Thinking about moving to an island …

[Trulyvintage]

It is not a remote island by any means …

 

I am thinking about making Orcas Osland

off Anacortes, Washington my

West Coast home base.

 

I spent a month there recently and it seemed a comfortable fit for me.

 

I like the folks who call it home.

I like the area of the country.

There is only one organized car show 

a year but maybe that will change.

 

The winter is wet - gray - rainy but 

there is no snow accumulation to speak 

of.

 

Anyone else living on an island ?

 

 

Jim

 

 

[edinmass]

Island life is usually a bit slower......good for us dinosaurs and pre war cars. Only problem is with your work, having home base in the center of the country makes life easier...........and probably more profitable. I find getting cars in and out of the Pacific Northwest difficult at best......or would that turn into an advantage for you?

[Trulyvintage]

This is the first time in 15 years of hauling cars where it has been problematic getting a haul out of the Seattle area.

 

I attribute that to the change brought about by COVID which allowed folks who are still working the opportunity to choose where they want to live.

 

As a result - more folks are living full-time in the San Juan islands.

 

Orcas received fiber optic cable last year.

 

It seems more vehicles coming up for sale are staying in the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

Jim

Edited August 27, 2021 by Trulyvintage (see edit history)

[keiser31]

I think the worst thing about living on an island in a saltwater area is the salt air getting into your old cars. They will rot from the inside out.

[alsancle]

I’ve spent a lot of time on Martha’s Vineyard for work.   It sounds like fun in theory but in practice not.

[yachtflame]

I spent 42 years living on islands...or anchored next to them. All but Guadeloupe in the lower Caribbean and at one time or another all of the inhabited islands of the Bahamas. 
 Island/boat living is certainly my preference but it does come with some difficulties and down sides. EVERYTHING has to be brought in by plane or boat making them more expensive. Fruits and vegetables usually don’t last very long due to the travel time and handling. Some people have a hard time with the isolation but if you know how to entertain yourself, it’s not that much of a bother. I find that women tend to get lonelier then men do in these situations. This is something not to take lightly. 
 As for antique cars, I found myself trying to figure out what to get and how to get it there. Once there, then there’s the challenge of trying to keep it from decomposing due to the sun and salt!

 After being “set on the beach” after hurricane Irma, I have the luxury of being around my collection of antique cars and speedboats all the time but I must say that if given the choice, I’d leave it all behind to be back on a boat anchored next to an island!

[hidden_hunter]

Does this count as living on an island 🙂

[John Byrd]

Trulyvintage, you asked if anyone else lives on an island, so....  Yep, we have lived here on Hawaii Island (the Big Island) for 11 years now, and the only regret we have is that we didn't move here sooner.  It is a wonderful life for some, a "rock" for others, so you will only get your decision made for yourself if you do it yourself I'd think.  Most folks don't travel out of about a 30 mile circle in their lives..except for vacations or some job assignments, but we didn't care about that,we were looking for "happy" and sure found it. True about what Keiser31 says about rust, but that just gives you a chance to learn new skills or get another car, ha !  Things we don't miss are cold weather, thunderstorms, tornados, floods, extreme heat (we're from the South), billions of bugs, snakes, bears, large cats, possums, racoons, armadillos, "jarflies" and other night noises, varmits, packs of dogs, gunfire, trash all over the road edges, the huge amount of drunks and wrecks over in our parts, trees "dying" every fall, frost, frozen pipes, snow chains, winter clothes and shoes, well, you probably get the message by now, ha !  Our friend Bonnie lived on Orcus for nearly 70 years, and she enjoyed part of it, and hated part of it she says, and she lives here now and won't even go back to see her kids ! She says she's satisfied for the 1st time in her life.  We've never been to Orcus, and I've only been to one other island, Oahu, Hawaii, and I won't go back there....HORRIBLE crowds and traffic, but beautiful. My wife has been to all the other Hawaiian islands and tries to never have to go back to any of them, so guess you could say we're satisfied (or spoiled) with our "Heaven on Earth" here. Oh yeah, our latest car is on the way over by ship...$1750.00, so all you have to do is figure in costs for transportation and 2 or 3 weeks wait time.  BUT, there are a lot of interesting cars here on the islands to check out anyway, and that owner has already paid the freight, ha ! Good luck to ya' sir, and hope your decision makes you as happy as ours did us.

 

The ocean pic is 2400 ft down the way from our house, and am including some of the gang's cars !.

[edinmass]

Home is where you hang your hat. 

[SC38dls]

It’s only an island looking at it from the water. 
 

[TAKerry]

We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon many years ago. I never felt so isolated!  Def a beautiful place and it has a lot going for it. We were there for 2 weeks and I was glad to head back to the east coast.  I live in a pretty decent place regionally, can be in the new england area within 5 hrs and 14-16 from sunny FLA. Mid west is a hop skip and jump. To the original question, I could never live on an island.

[nick8086]

House price.. and HOA dues..

 

Price/sqft:$734 I am out at this price..

 

Or the price:  749 Spring Hill Rd, Eastsound, WA 98245

 

 

 

[Ozstatman]

1 hour ago, hidden_hunter said:

Does this count as living on an island 🙂

I'm with you h_h! 😉

[Larry Schramm]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Home is where you hang your hat. 

 

Home is where your heart is.

[yachtflame]

2 hours ago, hidden_hunter said:

Does this count as living on an island 🙂

Well, it all depends on how big something has to be to be called an island. Some people live on Long Island, some people live in England...others on Salt Island. I chose a smaller island of 65’.

[Trulyvintage]

So I am not fully retired and never plan to be - I have to fill a need regardless of where I find myself at.

 

That opportunity presented itself on Orcas almost immediately - one of the primary reasons for my train of thought.

 

I have traveled the lower 48 states extensively - mostly small towns.

 

Things on Orcas just seem to line up

for where I am in Life right now 🍀

 

 

Jim

 

[edinmass]

4 hours ago, SC38DLS said:

It’s only an island looking at it from the water. 
 

 

Your gonna need a bigger boat........and garage!

[SC38dls]

Bingo! Ed. 

[Restorer32]

Home is where you go and they can't throw you out.

[chistech]

My uncle was born and raised on Nantucket Island and his last name was the famous Coffin. He was a scalloper, and one of the top sports fisherman captains in all of New England after serving a long stint in the coast guard as a boatswain mate, FC. He also was the head of the sportsman club for many years and introduced the sharp tail grouse, the golden pheasant, and jack rabbit into the predatorless hunting habit of the island. He skippered for many famous people including Doubleday and a woman named Bidde Pauley who with him as captain, won all but one sport fish title. After he retired he suggested his replacement and she won that last remaining record title.

      Living on the island he had developed a network for his living. My dad was his best friend from the service and my family owned a meat market slaughterhouse. He was also good friends with a guy who worked at the airport and owned aphis own antique Cessna, Rocky. So Rocky would fly to New Bedford with fresh Nantucket scallops and we’d meet him at the airport, get the scallops, and send him back with fresh steaks, Portuguese linguica and chourico, and other fair like Portuguese hot peppers and “pops”(small homemade buns). 
     Another job he had was a home caretaker and took care of every house in Polpis. Because every house was in this section was closed during the winter months and he had authority from the owners, it was our own private hunting grounds especially for deer. 
   My dad would often send me to help my uncle and we would prepare each house for winter or prepare when bad weather was coming. The costs associated with this plus the constant battering of the Atlantic meant tons of upkeep from every perspective. More paint, more wood replacement, more well upkeep, more grounds upkeep, etc. Then on top of all this was the cost of the ferry back and forth either for supplies or when they needed to get a vehicle off. The cost of getting their vehicles off got so much that it cost him less to buy another vehicle, register and insure it, and leave it at his friends hanger so when he did need to come off island, the flight cost nothing and his car was there. He said it cost less for the second car than to take the ferry when he needed it. We won’t even discuss my aunt complaining about here laundry always feeling damp and having that “island smell” as she called it. Anyone who’s owned a boat and gone below deck knows that smell! Thought you might enjoy the story of a true islander and how fortunate I was to grow up taking part in that island experience. I would never consider living there. Have to admit, I live 1.5 miles from the coast here in Dartmouth and look out at the Elizabeth islands, Martha’s Vineyard, and a distant Nantucket from our towns shoreline.

[caddyshack]

Lived in Hawaii while in the Navy and loved it at first, but then I realized that I was always driving in a circle to nowhere. Give me lakes, rivers, forests, green grass and I will call it home. When you live on an island and they have an interstate highway designation, it's time to move. 

[Trulyvintage]

Chistech

 

What a great reminiscence of island life

from your youth👍

 

Key to successfully living anywhere 

is fitting in and being of service in some manner.

 

I am doing electrical work again which 

I enjoy very much.

 

I drove thru the Friday northbound traffic

on I-5 in Portland yesterday afternoon.

 

Stopped about 50 miles into Washington

to rest up - then got up at 3 am to get thru

the Seattle madness.

 

Dropping off a Westfalia in Oak Harbor.

 

Jim

Edited August 28, 2021 by Trulyvintage (see edit history)

[ol' yeller]

I live on a nearby island, Camano. The big difference with Orcas is there is a bridge to get on and off the island without having to rely on the ferry system’s schedules and cost. I find island living very different. There is a greater shortage of things here than in more populated areas. Services, both trades people and medical are scarce and more costly. Some of it is Covid related but a lot has to do with the remoteness of the island. I overlook these because the closeness of community and the less hectic lifestyle more than make up for the other. As a disclaimer, I have only actually lived here for 5 months as I spend 6 months in Florida and 6 months here. 

[Robert G. Smits]

12 hours ago, Trulyvintage said:

for where I am in Life right now

Go for "IT"  If my memory is correct from your last delivery you are old enough that the health consequences of what you are doing right now are not all positive.  Nothing is permanent. You can always move to a new chapter if this doesn't work out.

[chistech]

Jim, I really did enjoy my time with my aunt and uncle on that island. From helping him with houses, boats, to rabbit hunting, deer hunting, hanging out with binoculars overlooking nude beach ( great for a 12-13 year old boy and I suspect my 50 yr old uncle)! There was even a time when my uncle sent me down a small hill to go knock on a door to tell the woman in the house that its just “Wiggles” (my uncles nickname) group rabbit hunting around her. When she opened the door she barely had a partial night gown on, smiled, and invited me in. Stupid me, I told her no thank you and ran back up the hill. When I got up the hill the guys were all hanging out together laughing then my uncle saw me and asked, “what the hell are you doing here!”.  What I realize, and it makes me sad, is that what I experienced is now gone. Too many houses on the island, the politics of hunting, the costs associated with getting over to the island, and the fact that my uncles daughters finally decided to sell their parents house and property. But as you said, I have great memories of the island life.

[29StutzM]

In my younger days I thought how wonderful it would be to own a country farm in Northern Minnesota and drive my old vehicles on the back roads, so 35 years ago I bought one (small island included) and gave it to my folks to live on.

Five years ago I retired from my sales job in the Twin Cities area and bought a DMV in the local town to have something to do.  As they say, things change, Covid has made dream into something totally different! Endless 

impatient lines at our doors, back roads that are unsafe for antique cars because of all the folks that have moved up here and with them their ideas of how we should be living our lives.  I'm so glad my father (D-Day survivor) passed before all these changes came along, he would have been so disappointed! 

[CHuDWah]

20 hours ago, nick8086 said:

House price.. and HOA dues..

 

Price/sqft:$734 I am out at this price..

 

Or the price:  749 Spring Hill Rd, Eastsound, WA 98245

 

Me too.  But to be fair, it's an upscale house on 18+ wooded acres in a wildlife preserve with mountain and water views - location, location, location!  $70/mo is cheap as HOA fees go but the property taxes and insurance are killer.

[mike6024]

Point Roberts would be interesting.

 

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Point-Roberts_WA

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by mike6024 (see edit history)

[oldcarfudd]

I understand Point Roberts is a bit isolated these days, since the Canada/US border is closed.

[MotiveLensPhoto]

On 8/27/2021 at 6:45 PM, SC38DLS said:

It’s only an island looking at it from the water. 
 

If you look at it it's a barn, if you smell it, it's a stable.

 

Well, let's just look at it.

[Buffalowed Bill]

Welcome to the PNW. It takes a particular type of person who wants to make their home here. That last statement is only partially true. It's more mindset change that someone out of the area would have to undergo to enjoy life here. Island living notwithstanding, the area's unique attributes and limitations would be the biggest change for most of you reading this. So I'm writing this in the hopes that you can maybe understand the real breadth of a lifestyle change that he will be experiencing. Trying to compare an island in the San Juans with Nantucket, Ocracoke, The Florida Keys or Oahu doesn't do justice to the uniqueness of any of them.

 

I'm native to the area, and for me it's a no-brainer, I love the place. But I've also traveled a great deal and I say without hesitation that the lack of true understanding of the area, by most people around the country, is really sad. First adjustment he will have to make is having to forget everything he believed was true about the weather. Summers are not hot and humid or hot and dry. Then the is the winter, best described as the price we pay for the beauty that makes us stay. No it doesn't rain here all the time, but if you or he were a sun worshiper beware. From November-January the sun is mostly a memory and it's when we get half of our annual rainfall. The area's natural beauty and beautiful summers are the payment we all enjoy, but as I said before it's going to have to be a mindset change for most. Some never will be able to adjust. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Buffalowed Bill (see edit history)

[Michael J. Barnes]

Truly Vintage: — If an opportunity has come up on Orcas, take it. We are trying island life just a few skips northwest of you, on Mayne, as I have written you on the other post you started. I love the quiet. Lots of community. We go for walks and stop to talk to people who recount the history of logging back in the 1950s, or farming in the 1900s. People are always willing to share. Vancouver area (where we still have our house in the burbs) feels very hectic and stress-inducing. And true, a lot more people have escaped to all the islands since covid (and may go on working remotely indefinitely) but in a few weeks Mayne will become very quiet again through till next spring. 

[1912Staver]

Point Roberts is currently a complete disaster. Both for the US. residents and the Canadians who own a substantial percentage of the properties. Many of the Point Roberts businesses are very dependent on Canadian customers who are now completely cut off. I am sure more than a few won't survive.

I am normally there 2 or 3 times a month, but since covid no crossing the border at all. I often have considered buying a property in Point Roberts { I have visited Hundreds of times over the last 50 years } but currently that would be a exercise in futility.

[Paul Dobbin]

Be careful what you wish for, especially as you age.   A secluded home in the country with a big car barn and a simple life.

Remember Oliver Douglas and Zsa Zsa Gabor who lived in the idealic life on "Green Acres"?   Their town was Hooterville 

where The Shady Rest Hotel was later located near the Petty Coat Junction Railroad Station.   Things like educated people,

stores, doctors, handy men and mechanics and people with any sense were limited.   "Getting away from it all", means ALL.

 

[Grimy]

I've had a number of friends who moved to hinterlands when they retired at about 65, then moved back to urban areas 10-15 years later.  Some of those hinterlands were 2 hrs by road away from a sophisticated medical center, much more in snow season (wonderful area was above the snow line here in CA).  The Golden Hour for getting sophisticated medical treatment immediately after a stroke, or a serious heart attack, becomes more important to those of us in our Final Quarter  🙂  .

[Larry Schramm]

1 hour ago, Grimy said:

I've had a number of friends who moved to hinterlands when they retired at about 65, then moved back to urban areas 10-15 years later.  Some of those hinterlands were 2 hrs by road away from a sophisticated medical center, much more in snow season (wonderful area was above the snow line here in CA).  The Golden Hour for getting sophisticated medical treatment immediately after a stroke, or a serious heart attack, becomes more important to those of us in our Final Quarter  🙂  .

 

I was with my next door neighbor one day when I recognized that he was having a stroke.  I called his wife and notified her that we would be heading her way as she worked at one of the hospitals.  We got there within the "golden hour".  I gave the emergency doctors all of the pertinent information on arrival. (they were surprised I gave them all of the information except vitals which I did not have the equipment at the time.)   My neighbor came out fine from the experience with no motor losses and only lost the one hour of memory from the onset of the stroke to when they started putting drugs into him for the stroke.  Good friends & good medical care. Great textbook outcome.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Trulyvintage]

The fire department EMTs are trained physicians assistants.

 

As such they have a much higher degree of medical expertise.

 

 

Jim

[Nedion]

On 8/28/2021 at 1:47 AM, yachtflame said:

I spent 42 years living on islands...or anchored next to them. All but Guadeloupe in the lower Caribbean and at one time or another all of the inhabited islands of the Bahamas. 
 Island/boat living is certainly my preference but it does come with some difficulties and down sides. EVERYTHING has to be brought in by plane or boat making them more expensive. Fruits and vegetables usually don’t last very long due to the travel time and handling. Some people have a hard time with the isolation but if you know how to entertain yourself, it’s not that much of a bother. I find that women tend to get lonelier then men do in these situations. This is something not to take lightly. 
 As for antique cars, I found myself trying to figure out what to get and how to get it there. Once there, then there’s the challenge of trying to keep it from decomposing due to the sun and salt!

 After being “set on the beach” after hurricane Irma, I have the luxury of being around my collection of antique cars and speedboats all the time but I must say that if given the choice, I’d leave it all behind to be back on a boat anchored next to an island!

I completely agree with your words. Everything is exactly the same, word for word. If you look at this from the point of view of a man who has not had time to get married, then everything becomes even a little more complicated. no, you can find someone to chat online. There are different sites like maturetenders. But you understand that you have to go to her for real dates and it will take a lot of time. And then .. Finding a wife who would like to move to you is also more difficult .. Such things ..

[Larry Schramm]

On 9/11/2021 at 10:48 AM, Trulyvintage said:

The fire department EMTs are trained physicians assistants.

 

As such they have a much higher degree of medical expertise.

 

 

Jim

 

Not always true.  It depends on the state, locality, and the level of training from both a personal desire and a department desire/requirement.  In Michigan last time I checked there was an EMT-Basic, and EMT-Paramedic.  Paramedic is the higher level of training.  They are authorized to administer drugs based on local protocols.   Physicians Assistants/ PA's are even a higher level of training than a Paramedic. I believe they have a training level above an Registered Nurse/ RN.  All levels of training have their place in assisting individuals having a medical issue.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Trulyvintage]

Larry

 

As I stated - the fire department EMT’s

have physician assistant training because there is money - but no hospital on the island and most of the residents are elderly.

 

 

Jim