have the brains and brawn right here in our own community to make this happen. I mean I just came up with this novel, stunning idea and I have no experience in any of the disciplines that would be required to pull this off. The wall that would need to be built in order to do the paving should be temporary, of course; we wouldn’t want to alter the natural seascape any more than necessary to the detriment of the tourism we promote. This project would allow us to maintain the ‘appearance’ of natural-ness, and continue to present to the world that we are open for business.
I know this can’t happen overnight, but I don’t know how long it will take our stranded sailor to free his craft. We may have to feed him until he can sail off under his own power. It’s the Orcas Island way.
The stranded sailor? He’s still there.
Good-humored idea, and kudos to Councilman Rick Hughes who did all the legwork to get marine buoys allowed in East Sound through the state legislature.
Now Covid-19 has upended the tourist industry that Orcas Island has tried to carefully grow over the last several decades. So we question all the “invitations” to come to our beautiful island and participate with native islanders in our unique and generous culture.
Maybe we should embrace a new invitation to each other to stay on the islands and minimize the “need” for any travel to and from the islands. Of course, as I personally know, this makes the limitations of islands’ lifestyle dictate hard choices.
But let’s think graciously and committed to togetherness.
Great idea, Lin. What about lighting a la Prune Alley?
We love you, Lin. You know that we do. But if this comes up on the EPRC agenda . . .
Toby, if this comes up on the EPRC agenda, I’ll make sure the Associated Press gets a copy of the story. It will be sensational. Best ever. Nobody’s ever thought before about how wonderful this will be.
“…Pave paradise and
Submerge a parking lot!”
What about bridges?
Yessss!!! BRILLIANT idea, Lin! More editorials like this, please!
Now that you’ve thrown down the invitation for great ideas… Maybe we could wall a canal through it and up Eastsound Swale Creek all the way to the North Shore – you know, dredge it out – and we could have tiny homes for the homeless all along the edges of the manmade canal. I would offer Gondola rides and conduct business from one of the Tiny Homes huts – zoned of course to be painted up in wild Mediterranean colors! I just need a partner/financial backer to buy me some gondolas…wouldn’t it be quaint?
I think his anchor got stuck in a herring-ball. What do you think?