Among my arduous regular tasks is visiting local marinas, state parks,>and anchorages. Usually by boat, but it seems that about this time each>spring I have to write a column or two in which there is no mention of>actually arriving by boat. ­>For those folks unfortunate enough to live elsewhere, these notes from>this week's tough assignment may provide a foggy view of one of our>regional locales:>

Renegade Rose>

The five star resort at Semi-ah-moo>

The Marina at Semi-ah-moo, in Blaine, Washington offers a wide variety>of attractions and diversions. Every member of most boating families>will be well entertained during a visit to the highly regarded resort>complex, public park, and scenic beach. By paying a "per diem">charge at the hotel desk, Marina guests have access to a heated>swimming pool, steam room, sauna, exercise equipment, racquet ball>courts, a pool table, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, massage parlor,>and more. Two of the most highly regarded public golf courses in>Washington State (Loomis Trail Golf Club and Semiahmoo Golf and Country>Club) are immediately adjacent to the marina and resort complex, with>complimentary transportation available. What spectacular potential for>a pampered interlude in the middle of a more rustic summer cruise! When>we last explored Semi-ah-moo in April of 2005, we also discovered some>less highly organized activities likely to appeal to those of us who>don't exactly flourish in a typical resort environment.>

The approach to Drayton Harbor is reasonably straightforward, but first>time arrivals could find themselves aground off of Semi-ah-moo Spit>unless consulting a proper chart and respecting the navigation markers.>A shoal on the north side of the spit extends about one half mile into>the bay. An assumption that being a few hundred yards from shore would>provide adequate depth could prove embarrassing or worse: the shoal>dries all the way to the beacon pilings on many tides. Charted depths>are 5-7 feet in the properly marked channel, and the marina entrance is>near 48.59.37N, 122.46.07W. Immediately east of the Semi-ah-moo Marina>is the Port of Bellingham's Drayton Harbor Marina at Blaine, (a very>fine facility previously featured in this column).>

The transient moorage rate in 2005 is 80-cents/foot/night­. 30-amp>shorepower is an additional $3/night, with 50-amp power available for>$5. Boats up to 60-feet in length can be accommodated in slips, with>larger moorages available at the ends of the docks. The marina accepts>reservation­s, and encourages yacht clubs. A large, clean>shower/restro­om/laundry building is conveniently situated near the head>of the gangway.>Internet junkies will appreciate the wireless access provided by>Broadband Xpress. The marina fuel dock provides both gasoline and>diesel. (For reservations, please call 360-371-0440 or email>semimarina@bb­xmail.net). At one time moorage at the marina included>access to most of the hotel amenities, but the current fee schedule>does not.>

Blaine Marine Services operates a marine supply store and boatyard at>Semi-ah-moo.>Par­ts and pieces for do-it-yourself maintenance or expert and>professional service for more complex repairs are available just beyond>the marina office.>

Visiting boaters with reservations (recommended) at one of the>Semi-ah-moo golf courses will not be allowed on the course unless>dressed in traditional golf attire. "Men's shirts must have a>collar and sleeves. Shorts must be of moderate length, and hemmed.>Cut-offs, athletic shorts, or running shorts are not allowed. Tank>tops, halter-tops, tube tops, or cropped tops are not allowed." (And>don't even consider showing up in anything made of denim). Serious>golfers will appreciate the Arnold Palmer designed Semi-ah-moo golf>course, or the Loomis Trail facility famous for water hazards on>virtually every hole. PGA tournament player Jeff Coston is the resident>golf pro at Semi-ah-moo, and can be engaged for lessons.>

The golf courses are open to the public, as are the fine dining>restaurants in the Inn at Semi-ah-moo. Not everyone will be excited>about golf, tennis, racquetball, or billiards. Some boaters will spend>little or no time in the beauty salon, the exercise room, or the>massage parlor. For those less structured souls, there is a spectacular>experie­nce at Semi-ah-moo that requires only a bit of imagination and>no hotel per-diem to enjoy.>

The last resort at Semi-ah-moo>

Travel an eye-blink back in time to the middle of the 19th Century.>Stop in the decade of the 1850's. California has been admitted as a>state, the population of New York City has surpassed the 1,000,000>mark, and Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas are contesting to see>who will become the US Senator from Illinois. The spit at Semi-ah-moo>was a popular destination even then, but as a preferred campground for>Native Americans. There were no permanent settlers of European ancestry>here until the late 1850's, and even then only a handful.>

Walking along the shoreline at Semi-ah-moo today, it is easy to>appreciate some of the advantages the native people enjoyed here. The>muddy shoals on both sides of the spit would have provided a seemingly>inexhaust­ible supply of shellfish. Women in cedar bark robes and broad>brimmed hats would fill their woven baskets with clams and mussels, or>gather roots and herbs from the nearby forests. The men would catch>fish and hunt whales in the superabundant waters of Boundary Bay or the>Strait of Georgia. Fresh water springs well up from the spit and drain>into Drayton Harbor. Marauding enemy tribes would find an encampment>strategi­cally placed on the spit difficult to approach without>detection.>­

The American and European settlers arrived. In 1857, a company of about>100 US soldiers billeted at Blaine to occupy the area near the 49th>parallel and strengthen the US claims in a border dispute with Great>Britain. A troop of British soldiers camped just across the line, where>White Rock, BC stands today. Soldiers' appetites are easily>predicted, and a settler named Lear opened a store and saloon on>Semi-ah-moo spit, along with an outpost for the world's oldest>profession that military officials charitably considered a "hotel".>In 1858, the Fraser River Gold Rush brought additional trade to>Lear's enterprises, and by the time the US Army departed in 1859>there was sufficient additional commerce in the area to support the>saloon, the store, and the so-called hotel. Native people began relying>more upon trade with the store and less on hunting, foraging, and>fishing for sustenance. One chapter had closed and another opened on>Semi-ah-moo Spit.>

The border town of Blaine endured after the Boundary Commission>finished­ surveying the US/Canadian border, and early residents would>row across to the store on Semi-ah-moo Spit to buy supplies and collect>the mail.>

Nothing remains of those relatively recent times when the Native and>European cultures swirled together here, except the spit itself. A walk>along the beach is much the same as it would have been 10,000 years>ago. There is the rich smell of drying seaweed, a scent that combines a>haystack and a salt mine. The same pebbles crunch underfoot today that>were kicked aside by infantry boots in the 1850's and ignored by>rugged native feet eons before. April crows fly down to the driftwood>and gather greedy beakfuls of wide, dry sea grasses to build or repair>their nests in the hillside woodlands. One can contemplate mysteries>such as the intervals between the larger waves, or why gulls so often>cry in the same series of five identical notes.>

By the 1890's, the Tarte family had established a salmon cannery at>Semi-ah-moo. The business expanded to become the Alaska Packers>Association­ and one of the world's largest suppliers of canned>salmon. Chinese laborers were imported to clean and process the fish,>and the native population continued to decline.>

Some of the old cannery buildings, as well as a water tower from the>industrial era, still stand at Semi-ah-moo. A meandering explorer will>discover them near the head of the spit, warped siding cracked and>split with age and gray from lack of paint. The doors and windows are>boarded up, and signs warn off the unwary. The pilings supporting the>derelict structures are in various states of distress and decay.>Do times and peoples rise and fall like the tides in Semi-ah-moo Bay?>Just alongside one of the abandoned buildings on cannery row, the bones>of a small fishboat are bleaching in the sun. The hulk rests at a>crazy, unnatural angle on its port beam, planks sprung akimbo, and its>time is clearly past. Laying alongside are several traditional figures>newly carved and painted by native artists- (a horned owl is clearly>recognizabl­e as well as some human beings in broad brimmed hats). It>appears that the carvings are ready to be installed somewhere on the>grounds of the Inn at Semi-ah-moo.>

The tottering gray cannery buildings will collapse soon enough, surely>before many more decades pass, and cannery row will be gone from>Semi-ah-moo. The bones of the fishboat and the softened, baked plank>factories will be swallowed up into the enduring and windswept spit.>For how many lifetimes will the Inn, the marina, and the upstart condos>endure? While strolling the length of the spit, one considers what the>industry of man and the patient erosion of nature have allowed to>remain here. The vegetation has been humbled by the wind, consisting>primaril­y of stunted grasses and spongy succulents. There were but>three exceptions to the ground level theme of the native vegetation:>two towering, gale-ravaged snags that defiantly refuse to topple, and>(inexplicably),­ a single, renegade rose.