North South East or West?

February 26, 2021 – North South East or West? At first our plan was to go north; however we made little progress up the channel against the wind despite the tide in our favor. We changed course to head south down to Whale Rocks instead. As we sailed by the resting harbor seals near Danger Rock winds were calm and it was quite pleasant. Wasn’t long before winds started increasing giving us a fast sail down the channel. It was time to reef the sails and evaluate the scene. As we approached Shark Reef we scanned to the south and saw breaking waves over Whale Rocks! Griffin Bay was filling with white caps and spray was coming over the bow so we decided to call it and turn back around. As we continued north winds dropped to almost nothing and we needed to start the engine. But before doing so we brought out a birthday cake for one of our passengers as we drifted in the warm sunshine. We cut behind Canoe Island and found some river otters calling out as they swam along the Shaw shoreline. Funny watching them as they scurried up the hillside and ran parallel to us through the forest. Crossed over to Upright Head and back along the Lopez coast to Flat Pt before sailing across San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor.