Category Archives: boating

February 16, 2026 · 10:47 pm

Farewell to a Boat: May the Wind Always Be at Your Back

BY KIMBERLY MAYER

You can turn my husband around on The Salish Sea and he could identify any island by its shape, the contour of its hills. That comes from eighteen years of boating here. As first mate, I can’t claim to have mastered much in the way of navigation or operation. For my part, I threw myself into accessorizing the boat. Pillows and throws and books, books, books, there is something about reading at sea! Topsider shoes, windbreaker jackets, and polo shirts in a raft of bright colors, so unusual in The Pacific Northwest. But there’s a certain quality to the light out on the water and in the marinas. Everyone looks like they’re in a Ralph Lauren ad. 

When we first began boating we sometimes anchored off Rosario Resort on Orcas Island. There I was up a dozen times in the night to see that we were still there. The cliff was my marker, and the currents continuously turned us around. Again and again I thought we were gone. You have to understand, in my mind then, all waters rushed to The Bering Sea.

Now I know that not to be true, but I do know that this is where the land breaks up. The end of the western world. The archipelago reminded me of Pat Conroy’s beloved low country in South Carolina. A good place to be a writer, I thought. This is where I want to live.

Moved here, we did, and now we’ve sold the boat. This is the end of being all tied up. She was starting to spend too much time in the slip. As my friend said after putting down her dear old ailing dog, “As much as I miss her every day, I’m thinking I may have kept her too long.”

Now the boat is on her way. The new owners hope to take her to Alaska, which was always our dream too. We’ll be sure to travel in other ways, but lately a broken-down expresso machine at home impacts us more than the loss of a trawler. 

Originally published February 11 2026 in The Journal of the San Juan Islands

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August 15, 2023 · 7:40 pm

Musings on Water

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” Rumi

BY KIMBERLY MAYER

We are thinking about selling the boat. The boat that brought us here, to the San Juan Islands. We lived in Seattle then and we were just starting to dream about living here. 

We found a waterfront house on San Juan Island and lived on the boat in the marina while our home was being remodeled. On our bay there are no ferries, no commercial boats of any kind. Only residents quietly coming and going in kayaks, canoes, and small fishing boats. We see our neighbors paddling by more often than we do on the shore. 

This is where I want to live, I said way back then. At the end of the world. The archipelago reminded me of Pat Conroy’s beloved low country in South Carolina. The turning back of the clock, stuck in time, almost off the grid. 

Life on an island will be made even smaller if we sell our boat.

Will we lose this connection to other islands?

When a woman I know from Houston came to Seattle on book tour she remarked, “When you’ve seen one pine tree you’ve seen them all.” I’m wondering, is it that way with islands? I think not. You can turn my husband around at sea and he can identify any island by its shape, by the contour of its hills. The islands are individuals much like trees are sentient beings.

We have talked to the kids about the boat and everyone understands. The boat is getting old, and we’re not getting younger. For one reason or another she is spending too much time in the slip. A couple of our friends recently sold their boat. Another couple were relieved when their sailboat sank. Lately a broken down expresso machine at home impacts us more than the loss of a trawler.

Haven’t I always said, the smaller the boat, the more the fun? Our time would be freed up to kayak more. Kayaks, paddleboards, a canoe, and a rowboat, such is the small fleet at home.

As my friend said on putting down her dear old ailing dog, “As much as I miss her every day, I’m thinking I may have kept her too long.”

We are living with the idea. I’ll write this up and see which way the wind blows. We’re heading out this week to the Gulf Islands, BC, and time will tell. Trawling will tell. It’s a fluid situation.

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