GLWSKETCHWORKS: A Sketching and Sailing Holiday

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

A Sketching and Sailing Holiday

The July 4th weekend we had the great opportunity to sail with our friend Kim, her son Thane and their dog Zeke on their 37 foot sail boat the Sapphire. We sailed from Bellingham Bay to Lopez Island where we enjoyed a small town 4th of July parade and then at night saw a fireworks display that could compete with Seattle's Fireworks! The next day we sailed from Lopez Island to Jones Island State Park and anchored over night. A day hike on the island gave us beautiful views of the San Juans as well as the stands of Madronas and Cedars walking through the forests. Our next stop was the West Sound of Orcas Island and then to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

The Sapphire and Zeke the dog

With most of the time spent on a boat one has plenty of time to sketch and paint. I took advantage of that.


Map of our journey with enlarged maps to the right.

DAY 2: July 4th, 2015

Fisherman's Bay in Morning Light

4th of July Parade

Looking at the Lopez Island from the Sapphire and Island Dog

Fisherman's Bay from the Island Dog

Day 2: July 5th 2015

Morning light on July 5th was interesting. The sky was smoky and the sun a bright orange red with the same color reflecting off the still water. That sun we found out later was the result of the forest fires creating smoke in the sky. Smoke from the BC forest fires carried all the way down to Whidbey Island.

The rocks and reflections of Jones Island the evening of July5th

Rocks and reflections of Jones Island.

Day 3: July 6th, Jones Island

We started the day with a nice breakfast and I was able to paint the surroundings in the early morning.

After breakfast we took a hike on Jones island which is a state park and ended up on the north facing side of the island where we parked ourselves in front of an amazing Madrona tree views of the San Juans behind it.