san juans this weekend

J

Jake B

New member
weather is looking good this weekend and we have not made as many trips as we were hoping to the san juans this summer. so we are heading out in the am for a quick 2 day one night. we plan on staying in friday harbor but they seem pretty full and told me to be there by 1pm. cattle pass is at max ebb at 10:38(2.31knot) and was not really wanting to cross the straights on tide change but may end up doing just that.

Now I am trying to decide to go through cattle pass(the way we have only gone) or go up and around san juan island I have been looking at the cruising guides we bought and there is no mention of things to look out for when going up and around.

any one with experience going this route care to give up any info and also about how much extra time we should count on? we are going without kids this time so want to have some time in town also.

If friday harbor is full I think we may end up staying in roche thanks for any info.
 
Both Friday Harbor and Roche may be crowded. You might consider making a moorage reservation otherwise you may be shut out. Knowing for sure where you are staying would be a big factor in your route. If you are at Friday Harbor and don't want to go through Cattle Pass going all the way up around San Juan Island would add a long way and I personally would not go that way. Another option would be to go over to Rosario Strait around the outside of Lopez Island and go in through Lopez Pass. You are then in sheltered waters all the way to Friday Harbor. If you are at Roche then heading directly up around the outside of San Juan Island makes sense. Weather is the big factor. Cattle Pass can be quite ugly in a wind against tide situation and you will have a mile or more of confused water. However, even on a strong ebb it is not too bad with low wind speeds. Likewise Rosario Strait can be ugly and it will be ebbing as well. Same issues; wind against tide. I would check wind forecast carefully. Or, and this is what I would personally do, leave earlier. Slack at Cattle Pass is a little after 8AM; you could get there by 9AM and have just a 1 knot ebb to deal with.
 
yeah after looking it seems a bit too far out of the way to go up and around. friday harbor is booked on res. spots so we figure we will just go to cattle pass and make a call to friday and see if we can get a spot and if not head around. leaving early wont work with grandparents taking over kid duty so we plan to leave around 10-11.
 
Hi Jake,

There are some slips that they don't take reservations for. Get there as early as you can and put your name on the wait list. If you don't need power, there are often spots available on the walkways. FH generally does their "inventory" for empty slips between 11:00 and noon.

Saturday and Sunday look like nice weather, with single digit winds forecast for FH. I would expect this will be another very busy weekend. While we all know that the weather can be beautiful here in September, a lot of folks want to get "one last trip" in before school starts, Labor Day, etc.

I drive whale watch boats out of Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor daily, so I cover that area all the time. If you are able to keep your speed up, it will take you at least an hour to an hour and a half longer to go over the north side of the island, and you are going to have the current against you one side or the other.

Unless there is wind against current, Cattle Pass is generally not a big deal. I ran through it twice today (typical), but the boats are considerably more displacement than a C-Dory. I have found that if Cattle Pass is particularly lumpy, so is the water on the west side of San Juan Island.

The wind was around 12 - 13 most of the afternoon, and south of San Juan Island was very nice today. Cattle Pass was pleasant on the way out, and just a bit lumpy on the way back in.

Enjoy the trip.

Jim B.
 
thanks for the replys. we ended up getting a late start by the time we got the kids dropped off and what not. it was raining in sequim when we left but with kids being watched and a weekend away we were going either way. water was flat calm both days and due to wanting a slip we opted against fuel savings and went almost wot across average speed was 23 mph. dropped crab pots on the sequim side on the way over. had a great time in town dinner drinks a little dock shrimping to pass the time. ended up sleeping in and not getting an early start to fish. hit the blue water for breakfast then headed out cruised around shaw for a bit then made our way back to sequim averaging 26mph. fished hein for a little bit on the way home about 30 mins before the dr belt broke, couple wild coho and a pink. headed to pots pulled em and kept 10 of the best ones and back home by 2:30 looking forward to the next trip over.
some iphone pics

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new shades
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heading over
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the days catch
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thanks yeah its a lot of fun up there and something we never would of done without this boat. however now we are getting in the market for either a dingy or two two person kayaks so we can start anchoring out more.
 
great pictures, i can't wait to get up there myself now.
Jake B":1d3sdgce said:
thanks yeah its a lot of fun up there and something we never would of done without this boat. however now we are getting in the market for either a dingy or two two person kayaks so we can start anchoring out more.
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i'm with you there. while island hopping south sound last weekend we came to the conclusion that we need the ability to anchor/moor and cruise something beachable into some of these remote islands that lack docks. lots of cool exploring to do.
 
Jake B":12dgicso said:
thanks yeah its a lot of fun up there and something we never would of done without this boat. however now we are getting in the market for either a dingy or two two person kayaks so we can start anchoring out more.
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You might want to look into Standup Paddle Boards to use for your dingy. We use them on our CD22 and they work great to get around/explore/to shore/etc. We have the inflatable version that are very solid and easy to lift up and down from the top of our CD22.

We didn't buy them to use as a dingy, but in the Gulf Islands we found them to work just as good and easier to handle then a dingy. Because they are easy to transport, we use them on the CD22, RV, Cottage, etc - they even fit in the Prius when not inflated.

When we have both our boy's with us (20yr old and 15yr old), we put two of us on each board to get to shore without problems.



http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sevylor-Samoa-Standup-Paddleboard-Set-with-80-Paddle/21074786
 
paddle boards are a good idea as well if it were just me the wife or if we had older kids. right now we have a 4 and 2 year old so we like the idea of each of us having one and there in a seat secured more or less. we like the idea of kayaks vs inflatable dingys also so we don't have to be over the top cautious when landing on rockier shores.

if the weather(water wise) holds out like it is looking too may make one last trip up there with the whole family this coming weekend.
 
I'm with you Jake, we are still trying to decide on a dinghy setup as well. I think since its just the wife and I this weekend we will use a cheap inflatable, but I want something better long term with the 4yr old.


is there a particular area of the islands where the whale watching is better?
 
I have heard the west side is better. but I saw some today out fishing in the shipping lanes between pa and victoria. trying to talk the wife and kids into giving it one more go this weekend as well sat-sun the weather forecast again is looking too good to pass up. where were all these calm days a month ago.....
 
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