Thinking of Motoring to Seattle

[contactdewitt]

I am reaquiring my 30 foot Rawson and am thinking of motoring from San Francisco to Seattle very soon. I understand that I is not a trip to be taken lightly considering the coastline, wind and wave direction, fog accumulation and so forth. The boat is old but I know well and it has a very good 3 cylinder yanmar that I have faith in. The sails and the rigging are my bigest concern as they are a bit on the older side but I plan on utiliziing them only as a back up just in case, they do pass survey and I am confident that they will hold up if needed. I am told that it is approx a 5 to 7 day motor depending on the curcumstances, the boat will do 5 to 6 knots, the question is to port hop or not and I know that there are bars at every entrance so this can be tricky. I would prefer to make as few of these ports as possable but plan to take a wait and see approch. I understand that there are three different routes excluding the Down to Hawaii one of course. Close to shore, (not to close , middle off shore and offshore, I wish to stay well away of the shipping lanes and make the best time and to try to stay out of the fog if possable. I do not have radar which would be a great help if just help ease concern at night and and in the fog but my resourses are very limited but I am very determined. I have a good new VHF. The Boat is stout and full keeled weighing in at 15,000 Lbs. If I could afford to ship it I would in a heart beat but the simple fact is that I do not have the funds. Believe me I would much rather head south but I have better opportunities up north. But I digress, to end this disscusion I will say that I handle the boat very well and have a lot of sea time to my credit. If there is anyone who has any kind of take on this plan of mine I would appreciate an imput or brain pick from you. I do plan on double, and tripple checking running time and charts before I leave to comfirm all aspects of the info that I have and will get.
Thank you and have a great day.
Matt

[roverhi]

This has been a summer of many periods of light west and sout west winds on the Pacific Coast. If you were out there right now, you'd be experiencing these benign conditions for going north. Unfortunately, a patch of strong NW will be coming in along the Washington coast late next week so you 'd have to duck in somewhere up the coast for awhile. If there ever was a summer to make the trip north, this is it if these periods of light winds continue to pass through.

I just did a Transpac and had to turn back for repairs once. Both times, I had light west and south west out to about 150 miles in July. Keep an eye out and be ready to move when the conditions allow.

[svcambria]

San Francisco to Port Townsend is roughly 800 miles. In the best of conditions with little swell, seas, or current to motor against you might get a half gallon of diesel per hour at 5 knots for a total use of about 80 gallons and 160 hours. Unless you have a really big fuel tank you will have to stop for fuel and stop at least once for engine maintenance. And a cheeseburger and beer. So a minimum of seven days for the trip with good weather.
Take a guide book to NW harbors and note the GPS locations of all the harbor entrances. Keep one ear on the VHF weather channel. Consider an AIS receiver in the absence of radar for shipping traffic; fog is as fog does so you may get a little or a lot with or without wind. There are no shipping lanes outside of SF and Cape Flattery, so ships will be on the shortest course for where they are going. Since the coast is sort of a convex curve, staying close is the shortest distance for coastwise traffic; I usually found ships at 8 to 15 miles offshore.
Usual safety precautions and equipment. The water is coooold...
Good luck and don't forget to have fun!

Michael

[jackdale]

The current (1200 UTC Aug 24) 96 hour weatherfax shows 25 to 35 knot winds on the nose along the coast with 5 meters waves. Not nice.

Northeast Pacific WX Briefing Package

[senormechanico]

Truck it.

[contactdewitt]

The Boat has been sold so the need to get it to Seattle is no longer necessary, Thank You All for your input
Matt D.