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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Decatur Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Decatur Island and the surrounding area.
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above
website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed
sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above,
we pass this GPS location for Decatur Island:
- 48.507279, -122.806306
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Decatur Island
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected San Juan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Juan County
- Since Decatur Island is near Skagit County and also Island County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Skagit County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Island County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Decatur Island
Curious and Interesting Names Near Decatur Island ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Argyle
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Dewey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dewey is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
- Doe Bay
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Doe Bay is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Bay
- Dolphin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dolphin is located in San Juan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin
- Friday Harbor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Howards Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Howards Corner is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Corner
- Indian Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Village is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
- Orcas
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sharpes Corner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sharpes Corner is located in Skagit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpes Corner
- Urban
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Decatur Island to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Decatur Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Decatur Island and extending to:
- Friday Harbor, which is the Seat of San Juan County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Decatur Island to Friday Harbor, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,340 miles [3,765.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 92 days and walking would take 133 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,721 miles [10,816.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,482 miles [12,041.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,618 miles [9,041.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Decatur Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <4> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Decatur Island to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Decatur Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.5073, Longitude: -122.8063 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.306 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.975 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.002 degrees. |
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