2018 Orcas Island Fly-in

The first weekend in August, the Eastsound EAA chapter sponsors a fly-in and campout at KORS. KORS is located on Eastsound in the San Juan Islands, WA.  I have attended several times over the last decade and this year, I invited a couple of passengers to fly up and camp out with us. The 182 was our aircraft of choice as it can typically handle four passengers and camping gear. When we fly as a family with full fuel and cargo, the 182 is well within loading limits. But this year we had two non-family members who had their own camping gear and along with their combined passenger weight required some scrutiny in aircraft loading. After punching in the numbers in the Garmin Pilot weight and balance feature and using the ‘Quick Set Fuel’ option, we we’re good to go with 56 gallons of fuel and all of our stuff, while remaining just under max weight and within the flight envelope.

We loaded the airplane with two tents, four sleeping bags, camp chairs and miscellaneous items, and departed KSLE late Saturday morning for the planned two-hour flight. The flight north bound took us over Olympia, Bremerton, Port Townsend and then after getting a clearance with Whidbey NAS, we transitioned the class C airspace into the San Juan’s. You can navigate into the San Juan’s around the class C airspace, but on a weekend, traffic in that area can be pretty crazy so getting radar services is a good idea. We probably had half a dozen traffic advisories from the controller while crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca into Eastsound. After getting dropped by Whidbey we setup for a right pattern for runway 34 at KORS.

When we landed, there were a lot of airplanes and tents lining the taxiway and we were marshaled into a spot on the grass where we pushed the airplane in and setup camp.

After getting the campsite situated, we made the short walk into town for a late lunch and a trip to the grocery store to pick up snacks. One of the things I like best about this fly-in is that EAA hosts a pot-luck dinner on Friday and Saturday night and the Orcas fire department hosts a pancake breakfast at the fire station across the street from the airport on Saturday and Sunday morning so you don’t have to pack a lot of food for the trip. 

After a nice lunch at a local cantina in town called Mijitas, we walked back to the airport for some relaxing time at the campsite and to enjoy looking at all the different airplanes including some vintage models. 

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at the fire station and packed up the airplane for our next stop on the San Juan adventure. The plan was to do some kayaking and we had planned to fly to Friday Harbor and rent some kayaks for a few hours to tool around the harbor. But after checking the weather, KFHR was fogged in with a 100’ overcast. Fortunately, the marine layer in the San Juan’s doesn’t affect all of the islands all the time as KORS was clear and so was Roche Harbor (WA09). With that info we departed Orcas and made the 10-minute flight to Roche where we rented some kayaks and paddled around the marina and adjacent waters. Post kayaking, we grabbed some lunch at the Marina and headed home.

Marine Layer

Approach Into Roche Harbor