San Juan Islands WA - The San Juan Preservation Trust purchased Vendovi Island, a 217 acre private island located in the San Juan Islands. The trust paid $6.4 million for the island which was less than half the asking price.

 

Late high tech pioneer John Fluke bought Vendovi Island in 1966, and his family decided to put it up for auction this fall. The asking price prior to the auction was $14.5 million. The San Juan Preservation Trust came up with $3 million in donations and a $3.4 million low-interest loan from San Juan residents.

 

The heavily forested, largely undeveloped island is just south of Lummi Island and sandwiched between three other San Juan Islands with Samish Island to the southwest, Guemes Island to the south and Sinclair Island to the west. The Beautiful Chuckanut Drive on the mainland is 3 nautical miles to the east of the island. Vendovi island is 7 miles north Anacortes WA and has no ferry service. The island has six beaches, a four-bedroom house and a harbor protected by a rock breakwater.

 

No public access will be allowed while an inventory of the island's resources are conducted and a management plan is developed, but the trust says a public park is a long-term possibility.