Well, another San Juan Islands cruise is in the books. I've been trying to write a trip report for the last couple days, but there is just too much to put in an e-mail, and it kept turning into a boring log-book-type narrative, so let me just give you some of the highlights.
Attendees: David Scobie M15 David Barnhart M15 Buttercup Larry Yake M17 CornDog Gary Hyde M17 Hydeaway Eldor and Dorothy Eeisen fixed keel M17 Motu Iti Mark and Roberta Dvorscak M23 Faith Sean and 'Jo Mulligan M23 Dauntless Rick and Melanie Agrella M23 Raven Dick Lane NonSuch 26 Swoose Destinations: Port of Anacortes, for the opening and final weekends. Moorage at Cap Sante Marina. Lots of visitors came down to see the Monty's. Group dinner. Various Dubious Awards presentations. "Winners" took their "rewards" in good spirit. Sailed on Sean's M23, and tried out my new drifter. WooHoo! Blakely Island Marina. Beautiful little spot. Group BBQ / potluck in the picnic shelter. Mostly light winds, but we stuck to our sails most of the way, are were rewarded with a vigorous sail across Rosario Strait, fighting upwind against the current to reach our port. Joined there by Dick and Dave B. Blind Bay anchorage on Shaw Island, after touring East Sound, Orcas Island. Light or no wind to start, but those who kept at it found strong winds funneling into the northern end of East Sound. Sails were reefed, only to be shaken out again as we came out of the sound to find dying breezes. Motored to Blind Bay for a quiet night on the hook. Kayaks and dinghys got some use as we visited from boat to boat. Port of Friday Harbor. Started out motoring, ended up sailing in strong winds and dodging tidal rips. Moorage at the marina. Neat town to explore. Lots of cool boats to drool on. Stuart Island State Marine Park. Left EARLY to catch favorable tide. Great sail. One tack all the way. A sail I thought might take all day took less than 3 hours. Shared space on a float dock with picnic tables. Kayaks and dinghys used to get to shore for great hikes to view points. Several folks enjoyed a campfire on shore overlooking Prevost Harbor. Sucia Island State Marine Park. Little or no wind until the last stretch from Orcas to Sucia, then a fine sail in lumpy seas trying to hold a course against a northbound tide. Wind trickled out as we drifted into Fossil Bay. Shared dock space. (Boats were lining up for our spots when we left Friday.) Beautiful hikes, good sunset. A lousy forecast for Saturday had us sailing for Anacortes on Friday, with the plan to pull out Sat. am before the rain hit in the afternoon. Good plan, bad forecast. We got soaked Saturday morning as we loaded up for the long drive home. Friday's sail was fun, though, with squirelly winds making us work. Dvorscak's stayed out a couple more days, and after a couple wet nights, pulled out in the sunshine. Total miles covered, about 110nm. Only burned 2 gal. of gas. Honorable mention: Mulligans came all the way from Arizona and Eeisens travelled clear from Texas for this cruise! Tidbits: Floating winch handles are slippery when wet, and they do float. / FRS radios don't. / Companionway latches should have the hinged part on the hatch board instead of the sliding hatch cover, or it may flip over and trap you in the cabin. / Fixed keel M17's sail to wind like a tiger. (If Motu Iti comes on the market again, that's a fine sailing vessel.) / Sean has done a beautiful job on Dauntless, despite his attempts at modesty. / Rick is doing a great job on Raven, a boat which many had written off as a lost cause before Agrella's bought her. / Dvorscak's Faith still sets the standard for mint condition M23's. / If you stand around on the dock and look hungry, people will feed you. I didn't discover I forgot my cookstove until Wednesday night when I decided to make some Jiffy Pop. / Sean's navigation skills improved immensely over the week. "Hey Larry, shouldn't we be turning left around this point?" "Um, check your compass, Sean." <grin> It was a great cruise and a great group once again, but then, hey, it just doesn't get any better than sailing with fellow Monty's. Larry _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
