Sequim Daily Photo

Spring break for the birds

This is Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Discovery and Sequim Bays. It’s just far enough from shore that it doesn’t lend itself to a good, clear shot. But it’s an interesting place. This is Puget Sound’s location for the avian version of spring break.

Protection Island is a 364-acre national wildlife refuge closed humans but it’s a hotspot for Washington state birds. An estimated 70% of the nesting seabird populations of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca come here. It’s home to one of the largest nesting colonies of rhinocerous auklets in the world and one of the last two nesting colonies of tufted puffins in the Puget Sound area.

There is a 200 yard buffer zone around the island so taking closeups of the feathered visitors is off the table.

Otters

These otters live next to a large plaza behind the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. You can see how affection has polished the bronze on top of their heads. It’s a nice spot to walk, especially on a sunny day when there are views of the Cascade Mountains in the distance.

Eat your flowers

This is a shot from last summer, an ornamental cabbage that does well around here, especially during the cool weather “shoulder” growing seasons. It and flowering kale are edible raw or cooked, one of those vegetables you’re always encouraged to eat more of than you probably do.

Working barn 7

I’ve been getting regular glimpses of this working barn as I’ve driven on Carlsborg Road. The only unimpeded views are from a bumpy private road. I like the classic red of this one, and the “X” construction on the doors.

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Builders at work

It takes a village to build a boat. Last Friday they discovered a hitch with a piece of the precut lumber and there was some focused problem-solving on the shop floor. Once solved, each builder was walked through the work-around and everyone moved forward.

The shop is a beehive of activity. Here’s a view of the goings on from the second floor which has a glassed in view of the large, bright shop. There are six new boats being built here. A seventh is substantially completed but still undergoing the perennial tinkering that’s a passion of some boaters.

Week one of Scamp Camp

Here is what my husband has produced after one week of intensive boat-building. What doesn’t show are “dry” fittings and re-fittings of parts and pieces before each piece is permanently glued in place. And until the planking goes on the outside it can be hard to see the boat taking shape. The bow is on the left of this shot.

This is what our boat will look like when it’s all grown up. Different colors, but the same hull. It is estimated to be only 30-40% complete by the end of this week when the class ends. My husband is at the higher end of this range because he’s built the mast, some of the fittings, and has prefinished some of the wood. He will still have to paint it and fit out the interior decks and veranda. But at least it won’t entail a daily commute to Port Townsend.

Purple blaze

There I was, snapping pictures of clouds, when a flash of color at my feet caught my eye. There, bordering the Olympic Discovery Trail, were blooming crocus. The cool thing was that once I noticed one I discovered them all along the trail, dotting the landscape in small and large clusters. Hints of spring, swaddled in a purple blaze.