Someone famous once wrote, "I only worry near shore because that is where the shallow water is." Okay, I don't remember exactly what I read but you get the idea.
In the San Juan's we are pretty much always near shore (it's not that big an area) so should we worry all the time? No! We should pay attention using our heads and our tools.
All the rocks, reefs and shallows are marked on charts, the especially egregious places have buoys, signs, sticks and posts out in the water. Of course with storms, high tides, poor maintenance, things go missing, so we are back to paying attention and using the old noggin.
Once not too long ago we were motoring in flat mirror perfect water at about 7 knots in twenty feet of depth. Up ahead I saw a disturbance (some itty bitty ripples) I glanced at my chart plotter and saw nothing alarming, nevertheless as we neared the ripples I braked and prepared to go full astern.
While watching the depth gauge, suddenly -- there it was -- the depth dropped to six and then four -- and we came to a halt. (no we didn't hit) I stopped, turned and went around the shallow spot.
on watch
Here is a list of potentially problem spots where you could easily relax your vigilance and get hurt.
Taking your boat for a camping vacation cruise isn't expensive or difficult if you know the places to go and what to do.
If you're going to camp on the boat or on shore, I recommend that you start out in Bellingham or Deception Pass State Park. But if you need or want a campground with a launch ramp for your home base, you should reserve a site at Washington Park in Anacortes.
Boat ramps with parking:
#1 Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham - unlimited free parking, fresh water rinse hoses, guest docks, restaurants, nice showers (you will be glad you began and ended your trip here)
(updated 10/1/21) I just became aware that Squalicum Harbor has changed their free parking to FIVE days maximum. This is bad news for some of us that like to take 7-10 day cruises. I recommend calling them. Cornet Bay requires payment but at least has longer parking.
#2 Cornet Bay at Deception Pass State Park - lots of pay to park, guest docks, nice place to hang out before, after and during your vacation. Only minutes from Anacortes.
#3 La Conner (south end of Swinomish Channel) single lane city ramp, float, on street parking, cheap fees, nearby guest docks. Current to deal with.
#4 Washington Park in Anacortes - limited pay parking, double ramps with float but open to swell and waves from Geumes Channel, no guest docks, very nice on site campground, easy bike ride or hike to ferry.
#5 Twin Bridges (north end Swinomish Channel) County ramp, limited pay parking, small float that's dry at low tide, security risk area NOTE: It's just a little further to La Conner and well worth it!
#6 Oak Harbor - free ramp, $2/day parking, guest docks nearby, full marina services nearby, long walk to town! long ways to San Juans for slow boats.
#7 Cap Sante in Anacortes should not be listed because they have a sling, not a ramp, Cap Sante would be a second choice if you want to sling your boat in. Guest docks and big RV or trailer pay parking lot. (you can spend a lot of bucks here)
Note: Taking your boat and trailer by ferry to the islands is probably a bad idea because ramps and parking are inferior or not available. However, launching a skiff you can muscle around off the beach at a county park with no float is very doable.
Click on picture to make it bigger!
For first timers, see articles titled "San Juan Islands for First Timers"
Click below
If you find some useful places on the orientation map below, you will want to click this link of Parks and Islands to zoom in on details of specific parks.
#1 More proof that paying it forward is alive and well #2 Evidence that being prepared helps (well duh) #3 Dumb luck favors the ignorant (not true, but it reads well) #4 Redundancy - redundancy - redundancy #5 Do County Cops work late? #6 Do regular auto parts work on boats?
I'll try to just hit the important points.
We were on the hook at Jones for two days, the battery switch was clearly on #1, saving #2 for starting. Lights and the fridge killed #1 as expected. But what we did not know, was that #2 had shorted while in rough water and now only held 6-8 volts -it sounded like this -- #2 click click, #1 click click, oh crap! #both click click, shit!
I fired up the portable Honda 2000 and plugged in the shore-power cord, plus I plugged in my portable smart charger, only to discover that my on-board Guest 2 bank smart charger wasn't smart enough to coexist with my portable smart charger meaning nothin worked - grrrrrr.
One and a half hours later, after separating wiring charging circuits and waiting and waiting, the diesel fires up. We are of course not going to turn it off for anything.
Previously (before discovering all my batteries are dead) I had pulled the stern anchor, against my own advise to not pull anchors until the motor is idling. So I'm frantically re-anchoring my dead boat from the dinghy - nice show for everyone at Jones Island watching and wondering what I am doing.
When we arrive at the San Juan County Dock in Eastsound 2 hours later, I squeeze our thirty feet onto fifteen feet of dock right under the sign saying four hours max. (or is it two?)and -no over-nighting-
At midnight the local constable wrote us a warning and taped it to the stern rail. It said -vacate immediately- or risk getting cited. Midnight! I know it was midnight cause he wrote 11:55 pm in the box.
The next day a really nice guy living offshore in a boat, gave us a ride to NAPA,(he owned a rusty Land Cruiser)(it was his inflatable I squeezed) and he carried the new battery down to the boat for me (see, paying it forward works).
By noon we were in good shape and on our way back to Jones Island.
OK, lets wrap this up. Our misadventure turned out to be slightly inconvenient at most. We got to bike around Eastsound and had breakfast out. The battery I bought, I would have bought anyway. We met a nice guy. It was creepy knowing a cop had been hanging around our boat while we slept.
The lessons learned are:
don't pull anchors until the motor is running or your ready to hoist sail
don't leave home without the Honda. (we have a Honda kicker too)
get an old fashioned dumb charger for the tool bag
have two batteries that work if your going cruising overnight
stuff happens, and things break at inconvenient places - be prepared
be flexible, take it easy (and bring a credit card)
In keeping with this sites purpose to help newcomers get to the San Juan's, you will find listed below selected posts and links.
These posts are the bare essentials needed to get you off on that trip to the San Juan's, the rest is up to you. (click on the links) Where to launch your boat and park your rig!
A few years back, I hiked the trail from Pelican Beach to the top of Eagle Bluff on Cypress Island, taking pictures every few minutes along the way.
The resulting pictorial is a pretty good synopsis for those that can't make the journey themselves. See the Eagle Bluff Pictorial hike here.
I decided to do the same thing on Matia, but with a little change up.
First I hiked the trail snapping away with wild abandon, then I jumped in the dinghy and hugged the shore continuing taking pictures while I circled the island. Then I deleted most of what I had. The results are below, you decide if it was worthwhile.
The blue marker on the far left marks Rolfe cove, and where we begin our visit to Matia
First off, exit the dock!
The little four boat float, may be full, but there are two buoys and room for a few boats to anchor. In a pinch you can anchor in the much larger cove at the other end of the island and do this hike/dinghy tour in reverse.
Boater park fees are a great deal for what we get in return.
The trail starts at the top of ramp beyond the small picnic campground area. Matia is unique in that fires are not allowed anywhere, and pets are restricted from trail system.
click where it says read more for the rest of the picture tour!
Not all of us can just go out and order a $5000 bimini and have it magically appear installed on our boat. So the mother of invention leads us once again down the path of necessity
and creates a "Bimini in a Bag"
"Bimini in two bags"
fits under the v-berth
Organized chaos
is the secret behind many good things.
Rainy day at Roche Harbor and the new bimini was priceless
Read the full description and many more pictures in the long posting titled "Doing it yourself page" over on the right side menu bar or just click here >> doing it yourself ideas
Click below for satelitte view of Roche Harbor English Camp and Mosquito Pass
You have probably noticed that new pups are out with their moms on all the rocks and reefs.
If you get too close they slip into the water so there is no doubt they prefer we keep our distance.
Of note though, we have on two occasions this summer come across lost or abandoned pups. At Inati Bay a pup spent much of the evening and next morning crying. It swam to each arriving boat and then attempted to suckle the hull circling the boat all the while crying and trying to nurse. Apparently from under water bottom paints may be confused for moms.
At Matia, we noticed a pup doing the same thing. As each new boat came to the dock or anchored out, the pup swam to it. We dinghied around the island and saw hundreds of moms with pups in the water and hauled up on rocks. When we returned to Rolfe Cove the pup came to our dinghy and suckled the fiberglass hull, it was really sad looking up at us with big watery eyes while making sucking sounds on the boat and then on the wood oar.
That evening as the sun went down we saw the pup work its way up onto the beach beneath the gangplank. It was there in the morning, still by itself.. We called the marine mammal stranding hotline to report it, but who knows what happened.
We talked to the volunteer on the phone and they said sometimes people getting too close will cause pups and moms to separate and then become lost.
We didn't attempt to touch this little guy, but it sure seemed like he wanted to be cuddled
The sucking sounds were unmistakable as he worked his way around the boats again and again.
Of course buoys are first come first served and you are not allowed to tie your dinghy to one as a way to reserve or save it. But what are you going to do if you find one with a dinghy tied to it? Set it free! No of course not.
Which brings up road rage or should we coin a new term? how about -water rage- or -cruiser rage- boat rage- island rage- For the most part, boaters seem to leave their rage on shore, but if you pay much attention to the vhf you may think otherwise.
Back to buoys, mooring buoys are supposed to have a blue stripe, and most of the parks are close enough, putting a stripe on an old tire is a little tough.
Around the populated areas you may find lots of buoys, most are likely to be private, none are OK to use without permission.
A word to the wise, don't trust buoys any further than you can tow them.
Some are not maintained and break loose when you are asleep or ashore.
Some may be in shallow water, or even be on the ground at low tide (check your depth) or have lots of rope, and flotsam dangling from them. (yes, park buoys)
I think when you hook onto a buoy where you plan to leave valuable property tied up, you should back down as if you were setting your anchor, but that's just me. >> read this post Anchor Buoy breaks free at Jones Island
Some other time we can talk about cleats and rotten old floats.
Click below for satellite view of Blakely Island store and dock
In keeping with this sites mission, I thought just a few (all I know) bits of information are in order. If you're an old salt, skip right past this post, but first timers or part-time first mates may find something useful. Aids to navigation are the road signs of our waterways, and just like driving a car down the highway you wouldn't think of not knowing or understanding some basic safety rules. Consider a three year old driving toward you on the road, he can't reach the brakes, he can't read the stop sign, he doesn't know which side of the road to drive on. Now picture yourself driving your shiny new boat in a busy waterway or dangerous channel. No brakes, check!, confusingstriped buoys, check!, parallel park a boat, oops, check!. You owe it to other boaters to understand a few rules,or at the very least have lots of liability insurance. Speaking of insurance, does your insurance cover damage to your boat and passengers and the mega monster and passengers that you hit?
The three R's (3 aaarrr's) rrr. is a nautical mnemonic you should memorize "Red, Right, Returning"That's it, everyone knows it, everyone uses it, so should you.
Another cool nautical mnemonic for you is, "a good red wine is port"which will remind you that all boats running lights will have a red on the port side bow, which leaves green for the starboard side bow 3R's "red, right, returning"means to me, keep the red buoys on my right when returning from sea. So this means keep the green ones on your left. Returning from sea would also be heading up river. As a practical usage, one would approach and enter a strange marina keeping the red markers on his right. See, already you're keeping off the rocks. Of course there are a few places where local conditions dictate other rules. For example, Swinomish Channel has red buoys on the right at both ends of the passage. What good is knowing which side of a boat (or big ship) the red and green lights are on? I'll tell you why but first you need to turn off the sun and go boating at night, next when you see a red light coming at you adjust your course so you don't collide. OK, now what if its a green light is coming towards you? OK, now what if the green light changes to red and then back to green? What if the light is both green and red? I'm just a little confused and so are others. Out on the water these are the signals that boaters use to tell others what their intentions are, and there is no confusion if you remember a few rules. Remember this "a good red wine is port"It means the red light is on the left side (port) of the boat. Following normal rules of the road you would meet other boats keeping to the right, just like on the highway, so you pass each other red to red (port to port). OK when you see a red, then green, then red changing again, and again, it means they are turning back and forth. A steady red/green at the same time means the other vessel is more or less pointed at you. OK, now when you wander back and forth steering your boat like a drunken... you can imagine what message your lights are sending out over the dark waters. Some wisdom learned the hard way: When navigating in darkness and the lights you are watching go out (as in you can't see them suddenly) it may mean something is in the water between you and the lights, let's see what could be blocking the view. A headland, another boat, a reef or rock, a piling, your crews head. What it means is you better stop or slow down and figure out immediately why the lights are blinking. Just for fun I looked up some other sayings: When all three lights I see ahead, I turn to Starboard and show my Red: Green to Green, Red to Red, Perfect Safety -- Go Ahead.
Red over Red The Captain Is Dead Vessel not under command
Danger Signal: Blast quick five
To stay alive This is the danger signal, to be given if you think there is confusion or imminent danger of a collision. It's also the signal the ferry boat will blast at you if you're being stupid.
"I wonder if there's any red port wine left," OK, I got it now, red on left and port means left.
Below are a few buoys that need to be understood
The top band marks the preferred channel
Safe water, the above buoys may be passed on either side
Stay away, these buoy mark rocks and bad things.
(check your chart)
The below buoys are your sign posts,
odd numbers on green, even on red,
the same numbers are on your chart.
Red Right Returning 3rrr's
The above striped marker demands your attention, slow down or stop
until you figure out where you are.
Many times individuals will make a buoy/marker out of a jug or old fender.
Do yourself a favor and use caution, there is a reason for the marker, and watch out for a trailing line if its floating free, you don't need something wrapped around your propeller.
If you had a chart, you would be able to spot nav. aids on chart
and figure out where you are and what to do.
I use NOAA chart number 18421, it has an 80,000 scale. I prefer this chart because it shows most of the area I like to cruise on one chart. You may wish to have a larger scale and more charts
By the way, if you're using your chart for trip planning purposes you may like non navigation charts/maps better. We find a fish-n-map chart inexpensive and very useful.
Our favorite for planning is a full color waterproof laminated tourist map with topo lines, but does not show depth or rocks.
A warning some boaters don't heed,
Please don't take off anywhere with just your chart plotter or portable gps, iphone, or whatever gadget is popular today. You really need to have a hard copy chart or map. (and a compass too) If it just sits rolled up in the corner that's fine. You probably don't use your whistle, flares, pfd's, or any number of emergency items either, but you still carry them.
Click below for a satellite view of Rosario Resort
%2Bfor%2Bthe%2BSan%2BJuans-1.JPG "San Juan Islands map or boat ramps")
