Home & Garden
Scene
Making the most out of your biggest investment
Love of family keeps this birthday girl young PAGE 9
INSIDE: 8-PAGE PULL-OUT
Editorial
Fewer pronouncements, more dialogue: a ‘sit-down’ with the membership might serve OPALCO well PAGE 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Vol. 108 Issue 15
Fully functional: a floating home Sailor seeks self-sufficiency in the San Juans By Emily Greenberg Journal Reporter
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Above; an employee of Anchor Management, caretaker of the Friday Harbor ferry terminal, determines who has a reservations and who does not, and stages automobiles accordingly for mid-afternoon ferries leaving Friday Harbor.
Ruckus over reservations Flurry of complaints unfold as WSF seeks to fine-tune its program By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
If you’re feeling stressed out or frustrated about making reservations to ride the ferries, well, you’re not alone. A crossfire of complaints greeted representatives of the state ferry system and local elected officials at a recent reservation system public outreach session. The lion’s share of the standing-room-only crowd at the April 9 meeting at the Mullis Street fire station, a WSF-led information gathering event, found little solace in statistics showing the reservation system led to an overall reduction in overloads and decrease in traffic congestion since its launch at the start the winter sailing schedule. Nor did many seemed swayed by results of a recent “reservation-holder” survey, in which more than 75 percent of 4,248 respondents said WSF’s reservation website is “easy to use” and more than 80 percent described the terminal “check-in” system as either “good” or “excellent” (the survey, sent out to 14,626 reservation-holders, generated a 28 per-
cent rate-of-response). Instead, most in the room, about 55 in all, echoed sentiments similar to those shared by Steven King, and would prefer to see the whole system scrapped. “It’s not working for us,” said King, an island resident of 22 years and self-described non-user of computers or cell-phones. “Our life has been changed, not necessarily by the legislature but by the ferry system itself. I’m going to work against that.” Even early converts have found themselves frustrated when complications beyond their control arise. “It was working for me, until this last Wednesday,” said Marie DiCristina, who accompanied a friend to a medical appointment off-island that lasted longer that expected. They missed a reserved sailing and a series of aggravations followed, including failed attempts to make a change in reservations via the telephone, she said. Given the growing number of internet security breeches, David Eden described having to use a credit card to make a reservation as “outrageous.”
Complaints come in all size
The list of grievances ranged from the specific, such as the reliance on credit cards and internet See RESERVATIONS, Page 4
Some sailors dream of south pacific landfalls, while others hope to round Cape Horn. For full-time live aboard sailor Chris Troutner, a life of sailing and self-sufficiency, with a homeport in the San Juan Islands, will do just fine. “I’ve worked my whole life to live in this place,” said the 32-yearold Troutner. “I feel like it’s been this slow migration north.” And north he will continue to go, through the San Juans and Gulf Islands, into Desolation Sound and onwards towards Alaska all beginning, well, now. Troutner cut the proverbial dock lines from his marina slip in Anacortes the first week of April. Getting to this point was a long time coming, eight years in the making, even earlier if you count from when he first developed an affinity for the islands. It all started as an adolescent. Born and raised outside of Portland, Ore., Troutner took his first trip to Sucia Island when he was seven. From then on he begged his parents to take a San Juan vacation or send him to his aunt and uncle’s house in Bellingham for one week every summer. Troutner graduated from college with a degree in electrical engineering and went straight to work, but never lost touch with his original intention to spend as much time as possible in the islands. In fact, it intensified. He decided he wanted to live in the area full time. Post college graduation in Oregon, Troutner worked his way north to Seattle. From mega-cor-
Winner of six 1st place awards in Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2014 BNC, 17 in all
p orat ions to little start-ups, he was paying dues in the workforce until everything changed. “ I ’ v e worked for some really Chris Troutner good companies, but working in a cube has been hell,” he said. “I don’t have the temperament to be a good employee.” So, he began engineering, building and selling electrical bicycles and a customer offered to trade a sailboat for a custom-built bike. See HOME, Page 4
Real Esta te
in the
San Juan
Islands April 201 5
Contributed
photo
PO Box 171
Eastsound, WA 360.376.2145 98245 www.orcasisland realty.com
Views from
Published the Journal of the San Juanthird Wednesday of each month Islands, Islands’ by the Sounder and Island s’ Weekly
Timber Fram
e
Stunning Wat
erfront
Beautifully 2.5 baths. crafted Timber frame Open floor home on open to plan with 5 acres, large decks with 3 bedroom a lovely an apartm and water s and ent, garage, views! Lower kitchen and living plus shop spaces that space. Greatlevel has separate entrance value and to seller financing .
$525,000
MLS# 61713
1
A west-facing Magnificent waterfront home surroun views. Designe ded by a Eastsound. Dramatic vaultedd by architect Williamlush, beautifully landscap guest house. ed 5-acre park. Trogdon, FAIA. skylighted Waterfront ceiling in the access, 2 permitte 2242 sf main Only 5 minutes from d buoys. house and 2 BR/2 Ba
$1,295,000
MLS# 47465
9
Brent Rameno Kathryn Sherman
fsky
photo
Harvey Olsan Lisa Botiller
Locally Own
Mary
ed and OperClure ated
Victoria Shaner Asya Eberle
Real Estate in the San Juan Islands
See inside for March’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.