After an almost unbearable hot spell in Hillsboro we have taken our 23 foot sailboat, Regal Jug, to the San Juan Island Archipelago in Washington State. We were immediately rewarded with complete relief from the oppressing heat; perhaps even a bit too much of a good thing. It has been cold and drizzly both days that we have been here

Here is how it all worked. Dave Schilling helped us clean up Regal Jug and then towed it down to the marina where we could get to it with Arcturus our 34 foot motor home. When hooked together these two rigs total 65 feet long. Monday morning we went north. We stopped in Lacy to visit Judy’s Cousin Ed (Joe) Burgett for lunch. We then drove on to Lynwood Washington and parked Arcturus and Regal Jug in the Wal-Mart lot there. Now we hopped the Seattle Transit bus system and made connections to downtown Seattle. Then we walked about a dozen blocks to Nancy Federici’s apartment. Meanwhile Adrian Shilling finished her days work and she and Dave drove to meet us at Nancy’s. We all had a wonderful supper with Nancy. Nancy is a long time member of our church in St. Helens, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Finally we all, (Dinsmore’s and Shilling’s,) drove the last fifteen miles back to the Wal-Mart and stayed the night. Now you might guess that this was the end of the hot oppressing 70-80 degree weather. We woke up to rain and drizzle on Tuesday morning and drove the last hour to Anacortes.

We spent most of the day loading a ton of supplies into Regal Jug and getting her launched. At two in the afternoon we cast off and headed for the islands. Has anyone noticed that it is a full moon out there? Full moon means “spring tides.” This is means tides that start from the minus numbers and rise to ten or eleven feet. Moving all of that water in and out of the islands and of course all the Straights of Georgia north of there requires lots of tidal current. The old sailor’s adage is “Time and tide wait for no man.” We definitely missed the tide. We were caught in three knot currents in a boat that goes about five knots max. We reached our destination about seven p.m. We were wet, cold and miserable.

Dave had just the magic to help us out; a big pot of chili, steaming hot and spicy. We had a quiet night behind James Island. Morning was another story, however. We immediately knew when the ferry service began. At five the boat started rocking and the centerboard started knocking. We got up, nibbled a little for breakfast and made a wet passage to Friday Harbor.

This afternoon the weather is warming up and drying out so things are looking up. Now we are looking forward to meeting the rest of our party. Phil and Sue Owen and Ed and Sarah Daugherty are going to meet us, perhaps at Stewart Island on Friday. I sure hope they remember to bring some warm, dry weather with them.

Aaarrrr, me Hearties. Stand by for more adventures from the scurvy crew of the Regal Jug, and be sure and check the photos below.