Island Walks

1954 65 Year Old Woman Swims to Anacortes. Mrs. Marge Thompson of South Beach makes the trip on a driftwood log every Summer for years.

1957 Elderly South Shore Couple End Ferry Journey Early. Accidentally accelerating off the old ferry Guemes before reaching the dock, the eighty year-olds meet bystanders' waves and shouts of alarm with hellos...and goodbyes.

1960 Vandals Fail Late Night Exit of Guemes. A developer's D-9 Caterpillar tractor was launched from the bluff at Refinery Point.

1972 Bride Groom Challenges Guemes Channel. At midnight before his wedding day, Ted Harper vowed to make the swim to town, saying, "If I make it, I was meant to marry this woman." He marries her.

1975 Ferry Rider Can't Wait to Get Home. In view of skipper Ray Separovitch, Banjo Eddie dives from the bow of the ferry Almar. He survives the swim to shore.

1979 North Beach Sisters take the Plunge. Jenny and Sally Stapp swim out to Jack Island... They came back.

1981 Island Lad Finds Body. Dan McCracken discovers unfortunate from town washed up at Deadman's Cove. As Bud Hanson always said, "The best beach combing spot in the San Juans."

-Kit Marcinko, 2004