June 15, 2021 – Before casting off on our evening half day sail we had been following reports of a pod of orcas known as the T123’s who were traveling south on the east side of Orcas Island. We decided to choose a route through the islands with the hopes of encountering them. After coming out of Peavine Pass, the flood current took us quickly up Rosario Strait at about 9 knots. At about 3 miles out from the orcas, they flipped to the north and we cranked the winches and continued. We caught up with them as they cleared Lawrence Pt. They were reported as chasing birds and we saw a short burst of hunting behavior as we arrived. Conditions were glassy with upwellings and lighting created stunning backlit blows. We left the orcas and came into the steep old growth forested coastline of Orcas Island seeing eagles and a deer. We stayed close to shore looking for back eddies on our return. Good sailing and a beautiful sunset.
Sailing along Upright Head
Exiting Peavine Pass into Rosario
Exiting Peavine Pass into Rosario
Cypress Island
Peapod Rocks
Gulls on a rock near Lawrence Pt
Sailing at Lawrence Pt spotting for orcas
T123’s in Rosario with east side of Orcas Island
Male orca T123 with exhale
T123A with sibling
Matriarch of the family T123
Youngest family member calf T123D
Rays of light shining through the clouds
T123A
T123A
T123A with youngest sibling T123D
T123
T123’s heading up Rosario
Forested coastline at Lawrence Pt, Orcas Island
Bald eagle nest
Forested coastline at Lawrence Pt, Orcas Island
Sailing towards the sunset
Sailing towards the sunset
Clouds changing colors
Clouds changing colors
Sun poking through the clouds
Bald eagle nest at Upright Head
Bald eagle
Sailing along Upright Head, Lopez Island
Sun going down
Clouds changing colors
Sun going down
Pretty sunset sail
Olympic Mountains in the sunset
Olympic Mountains in the sunset
Sunset sail
Sailing at twilight back to Friday Harbor
Sailing at twilight back to Friday Harbor
Ferry going to Friday Harbor
Olympic Mountains behind Friday Harbor
Route Map 6-15-21