title: Magic Islands: A Treasure-Trove of San Juan Islands Lore
author: David Richardson
description: Since its first appearance in 1964 this delightful little book on the magic San Juan Islands has gone through several editions and numerous reprintings to become a real classic. Newly revised and up-to-date for today's generation of readers, this affectionate survey of the San Juans - replete with the legends and romance that make the Islands such a special place - is still the very best book of its kind. Magic Islands will add to the fun of every visitor and island-dweller. It contains descriptions of the San Juan as they are today, adds a bit of the Islands' history  for flavor and hazards a peek at what the future may hold for this special place many call "paradise."
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  # Prologue
  
  
  Return of the God of Magic.
  
  
  None_Signal_Island.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  They were not recorded on any map or sea chart.
  
  
  They were not treated as land under international law and they were not
  indexed for determining national territory or exclusive economic zones.
  
  
  However, all local fishermen who knew those areas of the ocean knew of these
  “islands” and would never approach them.
  
  
  They were known as a Sargasso, a ship graveyard.
  
  
  But when magicians used that term, it did not refer to the area around the
  Gulf of Mexico. It referred to the mountain of sea wreckage that naturally
  gathered in areas of sea which met certain conditions: several currents
  striking each other, flotsam and driftwood gathering together like in the
  drain of a sink, and a reef