Looking to see the San Juans on a trawler

Hello,
My fiance and I live in North Central Washington and want to see the San Juans on a captained trawler. Wonder how we go about finding someone for a few days trip starting august 18th. I found charters but I do not have enough experience to handle a boat by myself comfortably. We have been online looking at trawlers and it is our dream to sell it all and go live on a boat and work half time and travel the other half. We figured we might as well see if we like trawler cruising before we continue pursuing our dream. Willing to pay pretty well... Point us in the right direction please...

If you contact the charter companies, I think some of them will connect you with a captain. Enjoy!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Sound plan.

Concur with the above. We just spent the last month in the San Juans and it was great. August is the busy season, so you may not find an available charter. But try and if it's available book now. Anacortes and Bellingham have several to choose from, good luck.

Great advice so far. If you want further north check out Trawler Training - Alaska Charters he is a member of the forum too. He does training in how to operate and care for the boat.

Welcome Aboard TF.


Some of the charter companies offer skippered charters as well as bare boat charters. If you call one and they don't have skippered charters, you might ask them to recommend a company that does provide them.


Have fun. The SJ's are beautiful!

The San Juan Islands, I've heard, can be overly crowded/exploited in season. Consider other, more isolated areas in the Pacific Northwest, where local TFers might recommend.

The San Juans/PNW are all good. You can always find a special place regardless of the time of the year. Hiring a crewed boat is a plus so you'll have an in. When we moved there 30 plus years ago, the place was special and still is.

Larry M said:

The San Juans/PNW are all good. You can always find a special place regardless of the time of the year. Hiring a crewed boat is a plus so you'll have an in. When we moved there 30 plus years ago, the place was special and still is.

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So, where are your special places?

Greetings,
Mr. LM. Be careful of Mr. mp's question "So, where are your special places?"...

Check out these guys from Bellingham. Small Ship Cruises From Bellingham WA | Learn To Cruise The Inside Passage | Northwest Navigation Co.
They have several video's on YouTube also. A very cool old boat.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. LM. Be careful of Mr. mp's question "So, where are your special places?"...

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Lmao.

RT, you are a gem.

markpierce said:

So, where are your special places?

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When you're heading there on a small boat let me know.

The OP only has a few days and it sounds like he's never been there before by water. We've taken friends though the San Juans for the first time in the middle of summer. Watching their reactions, says it all.

markpierce said:

The San Juan Islands, I've heard, can be overly crowded/exploited in season. Consider other, more isolated areas in the Pacific Northwest, where local TFers might recommend.

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Must have heard it from Marin, who doesn't like anyone within 10 miles. Other than some marinas possibly being full in July and August, I've never seen it overcrowded. Plenty of great anchorages with plenty of space, unlike the SF Bay Area.

Exploited? How so?


snocrazee - San Juan's, go for it, you won't be disappointed!

You might give Northwest Explorations in Bellingham a call. The plus is flying into Bellingham and avoiding the traffic around Seattle. Also not a bad idea if you are going to Anacortes.

How uncomfortable are you with skippering your own boat? If its just area knowledge and where to go then a buddy boat might be the answer. We are out all the time and would be happy to show you around, unfortunately we are limited on space for overnight guests aboard Ebbtide.

Bob & Jill

A buddy of mine has a 40ft catamaran and we have done two 400 mile trips in Mexico. Ixtapa to Puerto Vallarta and the next trip was Puerto Vallarta to Mazatlan to La Paz. That's about the only experience on big boats I have. I need more experience before tackling it by myself without having someone close by so I don't screw up... We live in Omak, WA so it's about a 4 hour drive to Anacortes. Never been to the San Juans. I appreciate all the answers and will call a charter company and see what they have to offer. I saw the charter prices... Yikes!

Greetings,
Mr. sno. "I saw the charter prices... Yikes!" HAH! Wait until you see the BOAT prices.

You might want to take a look at this. The boat is just like mine (without the decorative rock) and he will do a captained charter. I was going to charter his boat before I bought my own. Gerry is a very nice guy. May be another option to consider.

dhays said:

You might want to take a look at this. The boat is just like mine (without the decorative rock) and he will do a captained charter. I was going to charter his boat before I bought my own. Gerry is a very nice guy. May be another option to consider.

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Wow Dave! That is cheap!!!

I'm bookmarking that link.

CPseudonym said:

Wow Dave! That is cheap!!!

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It is.
800/day skippered. No, prep, no pre cruise time. Just walk on and cast off. You could see a lot of the area in 4 nights-5 days from La Conner and that in itself is a great place to start.

Hawgwash said:

It is.
800/day skippered. No, prep, no pre cruise time. Just walk on and cast off. You could see a lot of the area in 4 nights-5 days from La Conner and that in itself is a great place to start.

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Just checked.
Bookend the above with motel rooms and round trip airfare to my airport of choice for a shade over $5,500 + fuel and food. That's a cheap vacation considering it includes a skippered yacht charter.

Hell of a lot cheaper than owning the boat