A blue sky day, perfect for sailing...

We left Bowman Bay in the late morning, and while the wind during the first half of the day was stagnant, the motion of the currents helped. We made a short jump via motor to Skyline Marina on the southern coast of Fidalgo Island, and from there sailed the Guemes Channel to today's destination: Long Bay on the southeast coast of Guemes Island, where Sarah's parents and grandparents reside.

The Guemes Channel sailing was exhilarating! We put up the sails at the western entrance to the channel, between the Anacortes-San Juan ferry and the southern coast of Cypress Island. We saw many fellow sailboats cruising our way, westward, so even though we at first did not feel much wind, we were patient and slowly cruised to the southwest tip of Guemes Island, where it was clear the north wind was howling.

Briskwater picked up the pace at the behest of the northerly, pushing us equatorially at a steady 6-6.5 knots. We zipped past the Guemes Island ferry dock, coming just a few hundred feet of the eponymous traveling ferry M/V Guemes. Sarah snapped a few pictures of the craft, and I'm sure the ferry crew was waving the whole time. The length of the channel is only 4 nautical miles, and our speed made the passage feel shorter than it actually was.

Soon after crossing over the ferry crossing, we phoned Gary (Sarah's dad) to meet us at Long Bay, just north of the southeast tip of Guemes Island; our friends John and Janet have a mooring buoy that we used for stabilizing Briskwater in the bay. She is bobbing contentedly in the bay as I type this. Happily, Sarah's grandparents' house overlooks this bay, so family is still close during our travels.

Now that we are in Anacortes, the plan is to haul out Briskwater for her biennial bottom cleaning and painting. I am excited to clean and work our ship; in the coming days, many pictures will be posted of us taking care of her. That said, the only island hopping we are doing until Saturday (7/12/14) will be riding the ferry between Anacortes and Guemes. Shipwreck Day is only 11 days away! Ahoy!

Travel distance to date: 79.2 nm (all figures are approximate) I am using the distance calculator on this website to estimate our travel distance: DaftLogic
Highest speed to date (still): 7.5 kt
Gas used to date: 4.5 gal
Scariest moment to date (still): Entering Port Townsend Canal from the south with 15-25 S gusts and high tide pushing south against us in the canal.
Best pizza: It's currently a tie for last place between Port Ludlow and two places in Port Townsend.
Best spot to throw the Frisbee: The parade grounds at Fort Worden.
Best biscuits and gravy: Dad's Diner A Go-Go in Anacortes.