Capt. Jon Z.
Traveling by sea, then by land, then by sea, then by land, then by sea, then by land...
Starting from Roche Harbor at about 1:30 pm, we took an east toward Orcas Island because we were making our slow, deliberate way to Guemes Island.
The sailing was great once we exited Spieden Channel (between Spieden Island and San Juan Island) and moved into San Juan Channel. While the winds were indecisive in Spieden, they were consistent and hardy south gusts in San Juan Channel.
We sailed along at 3.5 knots to cross the channel to the north side of Jones Island, after which we turned south into Spring Passage, between Orcas and Jones Island. Since the wind was still strongly south, Zak and I tacked southward through the passage until it was time to turn northeast into Deer Harbor. Zak is turning into quite the efficient sailor.
Inside Deer Harbor, we traveled to the marina, where the Queen City Yacht Club (Sarah's and my marina club in Seattle) rents space enough for 3-4 boats. At first, the two yachts tied up to the QCYC docks did not leave enough room for
Briskwater, but upon seeing our club burgee being flown, the captains of the yachts moved their boats to make room for our little boat. The advantage of having our home marina rent space at another marina is that club members stay at the away marina for nearly free (compared to all the other marina prices).
As our goal was to make it to Guemes to see family and the annual citywide yardsale in Anacortes, we had to keep moving after mooring the boat. We hopped on our bikes and rode along the Orcas roads 7.5 miles (not nautical miles) to the Orcas ferry. The 8:45 pm ferry was our next mode of transportation, and by the time it landed in Anacortes (at 10:10 pm, 30 minutes after they had it scheduled), it was dark. We hopped onto our bikes once more, and with Zak lighting the way with the one headlamp (he brought his, we forgot ours, whoops), we rode 3.5 miles to the Anacortes-Guemes ferry, penultimately riding the 11:00 pm ferry to Guemes. From there, we loaded our bikes into Gary's truck, and finally settled into Sarah's parents' house on Guemes Island (around midnight).
So to recap, we traveled by one sailboat, two ferries, two bike trips, and one short truck ride for a total of about 31 total miles traveled, with only the last 2 miles spent riding in a car. What a day! I'm tired just thinking about it.
Briskwater travel distance to date (7/18/14): 130.7 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): 10.5 kt
Gas used to date: 10.0 gal
Scariest moment to date (still): Trying to enter Thatcher Pass from the southeast while the northeast current (5-6 kt) pushed us dangerously close to the giant exposed Lawson Rock.
Best pizza eaten: Pizza at the Dock in Friday Harbor
Best spot to throw the Frisbee: Near Anderson's General Store on Guemes Island with the bros and Sarah.
Best biscuits and gravy (still): Dad's Diner A Go-Go in Anacortes.