Beginner Sail - Esther, Port of Edmonds Marina

A great day for a reaching sail to Kingston for lunch.  The crew of Ashley and Anders met me at the dock, fresh out of the crew class.  Since it was their second sail and they'd been put through the basic paces before, and as I had incorrectly thought this was a raft-up weekend when it was not, we decided to go to the Port of Kingston for lunch.  Though the sky was full of low clouds to start with, there was a light but steady Northerly wind.  After rigging up and heading out, we hoisted the main and unfurled the jib.  The "blessed silence" after the Iron Jenny was cut was just what the doctor ordered for a Sunday sail.  As we reached under full main and genoa, the clouds cleared away.  Both mountains came out, and Ashley even saw a porpoise fin.   Hard to beat moderate wind reach straight to your destination, with minimal set by the ebbing tide.  We doused sails and made a smooth docking in Kingston, just in time for Ashley to run over and help a couple in a nearly 60 foot trawler pull in.  They asked for help over their loud-hailer, though I didn't make out what they were calling about.  They got secured and the lady of the boat quickly headed ashore with two small dogs in search of a fire plug or bush.  Lunch was at the Main Street Ale house, though no karaoke was to be had this Sunday afternoon.  Both the crew had what looked to be delicious crab melts, while your humble author had a pulled pork sandwich with Asian slaw.  Good eats!  Then we all had a little ice cream for desert on the way back to the boat.  By now the wind had freshened to probably close to the predicted 15 knots.  We motored out, waiting for the Spokane to leave, then hoisted the main.  We only furled out the geona part way, though there was some "furler creep" which required shortening sail after a little while to re-balance the boat.  Tiller steering was new to the crew, but they did great learning that the stick does not point where the boat is going, but the other way around.  So many counter-intuitive things about sailing.  We basically blasted back to Edmonds with the "Fun Meter" at 10-15 degrees.  A few moments at 20, but then we reduced sail and flattened out the ride.  Near the marina we dropped sail and motored to the entrance.  Alas, it got a little bumpy under motor and some of the crew got a good amount of spray.  They were good sports and took it in stride.  A short stop at the gas dock for some dinosaur juice and then back to the barn.  It was a great day on the water and the crew were real great folks to spend it with.  Hopefully there are more nice, breezy, sunny days ahead.