Today was an enjoyable continuation of yesterday's visit. It was a fine day, ...a FINE, fine day spent just being touristy with Doug and Susan. I had a few internet chores to tend to, so I delayed my visitors until about 10am, after which Mabrouka took us for a little motor around Brown Island, just outside of Friday Harbor, in the bright, sunny weather.


Our return was perfectly timed to move to my newly assigned slip. I'd used up my one-day of free reciprocal moorage, so tonight was one I had to pay for. It was good to have Doug and Sue there to help moor up, but Sue couldn't take the stress of watching me maneuver Mabrouka in tight spaces and basically hid down below for the entire evolution.

Afterwards we went up and caught the Friday Harbor transit bus out to Lime Kiln Point for a picnic lunch with, hopefully, Orca's frolicking in the bay for hors d'oeuvres. The hors d'oeuvres didn't show up, but we enjoyed a shady nap on the pebble beach of Deadman's Bay and hiked up through the whale watching site to the lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point. I made a quick stop at the interpretive center in the lighthouse and ascertained that Orca's had been scarce to none around there so far this season. Then I took a little jaunt a bit farther north to check out the old lime kiln on the next bay, returning in time to meet Doug and Sue for the return bus about half an hour later.

The bus dropped Doug and Sue off at their motel on the return trip and I meandered around town a bit, the primary result of which is a small portfolio of pictures I took down by the tourist wharf. Look in the Friday Harbor sub-album under Local Cruising 2013. The lion's share of the photos are of a schooner, Spike Africa, that works out of Friday Harbor. Mostly I think it's just pretty, but it's also one I saw often when I sailed on San Diego Bay years ago.