Handyman and Property Care on Center Island

Center is 178 acres between Lopez and Decatur with a community marina, an airstrip, a clubhouse, and no cars. Everything I bring moves by cart or by hand.

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Landing on Center

Center is the easiest of the southern outer islands to work on, and the reason is the community's own infrastructure. There is a private marina with two main floats and side slips, a pier, and a boat ramp right beside it. Small boats can stay at the dock, larger ones load and unload and then go to a buoy. For me that means a straightforward tie-up and a short carry, which is worth more on a job day than most people would guess.

From Friday Harbor the run is about eight nautical miles direct and eleven or so the way it is actually driven, down through Upright Channel and across toward Lopez Pass. Center also sits close to Anacortes by island standards — the water taxis are roughly half an hour out of Skyline and run to the island more than once a day, and a small plane from Anacortes is about six minutes.

Speaking of which: the community owns a private turf and gravel airstrip of about 1,600 feet, listed as Center Island Airport and owned by the island association. I do not use it. I come by water. It matters to this page only because a fair number of Center owners arrive by air and travel light, which shapes what they need from someone on the ground.

Hand tools and fasteners laid out on a workbench

A cart island, and what that means for a job list

There are no automobiles on Center. People get around by golf cart or on foot, the association keeps community vehicles and year-round caretakers, and there is a clubhouse with a kitchen, laundry, showers, and a big common room that functions as the island's living room. Around 199 parcels exist on the island, mostly summer places, with a small year-round population.

The no-cars fact is not a charming detail, it is a scheduling input. Every board, every bucket, and every tool moves from the dock to your lot on a cart or on my shoulder. That favors a certain kind of work: repairs, maintenance, small carpentry, hardware, finishes, screens, deck boards a few at a time. It disfavors anything that arrives as a pallet. When I quote a Center day I am partly quoting the carry.

The housing stock is largely modest vacation homes and cabins on small lots, many of them thirty to sixty years old, most of them wood, and a good number with decks facing sheltered water. Sheltered is the operative word: Center sits in relatively protected water, so the salt-blast damage you see on Stuart is milder here. What I see instead is the classic seasonal-cabin pattern — deck boards and railings going soft where a downspout has been dumping for years, mildew and green film on the shaded siding, screens torn and never replaced, exterior doors that have racked out of square, and gutters left to fill because nobody was there in November.

Mostly summer houses, with caretakers who cannot do everything

The San Juan County comprehensive plan appendix shows about 105 dwelling units on Center against 43 occupied year-round and a population near 54 — a higher year-round share than most of the outer islands, though still well under half. Those are planning figures from 2000 census occupancy and a 2005 unit count, the most recent per-island public data available, and I am not presenting them as today's numbers.

Center has one thing most outer islands do not: resident caretakers. That is genuinely valuable and it covers common areas, the marina, and a general eye on the place. What it does not cover is your specific house, on a schedule, with a written record and photographs, and someone who will actually pick up the tools. That gap is exactly what property care and home watch fills, and it is why I would rather sell a Center owner a standing arrangement than a rescue mission in April.

Because Center is a compact island with a lot of owners who are away, it is also the single best candidate for a shared boat day. Three or four small lists on one crossing turns an expensive day into a reasonable one for everybody on it. Rates are on the pricing page, including the flat all-in boat day and why I do not offer half days on boat-access islands.

What fits, and what does not

My boat is a 16-foot skiff. It carries me, my tools, and small materials, and 20 feet is the honest ceiling on board length. On Center, add the cart carry to that limit. Realistically I bring tools, hardware, fasteners, paint and stain, trim, screen stock, and a modest bundle of boards. A deck rebuild, a siding project, cabinets, appliances, or anything that needs sheet goods gets barged to the ramp and I work off the delivered pile. Center's marina and ramp make that arrangement more workable than on most of the outer islands, and I will help you set it up rather than pretend a skiff can do it in trips.

Questions I get about Center

How does material get from the dock to my lot?

By golf cart or by hand. There are no cars on Center, so the carry is part of the job and part of what I plan for when I quote a boat day.

The island has caretakers already. Why hire home watch?

The caretakers look after the island. Home watch looks after your house specifically, on a schedule, with photographs and a written note, and with someone who can fix what is found.

Can you come out for a two-hour job?

Not on its own. The crossing costs the same either way, so I do not offer half days on boat-access islands. Group it with other work, or share the day with a neighbor.

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