A Lovely Flight to Friday Harbor One Sunday

Posted Feb 6, 2022

It was a lovely day. Why not go for a flight? A story, mostly in pictures, because so pretty!

Start the motor. Pilot's eye view of the cockpit. Norbert the dragon looks back, to remind us to fly safe:

Photo of the interior of a Champ 7EC cockpit

Take off from 34L at Paine Field. Boeing's facility, off to the right, is busy cranking out planes (but not today):

Photo out the cockpit as we lift off from the runway, about 100 feet up

The Mukilteo ferry at the dock, and this gorgeoous low fog layer. This is just off the end of runway 34L, looking west:

Photo of a ferry boat at dock from above, showing the coastline, and a feathery layer of clouds fading into solidity behind the ferry

Off to the east, the mountains are brilliantly clear, past the fog layer, in which ships lurk:

Photo of a low layer of cottony clouds, then the city of Everett, then the Cascade mountains for the background

Ahead, to the north, the Skagit valley is spread before us, under a nearly cloudless sky:

Photo showing Norbert the little stuffed dragon in the foreground, and the Skagit valley under a blue sky

Off to the right, Anacortes slides by from 4500 feet up, and the San Juan islands spread before us. A sneaky fog bank lurks to the south (we're looking west now), but it'll probably stay over the water:

Photo of islands in the distance, and Norbert the dragon in the bottom of the frame

As we get close to the airport, the city of Friday Harbor passes by on the right. This is around 1300 feet up, descending into the traffic pattern of the airport, which is just to the left of this frame:

Photo of Friday Harbor, which is mostly visible as a large collection of boats on the water

On the ground at Friday Harbor, and tied up securely, at the end of a line of other planes. A sunny Sunday is guaranteed to bring out the pilots, anxious to spread their wings after being cramped into the hangar with all the clouds and rain winter always brings to Seattle:

Photo of a line of airplanes, Norbert the Champ prominent in the foreground

Downtown Friday Harbor is relatively hopping. I actually had to wait for a few minutes in the deli where I got my sandwich (rare in the off season, quite common in summer).

Photo of downtown Friday Harbor, in the last block before the water, on Spruce Street

One ferry was in the dock, apparently empty, as I passed the roundabout on the way to the covered tables where I normally eat:

Photo of the marina at Friday Harbor, a large Washington State Ferry docked prominently against a backdrop of trees and blue sky

The view from my lunch spot:

Photo showing a metal table in the foreground, with a bright expanse of boats in the marina out beyond the roof structure

After a calm and pleasant lunch of veggie sandwich, watching a few people walk past on the path, I walked out to the end of the dock, where I was able to catch the outbound ferry, which had docked while I was eating:

Photo of a ferry framed nicely between two spits of land, and a vast expanse of water leading up to it

I tried making a panorama photo of the whole scene, but it's pretty weird.

Panoramic photo showing the dock, the water, the ferry as a tiny speck of white in the distance, and the surrounding islands. It's kind of surreal looking, since the dock is warped into a U shape by the stitching process.

I thought this view of powerboats was striking, but it didn't make as good a photo as it did a view in person:

Photo of a line of powerboats docked, with a clear blue sky swooped by a long thin cloud

I took this photo, and knew exactly what the caption would be: "Nice locker."

Photo of a rusty locker, which has the name D JONES stenciled on it. Ha ha.

On my return to the airport, I spotted this Pitts S-2A. It's rare to see biplanes in the wild, so I always stop by when I do.

Photo of a bright orange biplane with yellow accents

I had a conversation with one other pilot who saw me looking at the biplane, and thought I was the pilot. Then, as I was preflighting my plane, the biplane's actual pilot arrived, so I walked over and chatted with him for a minute. He was in a distinct hurry, wanting to get home to Boeing Field before the sun set, which reminded me I needed to get a move on as well. Friday Harbor looked cool as we climbed out from runway 34:

Photo of downtown Friday Harbor with long shadows as the sun descends in the west

As I climbed out, it was clear things were going to get real nice looking, so here, have a slew of images that are just dang pretty:

Photo of the sun low to the horizon, off the right wing. Littly puffy clouds in the sky, low fog over the water.

Photo of clouds and low fog

Photo of Norbert the dragon in front of a striking dark blue sky with puffy white clouds, and rippled fog below

Photo of the sun just off the wing, reflecting off the water, with rippled fog over the water

Photo of the same scene, but with less sun

Photo of Norbert in front of a deep blue sky with puffy clouds

Photo of a vaguely surprised looking Norbert, from the side, looking out past the right wing to the rapidly setting sun over a patchwork of islands and water

Photo looking back under the left wing, where dappled clouds reflect clearly in the water

Photo showing Norbert in front of a luscious sky, with Paine Field in the background, about 5 miles away

Photo of the sunset, where a dark cloud occludes the ceruelan sky; it fades down to yellow-orange at the horizon, where the sun is hiding behind a distant cloud

A rather close-up photo of Norbert, with a sunset-washed Mt. Rainier in the background

We made it down at Paine Field in the nick of time, pulled up at the fuel pump, and dashed out the door to catch this picture before the sunset fire faded from the clouds:

Photo of Norbert the plane, on the ground at the self-serve fuel pumps, with fading sunset clouds in the sky

That was a nice flight, though the dash home against the 27 knot headwind was definitely... a thing. I do enjoy a nice clear-weather day in winter. So rare, and so lovely when they happen.