Anacortes Questions

C

Christopher-Robyn

New member
I will be retiring soon & my wife (Patti) & I are planning to visit Anacortes, WA 17-21 September with the idea of maybe moving there. Will my 16 Angler be OK for day cruising the San Juans? Do most people living in the area keep their boats in the water or keep them home & trailer them to a ramp? I would appreciate any thoughts on this & also any words of wisdom on moving to the area. Thanks!
Paul K.
 
Your 16 would be a great boat for day cruising or fishing / crabbing. You will be with in a day run of all the san Juans islands. There are three marina's and one dry stack storage or you could use one of the ramps. Washington park is a good place to launch, depending on tide and wind, for day trips to go see the whales or visit friday harbor. Our favorite ramp is the one next to Twin Bridges dry storage. Depending on where you live that may be closer. Also take a look at La Conner for homes. nice and peaceful and right on the channel. If you have any questions feel free to call me.
 
Hi Paul

First congratulations on making it to retirement. We live fulltime near Sacramento and purchased a house on Camano Island 4 years ago, no ferry just drive across a bridge. Our present boat, a Striper is kept at our house on Camano year round. For us the launch ramp is 10 minutes from the house. Our house looks out over Saratoga Passage, so we check the water conditions load the boat and go. Tom is correct, Washington park is an hour drive, however if going to the San Juans that is where I launch. Launched there last weekend at a minus tide and was ok. You will have no problems with that 16 in the San Juans. I was in my 18' in more rips than I had ever seen last weekend and that was my first time launching solo. The tides and currents are something you need to watch as the conditions change depending upon where you are at in the islands.

Good luck with the search, and remember Tom is a real estate agent so give him a call for ideas

Don
 
Some Brats we have cruised with sleep on their 16 CD and stay out for days. So you have the potential for vacation cruises in the San Juans, and your 16 is great! Anacortes is a fine town in our opinion. Congrats!
 
The 16 will be fine most of the time. As with any small boat (and I include the 22 and 25 in this) you need to be prudent about when and where you go, but the 16 will be a great boat most of the time.

As for marinas vs. trailering, I prefer a marina. In fact, we don't even have a trailer for our C-Dory. It stays at Twin Bridges Marina all year and is kept in the warehouse out of the elements. They fuel the boat and we just call when we are driving up and the boat is waiting for us at the dock. It is a great, clean, modern facility that I highly recommend. Cap Sante is also a nice facility, but if I were to wet slip I'd do it at Skyline which is closest to the islands. We typically run from Twin Bridges to our cabin on Decatur Island (dock is in Sylvan Cove). Dock to dock is normally right about an hour and the distance is about 16.5 nm. From Skyline to our dock is about 35 minutes. From Decatur Friday Harbor is less than an hour away, Roche Harbor is a little more than an hour away, Victoria is about an hour away... Everything is pretty close.

I've never spent much time in Anacortes but it seems like a neat community. I'm not sure what you are looking for exaclty but some of the farmland nearby is gorgeous and has impressive views of the North Cascades and Mt. Baker. Good luck on the search and know that you'll be near some great cruising areas for your 16!
 
To All:
Many thanks for all the great info! Now I'm really excited & looking forward to our trip to Anacortes. Good news knowing my 16 will be OK up there. I love that boat! I intend to check out all the areas mentioned & look forward to the possibility of meeting any C-Brats. Take care!
Paul K
 
Christopher-Robyn":45own3bx said:
I will be retiring soon & my wife (Patti) & I are planning to visit Anacortes, WA 17-21 September with the idea of maybe moving there. Will my 16 Angler be OK for day cruising the San Juans? Do most people living in the area keep their boats in the water or keep them home & trailer them to a ramp? I would appreciate any thoughts on this & also any words of wisdom on moving to the area. Thanks!
Paul K.
Click to expand...

We love living here in Anacortes. We live near the Skyline marina (where we keep our Tom Cat) and Washington Park. Give us a shout when you are here and we would enjoy meeting you and showing you around. I will PM you our number.

Warren
 
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