{"id":14081,"date":"2024-06-24T10:34:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T18:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jbranchblog.com\/?p=14081"},"modified":"2025-10-16T21:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T05:42:44","slug":"sailing-the-san-juan-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jbranchblog.com\/?p=14081","title":{"rendered":"Sailing the San Juan Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For years I’ve been interested in the idea of sailing, so last year about this time I decided it was time to get this out of my system one way or another. I’d never been on a sailboat, and only ever been on little recreational boats a couple of times in my life. So I took a couple sailing classes down on the river to figure out how to put a sail up and what all the different ropes do, and then bought a sailboat with the idea that I would try it out and if it wasn’t for me, put it right back on Facebook Marketplace and sell it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, as it turns out, I loved it! And I’ve spent the last year learning everything I can about sailing, navigation, weather, and all the other things it takes to do this safely. Most of my sailing so far has been on the Columbia River.  But this week I’m trying my hand at ocean sailing for the first time and headed up to the San Juan Islands for a week of single-handed sailing near the Canadian border.  The plan is about 100 miles over 5 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day one did not disappoint!!!  I put in the water at Bellingham and sailed to Sucia Island.  It’s a Washington State Marine Park, and only accessible by boat.  Along the way I passed freighters, sea lions, and saw an incredible sunset!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No major mishaps, 20 miles of sailing, and I arrived in one piece. Success for day one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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