Captain Chis owned the William Garden designed Orcas Belle. For a number of years he lived in makeshift a dwelling (shown in this photo) on Sucia Island in the San Juans. Sucia Island is a State Park, and the Washington State Department of Parks and Recreation, tried to force him off the island. Eventually they did, but Chris didn't move far ....
In spite of living in this makeshift dwelling, Chris was quite well off. All of Sucia was owned by the state except a tiny islet, located in Fossil Bay, one of the two main anchorages at the island. The State may have thought they had won when Chris left, but he just moved to this islet which he had purchased and named Chistmas Island. He built himself an A frame house, and says he brought over alot of building materials including a large cast iron stove, aboard the Orcas Belle. Captain Chris hung flower pots from the trees and fed the many chipmunks and squirrels on Christmas Island. The Orcas Belle was moored at the Island during the off season or when not under charter.
I met Captain Chris when I worked on Sucia Island for a summer. He was a great guy and he made a great Irish Stew on that huge cast iron stove he had brought over on the Orcas Belle.
