Sugested route from Blain to Elliot bay

Our NP45 will be finished this weekend and we will be practicing with a captain in Blaine for a few day .Once we decide to head south to Elliot bay marina where would you guys recommend for stopping points? We have not spent any time north of Seattle so this is new territory for us.

You could run to Anacortes. This would give you two options for the route home, across Juan de Fuca or through the slew.

Safest, least weather route would be Blaine to Bellingham Bay then south to Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. From Anacortes take the Swinomish Channel (the slew) south to La Conner or on to Oak Harbor Marina. DO NOT ATTEMPT THE SLEW AT LOW TIDE AS A NEW BOATER. Wait for higher tide and plan your route through the Channel carefully. Keep a sharp eye on your depths.

From Oak Harbor head south to Everett then down the east side of the traffic separation lanes to Seattle. Be attentive to the Traffic Lanes as shown on your charts, recreational vessels should stay out of the lanes as much as possible (commercial traffic have priority in the lanes). When you need to cross the lanes do so as quickly as possible, limit your time in the lanes and cross at a right angle to the lanes.

Good luck and keep an eye on the winds, the tides and the Washington State Ferries.

Anybody know when the Swinomish was last dredged?

Last dredgings were in 2013 and 2018 but not necessarily the entire length of the Channel (Fidalgo Bay to Skagit Bay). Caution must be taken at the northern entrance in Fidalgo Bay, at the dog leg at the south end of La Conner and at Goat Island where the channel merges into Skagit Bay.

As a newbie I would recommend Blaine to Anacortes on the ebb, about 35 nm. Bellingham Ok, but sort of out of the way. I would not recommend the Slough. It is easy enough but there a lot to think about on that route. Out of Anacortes, catch the tail end of the ebb and pick up the start of flood heading south. Depending on your schedule and timing, you could cross Deception Pass and head south or head for Port Townsend or points further south. Lots of good stops either way. With the virus and the border fiasco, lots of boats that would be north are cruising local, so if tying up is your choice, reservations might be needed. Good luck.

With a new boat and new to the area, I agree that you should avoid the Swinomish Channel. There are shallow areas and strong currents that could run your day. With summer weather patterns starting, the strait would be easier anyway.

Slowboat has a good video on this. It's going South to North - but a lot of the information is applicable.

https://youtu.be/RZE_7_AR3go

I am thinking i might wait until after the July 4th holiday.

You might want to subscribe to MV Freedom, a couple living on their Nordhavn 43. They visit various areas and provide good insight to many of these places. You might even contact them for suggestions:

I concur that going down Rosario strait is safer and easier than through LaConner and the Swinomish slough. The kicker would be if there's a strong south wind on your nose blowing up from Admiralty inlet or a stiff Westerly coming in from Juan de Fuca as you make your way down Whidbey island. Or, if you're at about slack tide when you reach Deception pass, you could go through and not have to confront the slough and it's shallows, and follow the east side of Whidbey down. As mentioned above, the best plan would to ride the ebb current as you leave Blaine, timing it to reach Juan de Fuca around slack. After you cross Juan de Fuca you will get a nice push from the flood as you proceed south. Be aware that on big tides, the current is very strong around Anacortes and you'd be well served to have it at your back if you're not there around slack water.

Yes to the current at Anacortes. First time in there many years ago, I did not look and was not aware of the strength. I was doing 6 knots through the water, but 13 knots over ground. Good thing I was going with the current!!!
I agree with Rosario over the slough. Just watch the weather (wind predictions) and avoid wind opposing tidal current as that can make for some nasty seas.
If you have the time, I would do a slow trip to Seattle, stopping often. You could use the docking practise and/or anchoring practise. Get a Wagoner's guide and they will list many possible good places to stop.
Enjoy your new boat.

I'll dissent.



For someone new to the area, I don't think I'd necessarily avoid Swinomish Channel. Yes, it does help to time the tide and current but it is really an interesting and lovely trip. It also avoids the potentially rough conditions that you can encounter in the Southern end of Rosario or the entrance to Admiralty Inlet.



If you choose to avoid the Swinomish, then I'd opt for Deception Pass. Just make sure you time it precisely, which may be more difficult going South than North.


OTOH, if you happen to have couple days of no wind and flat calm, running across Juan de Fuca straight is just fine if you avoid the commercial traffic.


Enjoy your new boat!

Will the garmin 8612 show current direction?

Magna, Suggest you get a copy of Waggoners or similar cruising guide for this area which I believe discusses tides and currents and how they are affected by Pacific ocean water moving into and out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Worth studying for the boating you'll be doing here.

magna 6882 said:

Will the garmin 8612 show current direction?

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Usually, yes. You can also download an app like tidetrac or AyeTides. AyeTides is better for currents but I prefer tidetrac. According to tidetrac, high tide near Blaine is at 4:33 am ebbing until low tide at 12:16.

I’m inclined to agree with dhays. I took my last boat from Anacortes through Swinomish right after we bought it. There was some adversity, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Stay in the channel.

If you have a 6’ or less draft then depth is a non issue for the channel. If you draw more than 6’ avoid a negative tide. This excludes shelter bay.

dhays said:

I'll dissent.



For someone new to the area, I don't think I'd necessarily avoid Swinomish Channel. Yes, it does help to time the tide and current but it is really an interesting and lovely trip. It also avoids the potentially rough conditions that you can encounter in the Southern end of Rosario or the entrance to Admiralty Inlet.



If you choose to avoid the Swinomish, then I'd opt for Deception Pass. Just make sure you time it precisely, which may be more difficult going South than North.


OTOH, if you happen to have couple days of no wind and flat calm, running across Juan de Fuca straight is just fine if you avoid the commercial traffic.


Enjoy your new boat!

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I’m in agreement. There is significantly less unprotected water going down Saratoga passage than Admiralty. If you are new, then I think you should plan and pay a lot more attention to tides and currents than most. In which case either the slough or Deception will be a cakewalk. Plenty of water in the slough at high tide. No need to go fast, easy to follow markers, take it at a nice comfy pace. Don’t skip markers. Don’t get in a rush, have your charts ready and absolutely no reason to miss any markers.

The advantage of going down Admiralty is more places to stop or sightsee or get out of the weather. Comes at the cost of the likelihood of having bad weather. In Saratoga it’s a pretty rare day that wind or waves will cancel a trip. I’ve seen it, but usually a bad day simply means 2 -3 foot chop quartering your beam for the whole way down. No fun, but just over Whidbey in Admiralty you might not go at all, or have 4-5 footers on your bow. The entrance at Pt Wilson can be a real stinking booger, the rips then Scatchet head can be running 6 feet when an hour ago it was flat. All the time, no. But it’s a lot less predictable.

Nice weather forecast, Admiralty. Anything else, Saratoga via the slough is a pretty easy bet. Plan your tides and currents. No excuses. Winging it is for the experienced.

I single hand my 48 for many years. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something like, “man you got really lucky. You brought that thing in with no help at all. If you saw what it looked like an hour ago...”. Yeah, that’s not luck. Half the time, not even skill. Planning matters. Amazing how often the prepared get lucky.

I second the Waggoner Guide recommendation. It contains a lot of local information about spots that might take some additional care. I’d also like to recommend their sister publication, Ports and Passes. This is a very comprehensive guide to tides AND currents. I find it’s easier to use the book over electronic data sources such as your chart plotter. When you make decisions about routes and timing, the whole year is laid out right in front of you.

The Swinomish Channel isn’t particularly tricky, unless it’s low tide and your boat draws a lot more than my 4’6”. Pay attention to the channel markers, and remember that they reverse orientation when you pass the town of La Conner. If you are new to your boat, you might want to time any stop at La Conner to coincide with slack water. The current in the Channel runs about 3 knots, making docking a bit tricky (but still do-able!).

The Channel is a no-wake zone, despite the commercial crab fishing boats zooming past at high speeds. It’s a lovely, relaxed little bit of scenery to traverse.

Blain to Elliot Bay

FWIW, we bought our first boat 4 years ago and almost ALWAYS take the inside Swinomish Channel route.

The waters are reliably calm and as long as you follow the channel/channel markers carefully, and monitor your depth, it's an easy ride from Anacortes to Seattle.

We've found the water conditions to be more unpredictable on the outside of Whidbey, which can make for an uncomfortable trip down, especially in a new boat.

Julie

Download the Current Atlas app. It will give you a visual depiction of the currents around the San Juans. If you decide to stop in Bellingham or Anacortes let me know and you can show off your new boat! Ours is in Bellingham.

Just be mindful of the potential for conflicting wind and tidal current situations. South winds and ebb tide coming out of Blaine and or north wind and ebb tide passing thru Admiralty and you could be taking some nice stuff on the nose. Of course it all depends on the strength of the wind and tidal current. Near tides, calmer winds - probably not a big deal. Outside or inside, Everett is a nice place to stop over.

magna 6882 said:

Our NP45 will be finished this weekend and we will be practicing with a captain in Blaine for a few day .Once we decide to head south to Elliot bay marina where would you guys recommend for stopping points? We have not spent any time north of Seattle so this is new territory for us.

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In your boat that is around 12 easy hours. I am partial to Deception Pass so would go that way. Since Deception is roughly half way you could plan to hole up there either in Bowman Bay just before the pass or in Coronet Bay just through the pass depending upon how current looked when you arrive.
Skagit Bay s a nice cruise and allows you to miss most of the vagaries of the East Entrance to the Straight and Admiralty Inlet if they are a bit sporty.

Wotmough bay Lopez is beautiful or Bowman bay floating dock, Hope Island at Skagit bay is also nice to spend a night or two.

Boats about ready so thinking bringing it down next week. My thought would be leave blaine at high tide then should be at deception around slack. I need to find out the protocol for using state docks or mooring buoys. I am a quick learner but seem to be running into a lot of stuff.

Why not get both feet wet and use your new anchor?
Yes, it will be good to ride an ebb out of Blaine. High tides look to be 7 AM ish this week with slacks at Deception around noon. I would leave a little early to give you some cushion for arriving Deception at slack. That is not one you want to miss by a half hour!
It is also true that you are getting a very benign looking week for weather and sea state coming up. Should be a dandy maiden voyage.
I will be in both Blaine and Seattle next week so we may cross wakes.

Some mooring buoys have size limits, usually listed on the buoy itself. If thinking about using a buoy, maybe read the recent thread on mooring buoys? It talks about the pros and cons of "taking the buoy" how to connect, etc. After settling in, you should go ashore and pay the nightly fee using the pay box and supplied envelopes (unless that has changed, it has been a couple of years). Same box for paying at the dock (all first come first serve).
Good luck, and enjoy your first trip.

magna 6882 said:

Boats about ready so thinking bringing it down next week. My thought would be leave blaine at high tide then should be at deception around slack. I need to find out the protocol for using state docks or mooring buoys. I am a quick learner but seem to be running into a lot of stuff.

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Most buoys we have used in Washington State are limited to 45 feet. Your boat is the maximum size that will fit. Buoys are like a camping spot - tie up and then go find the pay envelope on shore - usually around $1 per foot, depending on the park and the season. They take cash or check. The envelope will require your WA state registration number or your Coast Guard number if you are documented - I recommend taking a picture of that so it's in your phone. Bring a pen to shore so you can fill it out. Same applies if you're on a park dock instead of a buoy. Note if you're on a dock and want to plug into power there's usually an extra charge (it's $6 per day at Blake Island - 30-amp only).

If you use the parks a lot, it's worth it to get an annual sticker. No messing with envelopes (but you still need to pay for electricity).

First time catching a buoy is an adventure. I'd recommend getting next to it and using your thrusters to slide up to it sideways, so it's next to the gate just outside your pilothouse. Use a boat hook to either pass a rope through (tie a knot on the end) or, if the tide is low, pull up on the ring and pass the rope through by hand (there will be slack in the chain and the metal ring should lift right out of the plastic buoy.)

Most people use a bridle when tying off to a ball. Use two lines - one from your starboard bow cleat and the other from port. Loop the line through the buoy ring and pass it back to the same cleat.

Buoys aren't always placed well, and some get dragged around. If one seems too close to a neighbor or the shore, it probably is.

Good luck!

We do not have a dingy yet so getting to shore will be a problem. Dingy has been delayed to mid july.

What, you don't own a pair of swim trunks??? Afraid of a little cold water???
Sounds like the docks would be best then or anchor out.