I've sailed the entire West Coast from Porta Vallarta,
Mexico to Fiordland, BC (200 m south of Ketchikan, AK). Much of it in both N and S directions. I’ve also sail to and from
Hawaii from California and to
South Pacific from Porta Vallarta. Twice during summer while sailing the west coast I've had sudden storms with waves of 20 - 30' that we had no choice but to sail through or with.
I currently reside on Camano Island and sail a
Cal 31 which last summer we spent 4 months cruising to Fiordland Park, BC from Everett, WA and then back. We traveled with the wind most of the time by timing our departures and never saw conditions that made it hard for my wife and my 70 year old body to handle. Remember you are never more than a few hours from secure anchorage or harbor.
Southern Calif is too crowded for my taste but to each his own. There really are not many bays or harbors North of San Francisco. And many of those have significant "bars" which means you have to time your bar transit with the tide. I read back in the 1990's that Cape Mendocino (just S of Eureka, CA) is the hardest cape to sail past on the N American continent according to an old US "Coast Pilot." Predominately during the summer there are currents and winds from the N running down the coastline. I sailed out of
Newport Bay (mid
Oregon coast) for several years. A good
day sailing to windward in the summer meant green water over the bow repeatedly in a
Dufour 31.
Once you get to the Straits of Juan de Fuca you can
head into
Puget Sound and an entirely different experience from anything else on the Coastal US. It is all "protected" water. From Olympia, WA to the Strait of
Georgia and the Queen Charlotte Sound which carries to the Northern end of
Vancouver Island (300 NM total as the crow flies). There are several hundred or thousand significant islands. (Island counts or estimates vary depending on how small a rock you count as an island). You can spend many summers cruising this area and never see waves over 3.' Below Campbell River, BC there is not enough fetch to ever create the large swells and huge crashing waves of the ocean coasts. There are thousands of bays, coves, and 1000’s of
marinas, many with transient moorage. The only disadvantage of cruising Puget Sound is the cold water which limits swimming. Actually, some areas of S coastal BC and S Puget Sound have some water that warms significantly in the late summer and is very swimmable (65-75 degF). Otherwise in the summer the water will probably be in the 50degF range. The summer also has significantly less rain although it is now dry all summer like say Southern California. You will have pay attention current and tide tables since the tides can reach 20’ and the currents over 10knots in the many narrows.
Then you have the “inside passage” to Alaska that is north of Vancouver Island on the BC coast. Once you leave the protection of Vancouver Island you have 1-2 days sailing of exposed
Pacific Ocean sailing. Then you enter a magic cruising area of hundreds of islands and hundreds of long river inlets and fiords with no one there! You often sail between snowcapped mountains accompanied by whales. More than half the time we anchored last summer, we had the entire bay or cove to ourselves. Again you can stay in protected water until you have 2 days sailing when leaving BC toward Alaska. The
marinas are about 1 – 2 days apart with only one marina at each stopping point. Often there is no town at all; only the marina who exists to
service the cruisers.
Fuel stops are 150-200 miles apart but not always with
fuel. The entire area is serviced by barge; the roads are none existent or too circuitous to be useful for good transport to the coastal towns or marinas.
If you want warm water and don’t mind being in Mexico, then the Gulf of California protected by
Baja California is a good way to go. Again there are lots of bays to
anchor in. However the storms driven waves can be ocean sized and summer is very hot. There are so many cruisers there now that it is not much different than cruising the
USA as far as amenities and services go.
So if you want to protect your personal “jewels,” don’t mind colder weather, and want new cruising grounds, then try Puget Sound, the Strait of
Georgia and Queen Charlotte Strait and the Inside
Passage to Alaska.
Contact me if you want a detailed log of my
cruise of the inside
passage last summer with pictures and videos.
Greg
S/V Evania
Cal 31