Need advice for first longer cruise.
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That's why I scratch my head about Desolation Sound on the July long weekend. Especially if you have to beat yourselves up to fulfill a plan.dhays; said:
The recurring sentiments through 30 posts are; take it easy, no fixed destination limit the long days, enjoy the views to port and starboard. You have a bunch of years with that boat to get to the promised land.
Dave, there are so many places between Sucia and Savary. Places you won't think of until you see them going by or need to stop for a new bean grinder. If you swim, you could easily spend an unplanned afternoon week day in Buccaneer Bay.
Stick your snout into Pirates Cove...
If you end up in Prideaux Haven, after some fun gunkholing, it's a bonus.
And don't forget about area WG.
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dhays
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That is a great question.
Take some brainy statistician to sort that out and even then not get it right.
Average over what time frame?
How do you compare FL to AK?
Mark Pierce to GFC?
2 boats, same 2 week holiday could be vastly different
Speed alone could ruin any such study.
I used to hang around all day Sunday, leave at 1600, get home by 1730 and still beat the Grand Mariners and Coopers that had to eat their breakfast on the run.
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Might not be around just then due to "wedding season", but I will gladly offer help to any visiting TF member, when I'm in town.
For the record, you can order groceries online from Quality Foods (they deliver too), we have by far the best water around, and "Son of Spy" works at the harbour, so you are guaranteed good service.
Well, tried poll but either I didn't write instructions well or people not reading them well.
As to all the variables, obviously they exist. However, I think there would be more of a pattern in average hours per day than miles. We just think that if on a 14 day trip you cruise 100 hours of that time, you really don't have time to enjoy the towns along the way.
When we've had long runs like Alaska, they've been offset by staying still for a few days. We get more miles than others here because of speed. However, we don't try to cover so much ground as to miss what there is along the way. On the other hand we don't spend two weeks at places we can easily get back to. We leave more for next time. We did have extended stays in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego because it was our first time and will be years before we get back.
markpierce
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Gfc?
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dhays
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That's why I scratch my head about Desolation Sound on the July long weekend. Especially if you have to beat yourselves up to fulfill a plan.
The recurring sentiments through 30 posts are; take it easy, no fixed destination limit the long days, enjoy the views to port and starboard. You have a bunch of years with that boat to get to the promised land.
Dave, there are so many places between Sucia and Savary. Places you won't think of until you see them going by or need to stop for a new bean grinder. If you swim, you could easily spend an unplanned afternoon week day in Buccaneer Bay.
Stick your snout into Pirates Cove...
If you end up in Prideaux Haven, after some fun gunkholing, it's a bonus.
And don't forget about area WG.
WG?
Yeah, I am really listening to all the great advice and taking to heart the "relax and enjoy" admonitions.
We just ironed out our time frame. I couldn't talk my wife out of skipping the wedding, so we will leave on July 24th and will plan on being back on August 6th with 2 days of cushion since I won't be back in the office until the 9th. This puts us later in the season than I would like, but at the same time the weather should be decent.
I need to take an inventory of cruising guides that I have for the area, then I will search the past threads for recommendations. I know I have seen plenty of those threads.
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dhays
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All of that is good to know!
That's an easy one. Have the wedding on the boat. If you are in Desolation Sound you will be able to walk across 20 rafted decks and dance on the ubiquitous barge. Guests take the empties back with them and you carry on.dhays; said:
The good news with those dates is boats will generally be more transient. Every day there will be outbound between say, 9 and noon with inbound heaviest between 2 and 4. That is not scientific. Just anecdotal. No 12 boat poll taken.:lol:
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dhays
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Good thing I like to get up early. We are used to me taking off in the morning while my wife is still asleep in the berth. I can get a couple hours of running in before she gets out of bed. Might be longer now since the NP 43 is quieter under way than the sailboat was.
Our normal departure time is around 7:00 AM. In Alaska, in the summer, we'd often move that even an hour or so earlier. In areas with 12-14 hour days, we find the early start allows us to make longer runs or more often just arrive early to mid afternoon and have a large part of the day and hours of sunlight left. At home we sleep later but on the water it's just the schedule we've found works so well for us.
As I look at Porman's 4-11-7-7-0-3-2-0-1-2-3-9-4-9-6-3, allowing an hour for full docking and settling in then leaving at 7, you're at your destination by noon on day one, 7 PM day two, then 3 the next two days so half the afternoon and all evening remaining. The 3 hour, 2 hour and 1 hour days really leave you a full day at your destination. We are willing to sacrifice time at the start of the day to gain it at the end. Now again, Alaska is a different world with 17 hour days. In fact, one thing one has to watch is that most of us are conditioned not to go to bed until a couple of hours after sunset and to wake before or shortly after sunrise. When you first hit Alaska, you may find yourself struggling to get a full nights sleep. Early in our time there we woke early and walked up to the flybridge about 4:30 AM. When we got there we found two others who had already made coffee and were sitting up there drinking it.
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dhays
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Good points on the long days. I live at 47.3N so am used to longer days in the summer. Another reason I wish we were leaving end of June. I love those long days.
bcam
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Dave,
In terms of getting north, don't overlook using your reciprocal privileges at Royal Victoria. We are happy to have visitors, there is a customs phone at the head of the dock.
It's also very doable from GH in a day. Catch the tide and you should be good to go. In our Catalina 36 we have made the trip in 8 hours at 6 knots. Not every time, but not unreasonable.
In terms of getting north, don't overlook using your reciprocal privileges at Royal Victoria. We are happy to have visitors, there is a customs phone at the head of the dock.
It's also very doable from GH in a day. Catch the tide and you should be good to go. In our Catalina 36 we have made the trip in 8 hours at 6 knots. Not every time, but not unreasonable.
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That is a good suggestion as well. I have been thinking about reciprocal options, particularly on the push North and then back down South. While Victoria in one shot is very tempting, it depends on good weather in the Strait. There is also finding a spot at a reciprocal dock once we arrived at about 6pm on a Friday evening in the middle of the summer.
I looked at the tides and currents for our day of departure, and if we left at sunrise, it wouldn't be bad at all.
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That JPEG does not correctly show "WG", BTW. It shows a much larger area. The eastern boundary of WG is 123°48.40’W:
Coordinates of hazardous Area WG
49°21.35’N 124°07.70’W
49°21.00’N 123°48.40’W
49°14.83’N 123°48.40’W
49°16.75’N 124°00.90’W
49°19.35’N 124°07.70’W
Just go cruising...
If going to Desolation Sound, consider traveling up the eastern side of the Gulf. It's more direct. You can clear customs in Steveston. Great facilities and lots of space. You can stay in Point Roberts or Succia the previous night. Steveston to Pender Harbour is 50 mm. Another 50 mm to squirrel Cove or Prideaux Haven. Be aware that DS is really busy in the summer, which is why we typically stay during the shoulder periods. It's easy to avoid Whisky Golf along this route.
Jim
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dhays
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Thanks for the info Jim. Again, our dates are dictated to us unfortunately. I can't wait until my wife retires so we can go cruising in September, but not an option for a couple more years.
Just found out that my daughter and son-in-law have decided to join us for part of the trip. They would like to meet us in Powell River. So I need to factor that in.
Just found out that my daughter and son-in-law have decided to join us for part of the trip. They would like to meet us in Powell River. So I need to factor that in.
We don't do destinations, we do directions and turnaround when time gets tight.
A much more relaxed trip that way.
Oh ! wait a minute I forgot Sharon retired we simply don't care about time anymore and rarely know what day it is
Gotcha.
I mostly stayed away from group rides and flotillas.
Pull out and follow the clear sky.
Hook up with others along the way. Or not.
That's why I have mixed feelings about AIS; sometimes I just don't want to be found.
We have people join us for legs of our trips all the time and really enjoy it. It provides variety. i know in Alaska where we were rotating guests in and out, by midway our trip we'd seen a good number of glaciers. However, to our new guests, it was a first for them so we got to experience their excitement.
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dhays
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We will be doing a number of weekends on the boat before this trip so will have more opportunities for shakedowns. We have had 4 excursions so far and find small issues each time. Sometimes it is repairing things that are broken, more often it is simply learning how to operate new systems.
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Great stop, very good water. Free shuttle upHILL to shopping, everything available there. And another day, headed North and you are in DS.. 3 NP's in Sucia over the wkend. We are heading North on the 10th, Juneau bound..happy days
Great stop, very good water. Free shuttle upHILL to shopping, everything available there. And another day, headed North and you are in DS.. 3 NP's in Sucia over the wkend. We are heading North on the 10th, Juneau bound..happy days
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dhays
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Great stop, very good water. Free shuttle upHILL to shopping, everything available there. And another day, headed North and you are in DS.. 3 NP's in Sucia over the wkend. We are heading North on the 10th, Juneau bound..happy days
You had great weather! 3NPs in one spot. Not bad.
BTW, can you take a look at this thread when you have a chance. It is a NP question.
If they are planning to drive, research and co-ordinate the ferries, 2 each way, well. There will be long lineups and possibly missed sailings if not planned well. Not to mention a long haul, possibly an overnighter from Seattle. On a long weekend.dhays; said:
Not to mention??? That's a dumb phrase when we mention anyway.
Flying up...forget what I just said
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