Journal
The
NEWS | League of Women Voters looks at housing issues [3] HISTORY | Exploring the islands’ orchards [8] CULTURE | Terry Ogle profile [13]
WEDNESDAY, September 16, 2015 n VOL. 108, NO. 37 n 75¢
A lost art | Draft horses
Whale watching crew rescues diver
By Cali Bagby Editor
Staff photo / Anna V. Smith
Above: Greg Lange walks with his two draft horses Sonny and Toots in a training session at Talking Horse Farm. The horses stay fit by pulling 30 foot logs and containers full of rocks.
Right: Sonny lowers his head for Lange so he can put the bridle and blinders on. The six foot tall horse is calm and easy going, and doesn’t scare easily, important traits for such a large and strong animal.
The use of draft horses on the islands dates back to the pioneers who used them for agriculture, logging and clearing farmland By Anna V. Smith Journal reporter
Before moving to the island, Greg Lange described himself as an endurance junkie. His habits included marathons, extreme skiing, intense hikes and basically “anything that had to do with endurance.” So it’s fitting that he got into working with draft horses, which requires an immense amount of strength and fortitude. “They’re just big power athletes, is what they are,” said Lange, who previously worked as a healthcare administrator, as he ran his hand along Sonny’s back, ending with a pat. Sonny, the six foot tall, 2,000 pound American Belgian draft horse stands quietly, brushing his head against the pine tree
and sighing occasionally. Sonny’s daughter Toots, a half Belgian and half Clydesdale, stands next to him calmly, her dark mane warm in the summer sun. “It’s always a good thing when they sigh, it means they don’t have any anxiety and the world’s a pleasant place,” Lange said. Lange’s business is Draft Works Logging, located on San Juan Island at Talking Horse Farm off Roche Harbor Road. He moved here for the tight-knit community with agricultural roots. Though Lange is new to the island, draft horses are most certainly not. According to Kevin Loftus of the San Juan Island Historical Museum, draft horses were regularly used for heavy duty
work on the island for plowing and logging. A unique use for them was loading large glacial rocks in what was called a “stone boat,” or a metal sled, to clear lands for agricultural use. Loftus said the piles of removed glacial rocks can still be seen on the side of some fields, especially at American Camp where they’ve been specifically preserved. “None of us here are more than two or three generations removed from having used these animals,” Lange said. “They’re such noble creatures, it’s hard not to get caught up in that.” Lange contracts to small farmers and property owners to thin See TRADITIONS, Page 4
A whale watching vessel captain responded to a call for help near Orcas Island last week, begging the question, what does it mean to be surrounded by water when disaster strikes? “We want to take care of our citizens,” said Bryce Hamilton, who operates boats for Outer Island Expeditions. He is a unique asset to the island because he is also a firefighter and paramedic. So when the call to the U.S. Coast Guard came down the line on the afternoon of Sept. 6 about a scuba diver in respiratory distress 500 feet off Raccoon Point located on the northwest side of Orcas Island, Hamilton knew he could help. He was in a nearby location off of Port Lawrence manning the Blackfish Express as it returned from a whale watching tour. Hamilton was on the closest boat to the diver so he told passengers on the Blackfish that they would be taking a detour – one that could likely mean the difference between life and death. “If the diver had the bends they could have died,” said Hamilton. “We let the customers know we are going to utilize the boat to save a man’s life.” Hamilton estimates that within a few minutes they had the diver on their boat. Luckily, a nurse was onboard and volunteered to assist, allowing Hamilton to concentrate on driving the Blackfish. “He [the diver] was having trouble and coughing up blood,” Hamilton recalled. In another five minutes, the Blackfish was at Brandt’s Landing, where an ambulance was waiting to transport the patient to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hamilton said the diver is now in a stable condition. This is not the first time the whale watching boat has assisted in a medical emergency. Three weeks ago a person on the remote Patos Island went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a bee. Hamilton said that in that instance they loaded their tour clients off the boat and members from Orcas Fire and Rescue
boarded the vessel to respond to the situation. Acting Fire Chief Miklos Preysz said while Orcas Island Fire and Rescue has no formal contracts with private or commercial boats, whale watching boat operators like Outer Island Expeditions have been relied on in emergency situations. “Time is of the essence,” said Preysz when it comes to who responds to emergencies on the Salish Sea. The U.S. Coast Guard, San Juan Ferry and Barge, Camp Orkila’s vessel, the Canadian Coast Guard’s hovercraft and the San Juan County Sheriff ’s boat are also resources for water rescue. Preysz has even used his personal boat in times of trouble like when Downriggers Restaurant in Friday Harbor burned down several years ago. He estimates that each year they get 12 to 22 incidents called in from the water or outer islands. Living on the islands makes for idyllic conditions, but the marine environment often complicates matters when accidents occur. “Sometimes people forget what it means to be surrounded by water,” said Hamilton.
Real Estate in the
San Juan Islands September 2015
Published the third Wednesday of each month by the Journal of the San Juan Islands, Islands’ Sounder and Islands’ Weekly
Contributed photo
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Real Estate in the San Juan Islands
See inside for August’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.