Sailing the San Juan Islands-August 15-22, 2014

While sailing the Cyclades Islands in Greece in September of last year, we first met Dan & Donna from Bellingham, Washington.  It was there that they made the mistake of giving us an invitation to sail the San Juan's with them along side and sharing the benefit of their many years of local knowledge. 

Steve & Melissa at sail in calm winds on Cecilia, a Tartan 34 chartered from San Juan Charters.

Dan is on the bow of "Moonlight" off of Eliza Island on Day One of the adventures pulling out some delicious Dungeness crabs.  And Dan knows exactly what to do with them!

We used a big crab boiling pot and Donna timed the cooking precisely right.  The trick was to head to shore (Fossil Bay on Sucia Island) to enjoy the feast and "make-your-mess" on the beach and not on your clean boat.   Eating delicious crabs is messy work.

"Moonlight" and "Cecelia" rafted up in Fossil Bay.  Ending a perfect day with a bottle of nice red wine onboard!

Maybe also to enjoy sailing around this most beautiful set of islands-Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island.  Prior to this point, we made a little wake in the Canadian waters just a couple of miles away.

Here's the entire crew with Reid Harbor (Stuart Island) in the background during our 7.3 mile round trip walk to tip of the island to see the lighthouse and have a picnic lunch.  

We also tried our luck trying to catch some spot shrimp with cat food inside a metal shrimp trap.  These "beauties" were caught by someone else however.  Regardless, Dan had the marinade that made them stand up tall!

These island are possibly the most sought-out sailing ground in America.  The waters are beautiful but also going ashore is special with gorgeous forests, trees, and even fresh fruits.