Hidden Gems – Hidden Stories
On our long paddle back from the Cowichan Bay native canoe rendezvous on Vancouver Island last week, Robin Clark and I learned some things about tide and current, and also about a hidden gem in the San Juan Islands. Rowing Robin’s double scull through Obstruction Pass we picked our way along in the back eddies close to shore, passing several power boats that were barely moving against the current in mid-channel. At the end of the pass we came out into Rosario Strait, our last serious crossing, and because it was fairly calm we kept going, even though the tide was running at maximum ebb of over three knots.
We expected that this tide would pull us south down the strait toward Anacortes, but instead we found ourselves inching along against a current that was running due west, perpendicular to the strait. We aimed for the north end of Cypress Island, and when we finally made it across an hour and a half later, we were exhausted from the effort. We didn’t know how much tide we were bucking until we approached the shore of Cypress Island at a place appropriately named Tide Point. There was a beautiful beach there, and even though it was marked as Private, we just had to stop for a rest. Besides, Robin’s seat had come lose, and we had to do an emergency repair before we could go on.
Sometimes these accidents seem meant to happen. The owner of this beautiful spot was working on his skiff at the top of the beach, and while he didn’t come toward us, he didn’t shoo us away either. He had watched our battle against the tide on our approach, and seemed to understand that we weren’t idly trespassing – that we really needed a rest. After we’d repaired the seat and caught our wind a bit, we walked up to introduce ourselves, and had a great conversation with him. His name was Nick Fahey, and it was soon clear from the breadth of his knowledge of the area, and from the quality of his presence on this land, that there was something special about both Nick and this land he seemed so much a part of. It also became clear to us as we later circled around Cypress what a special place it is.
On our return, Robin did some snooping on the internet and found this great story about Nick and his family’s legacy on Cypress Island. Called My Grandfather’s Legacy, it is written by Nick’s daughter Anna, who now works for Sightline in Seattle, a terrific organization working on sustainability issues in the Northwest that is right down the street from Robin’s own People for Puget Sound.
Reading Anna’s story added a poignant epilogue to a trip that was full of rich discoveries about this amazing region and culture we share here in the Puget Sound basin.
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