05/14 - 05/16 - Friday Harbor

Having never been to the PNW and certainly not Friday Harbor, my wife are strongly considering flying up for this event. Any advice you could give, such as where to fly into (Seatle?), how to get to Friday Harbor (ferry?), available motel (near event?), trips to take days after event(ferry?). Since we can't bring our '85 Classic any thoughts of how we could help and feel a part of the group at the event. Anything from Ala. and the Tennessee river that would be of interest?
I would appreciate any thoughts as this site has been great while we had our 21' Ranger tug and now our C-Dory.
Ron
 
If you fly into Seattle you can either rent a car, drive up to Anacortes, and take a ferry to Friday Harbor or you could fly up on Kenmore Air. Kenmore air would probably be more fun but it costs about $200-250 per person for the round trip from SeaTac. I don't know what renting a car, gas, and ferry fare would cost.
 
Ron,

It would be great if you could come to the Friday harbor CBGT. Those of us from the PNW love to show off our cruising grounds to new friends. Seaplanes from Seattle land often in FH. There is a Airport nearby also, walking distance and all downhill actually. Kenmore Air is a major local provider. There are rental cars on the island too for an inland tour.

I think the cheapest would be to fly into SeaTac, rent a car and drive to Anacortes and take the Washington State Ferry to Friday Harbor. Below are just a couple of the many accomodations in FH. Feel free to PM me with any questions, I am looking at San Juan Island right now from my house!

Friday Harbor House

Harrison House B&B
 
Ron,

Kenmore Air is a PNW fixture with a very good record. They do both ground and water based flights. I just checked and the RT from Seattle to Friday harbor is $218, and I would call them to confirm. Here is a link to their web site:

http://www.kenmoreair.com/sub_content.p ... _type=1218

And they are very nice to deal with.

Looking forward to seeing you at FH. We can make sure you get a ride out here.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
As usual this site is so responsive to questions members have. I really appreciate the three that responded to me and both the wife and I can hardly wait to see if we can get it all planned to make the trip. As I get it in line I would like to PM you for more questions. Thanks again and hope to see you in Friday Harbor.
Ron
 
When is the potluck? Will this be on the dock? When is the white elephant trivia contest?

Thanks, Cindie
 
The potluck is Saturday afternoon and usually begins around 5-5:30, the great bratty trivia challenge goes on during the latter part of the potluck. But! There are no rules and nobody is in charge so who knows just what will happen. We all have a good time no matter what!
 
I signed up and will be coming to this event in the Marinaut 215 for all three days. Haven’t decided how I will get there. So many possibilities including boating up from Olympia. It will be our first CBGT to show off the new boat and anyone desiring to take the boat for a test run is welcome to do so, even if you are not in the market for a new boat.

_______
Dave dlt.gif
www.tolandmarine.com
 
Hello to All,

Marlyn and I are from Florida. We will be picking up our new to us C-Dory 25 in Washington a few days before the Friday Harbor gathering.

Our current plan is to drive to Anacortes and launch there. Does anyone have suggestions as to the best launch and parking spots near there.

We will also be glad to join with another boat(s) making that voyage on Friday morning.

I've sailed half the great loop, the keys and Bahamas, and have been to the San Juans, but never boated there.

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Thanks,

tomtom1941
 
tomtom1941":3iv0a03f said:
Our current plan is to drive to Anacortes and launch there. Does anyone have suggestions as to the best launch and parking spots near there.
Click to expand...

You have a number of choices.

1. You can launch from Washington Park Boat Launch in Anacortes, near the ferry terminal. Parking is limited and security is marginal (lots of car prowls in this area.)

2. You can launch by hoist at Cap Sante Boat Haven, the largest marina in town. It is downtown and there is ample (paid) parking for rigs. Better security too.

3. You can launch at Twin Bridges. Same issues as #1.

4. You can drive over to Whidbey Island and launch at Cornet Bay. That is a popular place for many of the Brats.

5. You can launch by hoist near my house, at Skyline Marina. Not sure how much parking is available.

I would recommend #2 for your first time. That is how I started when I began coming here 10 years ago.

Warren
 
tomtom
Congrats on your new boat. As for a place to launch. drive the extra 20 miles to Bellingham. They have a great launch ramp and its only $5. to launch and retrieve. It gets even better than that, they have free parking. It is a short walk to old town where you can find a good cup of coffee and all the people watching you need.
Best of all, if Joe & Ruth know your coming to town, they will be sure to put out the welcome wagon.
Enjoy the San Juans, we sure do.
Terry
 
Rock-C":1r1z5xqw said:
tomtom
Congrats on your new boat. As for a place to launch. drive the extra 20 miles to Bellingham. They have a great launch ramp and its only $5. to launch and retrieve. It gets even better than that, they have free parking. It is a short walk to old town where you can find a good cup of coffee and all the people watching you need.
Best of all, if Joe & Ruth know your coming to town, they will be sure to put out the welcome wagon.
Enjoy the San Juans, we sure do.
Terry
Click to expand...

Terry, thanks for the kind words and the :thup :thup on Bellingham. Couldn't have said it any better :D

And tomtom, congrats on your new boat. Cruising the San Juans is a wonderful experience :D

Ruth and Joe
R-MATEY
 
tomtom,

Thanks for confirming Russ's prediction that you would be at Friday Harbor CBGT. You will be well served with either a Bellingham launch or Cap Sante in Anacortes. Those would be my choices I think. Should be traffic to the CBGT from either location.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Tomtom, I haven't read all of this thread, so this might me redundant. The official Puget Sound C-Brat hailing channel is 68. When you get on the water you might monitor that channel also and give a call to anyone in the C-Pod. You may find someone to travel with. I will be leaving from Guemes Island, right across from Anacortes probably sometime Friday afternoon.

Looking forward to having you with us.
 
Thanks to you all. It looks like we will launch at Bellingham.

We look forward to meeting you all!

Tom & Marlyn
 
Ron,

I have been AWOL recovering from an injury. Please pm if you would like to travel by C-Dory to Friday Harbor for the gathering.

Anne Cox
 
Anne, I just sent you a PM.
Thanks, Ron
 
We're planning on keeping the boat in the Everett Naval Station marina for the month of May, which means I'll probably be going through Deception Pass on the way to Friday Harbor. I've never been through the pass, what's the best strategy for passage? There's a slack ebb at midday on Thursday; good time to pass?
 
C-Dawg":1kcd16zp said:
We're planning on keeping the boat in the Everett Naval Station marina for the month of May, which means I'll probably be going through Deception Pass on the way to Friday Harbor. I've never been through the pass, what's the best strategy for passage? There's a slack ebb at midday on Thursday; good time to pass?
Click to expand...
I don't claim to be an expert, but I did go through Deception and/or Canoe Passes more than 70 times last season! I was a tour guide for Deception Pass Tours, and on my days off I literally "played" in the passes aboard Two Lucky Fish. My favorite is going dead-in-the-water and letting the current suck the boat through and spin it around, first one way and then the other. Very peaceful, actually, although it confuses the hell out of the other boats, so don't do this if there's traffic.

So here's the deal with Deception Pass for our boats: You can make it through at virtually any state of the tide.

And here's the huge, huge caveat: On a big ebb, with a swell coming down the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Pacific OR a westerly blowing at the southern entrance to Rosario Strait, you do NOT want to be out there. In any boat, probably. Impressively steep 3 and 4 foot waves develop over what locals call Deception Bar, which you will seem to experience as 5 and 6 foot waves. It sucks, big time. Only time I've been frightened the boat might swamp, actually. That wasn't in Deception Pass itself, mind you...it was just outside the pass.

So there's no reason NOT to try for the slack, especially if you haven't gone through before and it's at a convenient time of day, as this is.
 
My son was at Deception Pass last Thursday at about 16:30. The wind was up (not sure of the direction) and the tide was on the ebb. He got some impressive video from the bridge. It looked exactly like you described it.

jd
 
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