Last summer, parishioners of St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford began what they hoped would be for them an annual tradition, a Parish Cruise. In 2011, St. Matthew’s parishioners, including, Bishop Michael, Rev. David Price and some other guests took an evening harbor dinner cruise out of Bellingham where a good quantity of fresh cracked crab was consumed. This year, 28 parishioners embarked from Bellingham Harbor at 9:30am for a fully narrated tour through the San Juan Islands.
Whales were spotted around lunchtime and were breaching on both sides of the boat. The boat started listing each time passengers went dashing from side to side as the whales were swimming underneath the boat and emerging on the other side, being playful. This delighted the 120 passengers on the 100 foot tour boat.A delicious barbecue style lunch with hearty side dishes and desert was served on board followed by a two hour stop at Friday Harbor, where some went shopping (it is an arts and crafts centre), some went to the Orca Museum and others went to the pub. Friday harbor is located on San Juan Island and is the major commercial centre of the San Juan Islands archipelago and it is the county seat of San Juan County, Washington.
The weather was beautiful and the tour concluded with the boat docking backing in Bellingham at 5:30 pm.
Images: Top and home page, an Orca. Middle right, St Matthews folks including our reporter (on right with white Tilley), Carol Keighley enjoy the cruise, seated beside Carole left to right, Douglas MacAdams. former Mayor of Abbotsford, George Ferguson and his wife Ria. Below, the 28 St. Matthews folks prepare to embark from Bellingham Harbor.
PHOTOS: Greg Fensome, Peter Keighley