August 17, 2020 – We cast off and sailed north on the flood current with a pass by Low Island to see the harbor seals. Great winds for sailing today as we crossed the channel wing on wing to Limestone Pt and up to Green Pt. Hugging the north side of Spieden Island we found several bald eagles and many Mouflon sheep. Branching out in Haro Strait we scanned for blows before coming back in to explore the beauty of New Channel. Loads of harbor seals were hauled out warming up on the rocks. We weaved our way around the bull kelp forests and drifted on the current back to the Cactus Islands.
With good winds we had a great sail south of Flattop Island across to Orcas Island. Hugging the pretty coastline down and through Spring Passage we came inside the Wasp Islands before sailing across to Pt Caution. We hugged the San Juan coastline down and returned to beautiful Friday Harbor. It was a really fun half day adventure.
Cute steam engine ship
Harbor seals on Low Island
Mouflon sheep on Spieden Island
Pair of bald eagles
What we call “Elephant Rock”
Pigeon guillemot nesting in the eye of the elephant
A look at Spieden Island
Harbor seals on the rocks in New Channel
Bull kelp forest near Ripple Island
Looking west in New Channel
Route Map 8-17-20