Seattle sailing

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Not too much to add - You're getting good info.  We live in Edmonds, just north of Seattle, and keep Gorbash at Anacortes Marina in Anacortes, WA.  We pay about $310 for 38 foot slip and electricity.  For the past three years we've been taking 6 to 10 weeks and heading up to the area around the north end of Vancouver Island.  You can literally spend a lifetime cruising this area with many choices of type of water, weather, etc.

Deep water anchoring is one of the skills you learn here, especially in the Desolation Sound area.  In 1792-96, Captain Vancouver was  frustrated with his occasional inability to find the bottom let alone anchor in it.  Stern tying, where the anchor is in 40 to 80 feet of water and a stern line is tied to a tree or rock on shore, solves the problem and also allows more boats to moor in a given area.  That said, there are an incredible number of bays and inlets to choose from - see the references in the other posts. 

You can get all the help and advice you need for this area here on the C34 forum.

[Stephen Butler]

We have been following this thread with disbelief and envy...triple digit depths, uncrowded anchorages, self-placed mooring balls, no a/c, no hurricanes...incredible!  We have just spent the last years in the Florida Keys and are now in Tampa Bay, and while the waters are warm and the skys clear, they are thin, crowded, and controlled.  The NorthWest sounds wonderful.  So many places to sail and so little time.  Just some ramblings.

[Jack Hutteball]

The only downside to boating in this area is the temperature of the water, which is about 55-58 degrees year around in the San Juan Islands.  Bring a wetsuit to swim!  It does get warmer as you go north to the Desolation Sound area as has been noted, sometimes around 70 degrees.  This is a small price to pay for the beauty of the area and the number of places to go.  No A/C here, but sometimes heat!
Jack

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Well, and the fact that the first really serious rains are starting tonight and will end sometime around April....The grass IS always greener.  That said, if you can adjust to cool, gray, and rainy for late fall, winter, and spring - mid summer through mid fall are unmatched anywhere. 

Something not mentioned in the discussion so far is the unique history of the area to the north in Canada.  Unlike the rest of the country, history "just recently happened" there in the past 200 years from a European perspective but there is eveidence everywhere of the 12000 or so years of native life.  Almost every bay from Desolation Sound north through the Broughtons has a large white midden, which is a multi-thousand year collection of clam and oyster shells where villages used to be.  Quite a few villages were only abandoned in the 1940s and 50's so there are still totems and remains of longhouses to be seen.  Many local books have been written about native life, and the very independent lives of the loggers and fisherman who populated this wilderness.  We've spent many weeks exploring these areas, and in some case talking to those who still remember that lifestyle and the characters that lived it.

Here's a link to a tour company that gives some  background but also a great list of books about the area.  See especially the books by Billy Proctor.  He's retired now and lives in Echo Bay in the Broughtons. 

Finally, I've read that the human population between Desolation Sound and Ketchikan is the lowest its been in thousands of years.  Disease killed off most of the native population and now most of the resident loggers and commercial fishermen are gone as well.  There are very few places you can truly be in wilderness any more but only 3 or 4 days  (at C34 speed), north of Desolation Sound where most people turn around, you're there.

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Here's the link mentioned in the previous post:

http://www.villageisland.com/about_broughton.html

[Skipperjay]

This will probably not be a very popular response but it was still our experience. In 1994 we moved from So. Calif. to Redmond, WA. and had our 87 Cat. 30 transported to WA. We  initially kept our
boat at the Carillon marina on Lake Washington. After having to contend with a spider infestation, you heard it right, we moved the boat to a marina on the sound.
In a nutshell, we did not like the sailing conditions in western Washington. We found that when it was sunny and warm there was seldom any wind. When it was windy, it was too cold for
us fair weather sailors. There was also the matter of hidden sand bars which we were told about and personally experienced with our fin keel.
We were more than happy to sell our boat after a couple of years.
After 8 years in the NW, we moved back to the LA area, recently purchased an 04 Cat. 34 and are perfectly content to limit our sailing to Santa Monica Bay and Catalina.

Jay

[Randy and Mary Davison]

Jay,

You're making this too easy...

The spiders are a trick we use to send folks back to socal.  If that doesn't work, we pull out the old sand bar trick.

Seriously, you're right about the inverse relationship between good weather and wind if you define good weather as warm and sunny.

As a Seattle native in good standing, it's my duty to confirm the constant rain, cold temps, and squirrely wind to try to keep from being overun by growth.  Thanks for the help. 

[Craig Illman]

I concur. After the weather we've had this week, I expect there's quite a waiting list for moving vans heading southbound. 

Craig

[wind dancer]

x3

[wind dancer]

Skipperjay,

No need to qualify your reponse.  Different strokes for different folks.  Most of us that prefer sailing up here are in it for the scenery and the variety, not the warm weather winds.  I have no problem sailing at 2 knots on an 80 degree July day with my feet up and a beverage in hand.   Also, I enjoy sailing 7 knots on a blustery, cold, and wet October day.