North of Puget Sound

[talbot]

Old O'Day alumnus here. We plan to visit family near Everett, WA this fall. Any suggestions for a four-day cruise out of Possession Sound? We know we want to go up the west coast of Camano Island on day 1 (friends there), but that's a dead end--no passage to the rest of the Salish Sea. We traded in our Day Sailer for a Precision 21, so we can sleep aboard. Problem is, almost all Precisions are on the east coast or midwest, so there's no one on that forum familiar with northwest waters.

[GreenLake]

Talbot, nice to hear from you again. I think you are way too pessimistic.

I happen to know a bit of the area from having been invited on someone's bigger boat some time ago.

Do you have accurate charts? Or are you navigating on some postage stamp sized hand-held device? NOAA has a chart viewer that lets you view the standard charts online. That might be the best way to go for trip planning. Assuming you can read along, here some suggestions.

If you have an outboard, the Swinomish channel is quite passable from Skagit Bay to Anacortes (and on its banks there is LaConnor, which is a destination by itself). From Anacortes from you can explore some of the San Juan (and other) islands, e.g.Guemes, Lummi etc.

Before you get that far north, there's always Coupeville in Penn Cove. A nice place to visit from the water.

Depending on the weather (and waves) you may be able to cross the E entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (on the W side of Whidbey) on your return from Anacortes and either dash to Pt. Townsend or return directly along Admiral Inlet towards Possession sound. (On most summer days, that would be a downwind sleigh ride).

If you are considering the channel, try to find the tidal current forecast for it somewhere online. It's not ripping, but no sense fighting it.