At the end of seven days and six nights aboard the Regal Jug, a 23 foot “Pocket Cruiser,” we were still speaking and still friends. Dave and Adrian each took one of the pipe berths and Judy and I had the Vee berth in the bow. Each night was the routine of shuffling the daytime equipment out of the way and laying out the cushions and sleeping bags for night. Several of the nights we were in marinas so we could get showers and use the on-shore restrooms. That does make it a little easier.

There was a little tension when my “Sleeping David” photo surfaced. Dave kept sneaking around trying to get a “gotcha” photo of me. He missed one fine opportunity when I hooked a toe on the Rendezvous’ life line and did a face plant in the cockpit of Regal Jug. Better luck next time, Dave.

Last report left us at Friday Harbor. We did have a couple nice days and on Thursday we sailed most of the way to Jones Island. We were just in time to snag a choice spot on the very short float on the North side of the island. Jones Island is great for hiking. It has nearly four miles of challenging trails.

On Friday, July 10th we mostly sailed to Blind Bay between Shaw Island and Orcas Island. We only had to motor briefly to navigate tricky Pole Pass, it has lots of traffic. We met our friends Phil and Sue Owen and Ed and Sarah Daugherty there. Phil and Sue have a really nice 36 foot Beneteau sailboat, the Rendezvous. We went for an afternoon sail on West Sound of Orcas Island just to see how the Rendezvous could perform. Regal Jug saved our moorage spot and it was as I was getting back aboard the Regal Jug that I took my flying leap.

Saturday, July 11th we all sailed back to Friday Harbor and ideal winds made this a fantastic sailboat race. I am proud to announce that Regal Jug scored a solid second place. We all had a nice dinner-out at the Downrigger Restaurant, right on the waterfront.

Sunday, July 12th we all got spooked by gusty winds and predictions of 25 knot winds on Monday. We made the return trip all the way to Anacortes. The group of us got together in the evening for a barbeque at the marina. The exciting event of the evening was a new born seal pup and its mother just off the main float. This pup was just minutes old and boldly exploring the world. He would swim up to the float to see all of us funny looking people. We had to back away and leave the area so his mother could calm down. We surmise that the mother seeks the protection of the marina to avoid the orcas that patrol the straits. We saw a pod of orcas earlier that day plus some harbor porpoises.

Monday was not windy! Indeed the breeze was rather light but we still had time for a nice sail just around Anacortes.

To finish of the week we drove down Whidbey Island and Arcturus got to ride the ferry over to Port Townsend. Even though we were rained on a few times we all still enjoyed ourselves. If you get an opportunity to cruise the San Juan Islands, even if it is just on the ferry, go for it. It is some of the best cruising in the country.

Here is a link to a map of the island group that we cruised with our GPS tracks displayed.

Link to track of the Regal Jug