San Juan Islands, Washington
The first full day of our journey north to Alaska began with thin clouds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The National Geographic Sea Bird crossed the calm waters north of Seattle early on the morning of April 29th and arrived in the San Juan Islands before breakfast.
Our arrival provided our first sightings of harbor seals, rhinoceros auklets, and bald eagles. We entered the small inlet protecting Roche Harbor on the northwest tip of San Juan Island. The small harbor is surrounded by the town of beautiful homes nestled in Douglas fir and flowering madrone trees. We continued on to Johns Island where we obtained a good view of a traditional Big House nestled in the trees above the shoreline then sailed southward to Friday Harbor where we purchased fresh Dungeness crab for Thursday dinner.
After a brief stop the NG Sea Bird circled around the northwest tip of Spieden Island where we had a clear view of exotic grazing animals introduced since the 1970s. After we completed the ship safety drills we retired to lunch.
In the early afternoon, we sailed north toward Vancouver Island and docked in Sidney in order to clear customs into Canada. At 4:30 pm we gathered in the lounge for an introduction to the bedrock geology of the northwest coast ‘Mountains of the NW Cordillera: Birth & Exhumation’ given by Harold Stowell.
As we made our way northward, the beautiful icy summits of the Coast Mountains stood high on the horizon above Vancouver and the Fraser River delta. North of Vancouver we identified the Garibaldi volcanic field which includes the northernmost volcanoes of the High Cascades. These volcanic peaks provide direct evidence for subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the northwest coast of North America.
At 6:30 pm, we gathered in the lounge for cocktail hour and our first recap of the journey north. Our discussion of the day was interrupted by dramatic views of tilted rocks seen within a few meters of the ship as we transited the strong currents of Dodd Narrows. The NG Sea Bird continued north from the Gulf Islands, past the town of Nanaimo and into the Strait of Georgia.
We sailed a sublime blue-green sea with orange reflections from the sinking sun as dinner was served. After an excellent dinner, we were treated to gorgeous views of the Coast Mountains bathed in Alpenglow and a lingering sunset characteristic of summer on the northwest coast. The NG Sea Bird continued north along the Strait of Georgia toward Johnstone Strait and Seymour Narrows.
The first full day of our journey north to Alaska began with thin clouds in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The National Geographic Sea Bird crossed the calm waters north of Seattle early on the morning of April 29th and arrived in the San Juan Islands before breakfast.
Our arrival provided our first sightings of harbor seals, rhinoceros auklets, and bald eagles. We entered the small inlet protecting Roche Harbor on the northwest tip of San Juan Island. The small harbor is surrounded by the town of beautiful homes nestled in Douglas fir and flowering madrone trees. We continued on to Johns Island where we obtained a good view of a traditional Big House nestled in the trees above the shoreline then sailed southward to Friday Harbor where we purchased fresh Dungeness crab for Thursday dinner.
After a brief stop the NG Sea Bird circled around the northwest tip of Spieden Island where we had a clear view of exotic grazing animals introduced since the 1970s. After we completed the ship safety drills we retired to lunch.
In the early afternoon, we sailed north toward Vancouver Island and docked in Sidney in order to clear customs into Canada. At 4:30 pm we gathered in the lounge for an introduction to the bedrock geology of the northwest coast ‘Mountains of the NW Cordillera: Birth & Exhumation’ given by Harold Stowell.
As we made our way northward, the beautiful icy summits of the Coast Mountains stood high on the horizon above Vancouver and the Fraser River delta. North of Vancouver we identified the Garibaldi volcanic field which includes the northernmost volcanoes of the High Cascades. These volcanic peaks provide direct evidence for subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the northwest coast of North America.
At 6:30 pm, we gathered in the lounge for cocktail hour and our first recap of the journey north. Our discussion of the day was interrupted by dramatic views of tilted rocks seen within a few meters of the ship as we transited the strong currents of Dodd Narrows. The NG Sea Bird continued north from the Gulf Islands, past the town of Nanaimo and into the Strait of Georgia.
We sailed a sublime blue-green sea with orange reflections from the sinking sun as dinner was served. After an excellent dinner, we were treated to gorgeous views of the Coast Mountains bathed in Alpenglow and a lingering sunset characteristic of summer on the northwest coast. The NG Sea Bird continued north along the Strait of Georgia toward Johnstone Strait and Seymour Narrows.
