Wally and Josie Barrows’ connection to the Salish Sea runs decades deep. They started off as visitors but in time felt the pull to make a home on Orcas Island. The Barrows have supported SeaDoc Society’s conservation work for years and are regular attendees at our summer Wine & Sea Auction. Our research vessel and marine mammal stranding response boat, the “Nancy Bee” is lovingly named in Wally and Josie’s daughter’s memory.
We asked Josie to share a bit about her connection to the Salish Sea and Orcas Island. Thanks, Josie!
Wally and I experienced Orcas Island for the first time in 1947 and 1948. Wally was in high school and spent two summers as a counselor at Camp Orkila and fell in love with the island. Coincidentally, I visited the Maple Point Lodge those same years with my mother and was impressed by the island’s beauty.
Later, in college, we visited Orcas together to stay with friends who had summer places on the island. After we were married and had children, we decided that we should find our own place on Orcas. With our good friends the Carl Lovsted family, we purchased a beautiful waterfront property with a cabin in 1967. We shared the cabin with the Lovsted’s for 5 years and then built a separate house closer to the beach for our family.
I spent the summers on the island with our two daughters while Wally joined us on the weekends. We all enjoyed exploring the beach and sea life, digging clams, studying tide pools, fishing, and swimming. There was an abundance of seals, birds, starfish, and other sea life. We have sadly noticed over the years that there has been a decline of some of these creatures.
About 30 years ago we became full-time residents of the island. Along the way, we were introduced to SeaDoc through our daughter, Nancy Alboucq, who became a volunteer in the office. We were impressed by all the work that the SeaDoc team does to help save the Salish Sea and our environment and we are happy to contribute to their work.