First sail of the season

April 29, 2019 – Incredible first sail of the season. Great winds for sailing and bald eagles around every turn. So many eagles it could’ve been called a ‘bald eagle tour’ as mentioned by one of our guests. We saw about 20 eagles total.

After setting sails with the new main sail set to second reef we exited the harbor and spotted a steller sea lion smacking a very large fish around making a huge splash with each throw. Tacking back and forth up San Juan Channel weaving in and out of the Wasp Islands the harbor seals slept and wild flowers were in full bloom.

Lots of harbor seals were hauled out on the SE side of Flattop Island warming up in the sun. We drifted through the Cactus Islands, hugged the forested north side of Spieden and sailed out into Haro Strait. Just before Turn Pt Lighthouse an immature bald eagle (or was it a golden eagle?) was enjoying dinner on the shoreline.

We sailed Boundary Pass all the way to White Rock where a pair of bald eagles was perched at the top and a pair of black oyster catchers were at the bottom. A large group of cormorants was perched on the east side roosting. We ate our supper while drifting south and enjoyed some warm tea and cider before returning to port.