Good winds for sailing

June 14, 2020 – North, south, east or west. We left the dock with a thought in mind to go south based on a gray whale sighting; however winds were strong from the south and sea conditions were 1-2 footers and building throughout the earlier part of the day. With a nice fast sail we crossed over towards the bottom of Shaw Island to get a look down San Juan Channel scanning for blows and checking sea state. Conditions were a bit much and the gray whale was lost in the choppy seas so in the end we changed course to head north where we had the wind behind us and the tide in our favor.

Downwind wing on wing we moved quickly up the channel to the Wasp Islands and on to Jones Island. We changed course to check out Flattop Island National Wildlife Refuge and we were glad we did. Many harbor seals were hauled out on the north side protected from the winds and there were dozens of pigeon guillemots hanging out calling to each other with their high pitched vocals. A lone black oystercatcher took a break from foraging along the shoreline to watch us sail by.

From there were decided to cross over to another one of our favorite places known as New Channel. The winds dropped substantially in the channel giving us a peaceful sail through the Cactus Islands and over to Spieden Island. A light rain shower passed through so we headed out into Haro Strait to get away from it whilst scanning for blows. We then came about to pass by the harbor seals on Sentinel Rock and cruised along the south side of Spieden. Many Mouflon sheep were grazing along the shoreline marching together in a line as we sailed by.

Strong winds really picked up in San Juan Channel so we ducked in behind the Wasp Islands to enjoy some peacefully sailing through a maze of islands before returning back to port.