Puget Sound and San Juan islands

Next fall, we have a two to four week trip planned to Puget Sound and the San Juans. We have relitives in Poulsbo WA and plan to sail out of there for a while.

I have been planing on taking my old water ballast Mac 26S up there (26 foot with a 9 hp outboard) where we could spend many nights on the boat either in marina or on the hook.. Our base might be Kingston and we would probably motor/sail up to the San Juans which might take a day or two but.. no problem.

Then.. I started thinking about bringing along the TI hull only to use as a two person pedal kayak along with the sailboat.

Then.. I started wondering about just bringing the TI only. The problem with the TI is that we would spend more $$$ on places to stay and now you have to cart around the trailer (like on the ferry to get to the San Jauns). But.. the TI would be WAY easier to get up there comming from Colorado and I think a lot of fun to sail/ explore during the day.

So.. could you take a TI up to the San Juan islands? I think you have to get there by ferry, any issue with the TI on a trailer?

Anyone taken a TI to the San Juans and explored some? Im still probably going to take the sailboat up there.. but am wondering..

I did a search here and didn't find out much about the San Juan islands.. but Im liking the idea of taking the TI there more and more. What I am thinking is to take the car and trailer on a ferry from Anacortes (I think under $100) and then stay in Friday Harbor which seems to be the largest town on the islands. I would get a hotel room in Friday harbor for maybe 5 nights.

Im not sure at all about how hard it would be to do a daily trailer launch from Friday Harbor but I can put a 2.5 hp outboard on the TI that will cruise at 6 knots and a gallon probably gives over a 40 mile range. I believe this would allow my wife and I to really see a lot of the different areas in the islands all in day trips from Friday harbor. We would motor / sail / pedal the TI which I think would be a really great way to see that area. I know if I had the sailboat there, as soon as we stopped somewhere I would want the TI.. Id still have to deal with currents and fog - same as with the sailboat..

I did see some post from a long time ago here about someone taking an AI there but its possible they car topped it. I would have to make this work with the trailer which might complicate things? Anyhow.. the TI for this trip is sounding like a great idea..

I purchased a TI last year and spent several months sailing in the San Juan Islands. No issue taking one on a trailer, though you will pay a premium on the ferry. I transport mine on top of my Toyota Highlander to avoid this charge. I rent a place with good water access so just store in on the beach while there. There is usually no wind for the first 100 yards from the beach, so the TI is perfect to peddle out to the wind line and then sail.

I primarily sail around the Wasp Islands, Jones Island, and out into the San Juan Channel. This is very nice area if you get a chance. They do rent TI's out of Friday Harbor, so I see a few of them out and about in that area, though there is a bit more plane/ferry/boat traffic in that area.

Here is a link to video I just made showing sailing up there. I would be happy to share additional details if needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40V6vjUg7d8

_________________
Randy
2013 Tandem Island "Frenzy"

Great info!!!! You changed my mind.. Im going to use the TI for our trip. I think it will also be nice to have when we visit the relitives in Poulsbo.

I need to do a bunch more research on exactly where I would stay and are there boat ramps at that spot that are easy (and not expensive) to use so no questions at the moment. I enjoyed your video!!

Very nice video. Looks like a tremendous place for sailing the Island.

First snag for this trip.. to get a decent ferry price, you need to be under 30 foot. I would be towing the TI with a small car (Subaru Forester) and car and trailer are 36 foot. Even if I put the TI on the car top for the ferry ride, I still cant get under the 30 foot. So it looks like the ferry cost would be $139 but I think that is round trip.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fares/F ... ingterm=10

Second issue is being able to easily launch a small boat from a trailer near Friday Harbor at a reasonable cost. The time I would want to go up there is in September and it appears to still be peak season. Car toping the TI with rigging every day is just not going to work with my wife needing to help (if I want to stay married). Finding a place to launch a boat near Friday Harbor doesn’t look all that good. Probably could work if you went in January but its the peak season in a popular place where they are trying to preserve things that worries me.

I really like the idea of staying in Friday harbor and there are reasonable priced places to stay there.

Frenzy, if you see this, any suggestions about a place to go where I could take the TI on the trailer and find both "less expensive" places to stay plus a fairly inexpensive way to launch daily with only staying for 5 days?

I am still thinking this is possible but I can see it costing near $300 per day between the boat/trailer/ lodging - which would lead me to look at other options such as other places around the Puget Sound..

Walt-

Yes, September is still peak, but not as busy as July and August. And yes, getting reasonable accommodations can be an issue during the prime season so may not work within your budget. There is not much in terms of hotel-type accommodations, so you should also check VRBO.com, Air B&B and other similar options. We are lucky that we rent a house for several months and are able to keep the TI on a beach. Thus only need to unload the boat once for the season. Keeping your boat right on the beach is the best option if you can find something like that.

Regarding the ferry you are correct, you only pay once so that is a round-trip price. As I mentioned, I cartop my TI on a Toyota Highlander and measure before I get on the ferry to keep it under the oversize limit. You may need to slide boat forward for the ferry portion of your trip to make this possible, and also drop the rudder as it is enough to put you in the over-height category. My rack is a set of pvc pipes attached to my car rack so it is easy to get it moved forward enough to avoid the surcharge.

I like Friday Harbor, but you may also want to consider Orcas Island or spending a couple days on each island. On Orcas, you could launch at Deer Harbor and have easy access to sail around the Wasp Islands and Jones Island where I sail. There is a small resort there (Deer Harbor Inn), though I have never stayed there. Also a nice resort called BeachHaven on Orcas where we use to stay, which is right on the beach. West Sound on Orcas is another popular sailing spot with sailing club.

If you want to go to Friday Harbor for a visit, it is easy to make a day trip on the ferry as it is free if you don't take your car. If you do stay on San Juan Island, you could also probably launch out of Roache Harbor for something different.

Feel free to drop me an email or private message if you want more info.

_________________
Randy
2013 Tandem Island "Frenzy"

Walt-

One additional thought, there is a local Hobie dealer in Friday Harbor (Friday Harbor Marine). You may want to contact them for suggestions. It may be possible to launch once and store your boat at the marina during your stay. They also rent TI's (or have in the past).

_________________
Randy
2013 Tandem Island "Frenzy"

Walt,
With my first post on this forum I wanted to add some comments about kayaking in the San Juans. Instead I hit the wrong icon and started a new thread.


Here is the link to that thread.
viewtopic.php?f=70&t=54061

While I don't live anywhere near the San Juans. kayaking in the sound is a passion of mine. I hope to extend it to sailing kayaks too.
Hope that you have a great trip.

thanks for the info here!!!

I have dropped the idea of taking the car and trailer over to Friday Harbor.. but have another plan.

I know pocket cruiser sailboats (which is the original plan I had and still want to do this only maybe a year later) put in at Anacortes and then sail or motor over to the San Juan Islands. I don’t know exactly where they do this in Anacortes but google shows a bunch of launch ramps and marina so it seems that there would be reasonable places to leave a vehicle and trailer.

It looks like there is a fair amount of sea kayak camping in the San Juans - for example the next link (don’t know anything about this other than there must be camp sites)
http://www.outdoorodysseys.com/about-th ... an-island/

The distance from Anacortes to where your in the San Juan islands is maybe only 7 to 10 miles which is pretty easy to do on a TI. From Anacortes to Friday Harbor looks to be just over 20 miles taking the route the ferry does (you have to watch currents!!).

So one really good option might be to start from Anacortes and TI camp on different places on the islands. You might need to bring some wheels so that you can get the TI up the beach as the tides are fairly high there but it looks like kayakers do this (much lighter craft) so its possible. This is a trip with my wife so were not set up at all to camp.. but this seems like a great way to see the islands.

If you could leave the TI at the marina in Friday Harbor (or at the kayak dealer/shop), another option is to still get a hotel room there for a few days (looks easy to walk to from the marina) and do my original plan of doing day sails / water hikes / water bike rides out of Friday Harbor. If nothing else, I’m fairly sure you could get a slip. I watched a video last night on sail boating in the islands and slips ran .5 to 1$ per foot per night (video is at least 10 years old). Seems you could find some inexpensive option for an 18 foot boat that could be slipped or beached. There are a few other marinas that you could probably also do the same plan.. (see Frenzy post - I need to consider all of these which sound just wonderful: consider Orcas Island or spending a couple days on each island. On Orcas, you could launch at Deer Harbor and have easy access to sail around the Wasp Islands and Jones Island where I sail. There is a small resort there (Deer Harbor Inn), though I have never stayed there. Also a nice resort called BeachHaven on Orcas where we use to stay, which is right on the beach. West Sound on Orcas is another popular sailing spot with sailing club).

Or, I could just do day sails out of Anacortes. I have a 2.5 hp gas motor on that boat that will do 6.5 miles in an hour so just motoring for an hour or three per day also gets you several of the San Juan Islands.

So at this point, I’m leaning towards putting in at Anacortes and either day sailing out of Anacortes or try and stay in Friday Harbor again (or similar spot) but spend one day getting there from Anacortes and one day getting back. I think the TI is a really nice vessel for doing something like this even without the gas outboard - but it should be a piece of cake with the gas outboard.

The idea of doing what Frenzy does is also very appealing.. Spend at least a month there.. car top in the TI and leave it on the beach for day sailing.

After watching the video last night on sail boating there, I am also thinking my 26 foot water ballast sailboat will be great there. This boat sails fairly well but it also is fairly comfortable to camp in and if you go off season a little (like mid sept into October), it looks like its fairly easy to rent slips at a bunch of harbors and the cost would seem to be fairly reasonable. It also looked like these places had coin operated showers. So now I think I need to make at least two trips there, one with the TI and one with the sailboat.

Im still guessing on all of this.. probably just need to go and find out.

Tim S, maybe you also know some good kayak places in the Puget sound? I think these spots would also be great to do with the TI, only issue is that I would need a boat ramp since I will have it on a trailer.

This web site shows a bunch of places http://www.kayaknw.org/ I might also just try some of these that look to have boat ramps near by. For some of this trip, we would be based between Poulsbo and Kingston (wifes relatives)

Walt-

Yes there are lots of options and I don't want to imply that the TI will be a better experience than your larger boat. It will just be a much different trip. You would likely have an equally good time with your large boat as there are lots of places to sail and anchor (or pay for mooring ball at State Parks). The best part of the San Juans is experiencing all of the different islands and great moorages and coves. You can easily launch your large boat at Anacortes and make a great circle tour visiting Sucia Island, Roche Harbor, Jones Island, Friday Harbor, etc and back to Anacortes with services available every other night.

If you decide to go the TI route, I think it is worth the cost to take the ferry and have a vehicle to do some island exploring as well. Departing from Anacortes may be doable, but if conditions are not ideal, it could be just a rough, wet and cold ride (I know I would never convince my wife to make that trip)! The amount of current through some of the passes cannot be underestimated. It is not just the speed of the current, but these currents can set up some pretty challenging wave conditions as well. Plus, water temps in the 50s and air temps in the 60s must factored in as well.

To me, the most interesting areas involve small islands like the Wasp Islands and Jones Island. All of Jones is a state park with campgrounds used by kayakers. There are several beaches where you can land and then hike the island. You can also sail to Yellow Island, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy. It is a small island, but fun for a day trip and hike. If conditions are good, you can sail out in the San Juan channel for more wind and action. If you want more shelter, it is then easy to duck back and sail in the more sheltered area. If there is no wind, it is still a fun place to explore. Sucia Island would be another fun one to explore as it is public, but would take a bit more planning.

Hard to beat September as crowds drop off significantly after Labor Day. Days start getting pretty short up there that time of year so September would be my first choice (versus October).

Good luck!

_________________
Randy
2013 Tandem Island "Frenzy"

Great info!!!

I talked to these guys http://fridayharborkayaks.com/?page_id=3764 in Friday harbor and they said it would be no problem to rent a spot to keep my TI for $10 to $15 per night (not something they normally do but no problem, this is the number the guy threw out). This is also for September. I could also rent a slip at the marina for .95 per foot which would be just under $18 per night.

I also realized that I would be on several different ferrys (one from Anacortes to Friday harbor, one from Seatle to Kingston) and the trailer just becomes a pain.. Im not even sure it is possible to get a trailer on the ferry to Kingston where we will also be staying for some time.

So.. this trip makes most sense if I car top the TI. I made a rack for my Subaru Forester based on some ideas I saw in transportation forum. What I made is a wood cradle that fits on the rack that uses the lenght wise PVC pipes. I think it should work but the TI is really pushing the limits on getting on and off the rack. The ferry from Anacortes to Friday harbor has a height limit of 7 foot 6 inch, my setup comes in at about 7 foot 2 inch so a little margin.

This trip is sounding great to me.. Get a room in Friday harbor and a rent a spot to keep the TI. We would have the car to drive to different spots on San Juan island plus the TI for exploring on the water..

We are headed home after a really fine time on San Juan Island WA. This was just after Labor day so the crowds were down and it was still very pleasant. We stayed in Friday Harbor and car top sailed the TI every other day and took day hikes every other day. We launched from Jackson State Park twice and Roche Harbor once. We could have launched at San Juan State Park (free after labor day) but didnt. We put a lot of miles on the TI. I had a 2.5 hp outboard which I used a little to get to places where we wanted to sail. We pedal sailed about the whole time. I put some pictures of the trip in the link below.

http://analogengineering.com/sail/hobie ... Hobie.html

Thanks for the pictures, Walt. That is a spectacular area--coastal Washington state and many of the inland parks, but you have to be very careful in the passes because of the powerful currents. Glad you got through your trip unscathed!

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon