Towering sailboat masts perfectly duplicated in smooth-as-silk water…In the often peaceful waters of marinas, there appears to be two of everything, with the sunny sides of boats seemingly painted on the fluid canvases of harbors.

Whenever we travel, marinas are always magnets for us. Jeff and I have done quite a bit of boat chartering in the past, and we have great memories of being on the water in the San Juan Islands and north into Canada’s Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound. Living aboard a boat is both exciting and tranquil and has occasionally taken us to the edge of safety, but fortunately never beyond. Fog, storms, and an injury have been our challenges, but that’s a story for another day.

Perfect weather greeted us this September in Anacortes, Washington, where we spent a night before boarding a Washington State ferry to Sidney, B.C. On a peaceful, blue-sky day, I wandered the Cap Sante Boat Haven looking down at the reflections as much as up at the boats! Of course, there were the unexpected interruptions of a sea lion surfacing and rippling the smoothness, or the heron who landed on a nearby finger pier, garnering all my attention. I lingered until the light was golden, not wanting to miss the most perfect beauty of what God created. My camera was stuffed full of images, and now, anytime I want, I can revisit all of that precious day.

Shutter Wonders offers several blank note cards with boats and a variety of backdrops – Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Seattle, and the Space Needle.