HOOD HEAD ISLAND — Every year on the vernal equinox, they come by boat to the island to celebrate an annual rite of spring — the resurrection of the dragon that guards the entrance to Hood Canal.
“Without this rebirth, everything would be wrong with the world,” said Joe Chesledon.
Every year for the past 12 years, Chesledon has organized an spring equinox party for property owners and their friends on Hood Head, the island just north of the Hood Canal Bridge.
The purpose — to celebrate the return of spring by rebuilding the driftwood dragon that stands on the tip of Whiskey Spit after winter storms knock it down.
“I talk to a lot of boaters who go up and down the canal who don’t know the history — they think it appears magically,” said Stephen Rich, who comes ever year from Gamble Bay for the party.
The dragon, which look out on Puget Sound, is a popular sight for boaters, Rich said.
Made of large curved pieces of driftwood which rises up out of the sand, it is approximately 75 feet long from head to tail.
If the pieces haven’t suffered too much damage, the job of rebuilding the beast each year involves redigging holes and setting the head, backbone pieces and tale up again, then adding new spines.
