Sailing Cycling with Val White

SAIL-CYCLING

VAL WHITE GETS
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
IN THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS

	What to do when you are an avid cyclist who thinks nothing of riding 200 or 300 kilometers in a day, and you have a relatively new sailboat that begs to be used during the summer, prime cycling season? The answer is a compromise: try to combine both! With our 30 foot C&C sloop, White Bear, we managed to do both activities together on the same trip.
Our first stop was well-protected Roche Harbor on San Juan Island

The first problem was to figure out where to store the bikes safely while sailing, and strapping them to the lifelines with bungee cords was not an option – salt water is notoriously for bicycles, and their running gear can mark or tear sails.

Since we prefer to sleep in the saloon area, dropping down the table and making up the bed each night, the forward V-berth is used for storage of everything from bedding to suitcases to spare sails. We determined that we could take out one side of the V-berth cushions and could squeeze our mountain bikes in there.

First, we bought two bicycle front fork mounts, commonly sold in bike stores for transportation purposes in vehicles, and screwed them onto a piece of plywood to keep the front of the bikes steady and positioned correctly. The front wheels are removed, again common for transporting a bicycle in the back of a car or van.

Being smaller, my bike goes in first, closest to the side of the cabin, the handlebars turned parallel with the bike frame and the seat lowered with its quick release. Alex’s goes in next with the handlebars turned parallel and the seat removed, as even in its lowest position it does not fit under the cabin ceiling. By marking the seat height position on the seat post, we don’t have to adjust it every time we use the bikes. The front wheels are then fit around the bikes and held in place with bungee cords.

When we want to use the bikes, Alex lifts a bike without its front wheel up to me in the cockpit and I lift it on to the dock. I then put on the front wheel, do up the quick release skewer, turn the handlebars and tighten them with the appropriate Allen key, set the seat to the correct height and tighten the seat quick release. After putting panniers on the bikes, we’re ready
to go.

Thus prepared, we planned our tour of the San Juan Islands. Our first stop was well-protected Roche Harbor on San Juan Island where we anchored. We bought the San Juan Islands Recreation Map and Guide (Great Pacific Recreation Maps and Guides, Bellevue, Washington, US$4.95), which was very useful for all the islands.

When it was time to go cycling, we lowered the bikes into the dinghy and rowed to the dock. Our first trip was from Roche Harbor to English Camp, the British headquarters during the 1860’s Pig War, so called because an American farmer shot a Hudson’s Bay pig rooting around in his garden.

We continued on to Lime Kiln State Park, also known as Whale Watching Park, where there is a great view over Haro Strait, for a total of 36km return back to Roche Harbor. There is no restaurant on the way, so bring lunch with you.

Along the way we saw alpacas at the Alpaca Crescent Moon Ranch and stopped to pick great blackberries. This route had a number of short hills. There were lots of other cyclists and people on mopeds. After returning to Roche Harbor, we were able to shower at the Resort.

The next day we sailed around to Friday Harbor, also on San Juan Island, via San Juan Channel, tied up at the marina and cycled south to American Camp. The Americans had a much better view than the British, with sweeping vistas of San Juan Channel and Juan de Fuca Strait, but it would have been very exposed to strong winds and weather.

At the extreme end of the island is Cattle Point, where there is an old radio transmission building, the forerunner of the Loran radio beacon system. We sat watching boats go through the strong tide rips here, either being swept along at a swift pace or plowing doggedly against the current. This ride was a total of 32 kms return.

Next stop was Lopez Island, the flattest of the three main islands. We tied up at the Islander Lopez Marina, which has a pool, hot tub and showers.

We did a 50 km ride making a rough loop around the island, stopping at the town, which is within a mile of the marinas, the ferry terminal on Upright Head, Spencer Spit State Park, Richardson Bay and Shark Reef Sanctuary, where seals often bask on the rocks.

A lot of old homesteads from the late 1800s and early 1900s are marked on the map and some are still standing, giving a timeless feel to the island. Most of the central area is taken up with cattle and lamb grazing and hay farming. There are a lot of intersecting roads on this island so you could make the route as long or short as you want.

The third island that we visited on this trip was the largest, Orcas Island. We tied up at one of the mooring buoys at Rosario Resort in East Sound. Anyone can tour the resort, the second floor of which has been made into a museum recalling the resort’s history. That evening we returned for a one hour concert, during which the original piano and organ of the mansion were played.

This is a good location to stay in the event of bad weather as a boatload of visitors can use the outdoor pool and shower facilities for $20, and for $10 a head, you can use the indoor pool and spa facilities.

The following day it was foggy, so we set off on our bike trip by first staying low, heading out to the tiny village of Olga at the southern end of the east side of Orcas. This was a great place to wait for the mist to clear, visiting the wonderful Orcas Island Artworks, a café, gift shop featuring local artists, and bookstore.

Then it was back up the road to Moran State Park, donated to the government by Robert Moran, who built Rosario Resort in the 1920’s.

The road up Mount Constitution is a steep 8 km to the top at 2409 feet, with the first main viewpoint to the south about halfway up, and a stunning view from the top to the north, east and south, well worth the hard ride.

It was a quick, cool ride down, so we decided to cycle in to the main town on Orcas, Eastsound, giving us a round trip distance for the day back to Rosario Resort of 48 km. There is only a small dock at Eastsound, not suitable for larger boats, but several were anchored in the bay, which gets strong southerlies. There are many more roads and nice anchorages, particularly on the west side of Orcas, but we have saved those for another trip.

It was very satisfying to get some real exercise on this trip, but even more, we felt like we had really explored parts of these islands, that would have been impossible without our mountain bikes or some other form of transportation. This combination of sailing and biking could easily be applied to the Canadian Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia as well.

BOOKMARK WORLDROVER
	WE ARE SAILING JUNE - JULY 2003 .. Volume 3 Edition 3