Looking to convoy from Van Island to San Diego Fall 2021

[Rob Skinner]

Hi,

My wife and I are looking for other off shore cruisers considering making the run from the PNW (Van Island, Vancouver, Puget Sound, etc.) to San Diego sometime this late summer (Aug - Sep 2021). We're currently planning on departing from Ladysmith, BC around that time year. Our boat, Falcon VII is a Kelly Petersen 46'. We have limited off-shore experience and would like the 'company' of one or two additional boats for the trip down.

Cheers

Rob

[Tomodore]

Good luck Rob, I expect you already know about Blue Water Cruising Association based in Victoria and Vancouver.The classes and support we had from them before we sailed south was amazing.In particular the psychology of cruising (about the relationship between the the crew with each other and the boat) also the VICE cruise, an offshore round trip shakedown sail out of Barkley Sound to a waypoint of over 100 'm and back.Great people to help and probably find others departing south also. See you in sunny Mexico!

[Qismat]

You're one year too early for us!

We'll be doing the same trip in fall 2022 in our Gulfstar 44cc

[Stu Jackson]

Rob,


Would it not be helpful to share what kind of trip you're planning: straight through, stop overs, offshore, limited distance out, harbor hopping? IIRC, SF is along the way, too.


Safe journey.

[maijipo]

In the Sailing Puget Sound and San Juan Islands group in facebook I saw a group building up to go down to Mexico from WA state. You may find some other cruisers there.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Rob Skinner

Hi,

My wife and I are looking for other off shore cruisers considering making the run from the PNW (Van Island, Vancouver, Puget Sound, etc.) to San Diego sometime this late summer (Aug - Sep 2021). We're currently planning on departing from Ladysmith, BC around that time year. Our boat, Falcon VII is a Kelly Petersen 46'. We have limited off-shore experience and would like the 'company' of one or two additional boats for the trip down.

Cheers

Rob

We did same in 2013, Neah Bay to Drakes Bay/San Fran (we've done this 2x), then south. First met previous owners of Falcon VII in Monterey, then Oceanside, and later La Paz.

Having done it 2x offshore to SF, if we went again we would harbour hop. (But won't as we prefer BC....)

P.S. NO point getting to San Diego too early; it's not that cruiser friendly. UNLESS, of course, you go down to Ensenada and wait there (a great place!)

[Rob Skinner]

Small World indeed! Good to know about San Diego re: Cruiser 'friendliness' or lack thereof. Ensenada will be a mandatory first stop once crossing into Mex waters to clear immigration, visas, import permits, etc. Except for the option of joining up with the Baha Ha Ha - an option we're considering, there's no compelling reason that I see to stop over in San Diego... Thanks for your advise!

[Rob Skinner]

I agree. But frankly, we're not quite there yet in terms of how precisely to make the trip in terms of harbour hoping vs off-shore, etc. I expect a bit of hybrid will be the result. I've received responses from a similar post I put on SailNet - seems there's push back to the notion of 'convoying'. Difficulties with respect to mis-matched boat performance being a central theme. We may decide to go it largely on our own after all. That said, i'm still thinking a sort of 'loose' convoy approach to the trip is worth it - if for no other reason than the company. Cheers & thanks for you input. Much appreciated!

[groundtackle]

https://cohohoho.com/
Exactly what you’re looking for.
Nick

[chillmobil]

Hi Rob, Just stumbled upon your post as I am myself right this second on the ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver. We won't be joining you on your trip this year but we are also fellow Kelly Peterson 46 owners. Ours, sv ALULA, is in NZ and we've been stranded away from her since this whole COVID thing began. Our blog: alulasails.com

I think before buying our boat I reached out to Jim the previous owner of Falcon VII and he was very courteous in providing me with information. Where are you located? Would be lovely to share a pint one of these days!

All the best, Emmanuel & Saxony

[Rob Skinner]

We’re in Cedar, just north of Ladysmith. Sounds like a plan. When are you planning to visit the island next?

Rob

[Rob Skinner]

Heh Thanks! We’ll seriously look into this.

Cheers,

Rob

[chillmobil]

Originally Posted by Rob Skinner

We’re in Cedar, just north of Ladysmith. Sounds like a plan. When are you planning to visit the island next?

Rob

TBD, we are likely putting an offer on a place in Cumberland tomorrow, so we may be on the Island a LOT more shortly! I'll try and "friend" you on this platform so we can connect when I am on Island next. Since we collectively own 7% of all KP 46's built, we need to meet!

[Knot Safety]

Rob

Just an FYI for you - the US border is currently closed to all marine recreational traffic from Canada. Does not matter how far down the coast you go, they still won’t let you in.

Obviously this may change as the year goes along but it is something you should keep an eye on as part of your planning. Currently it says it’s closed to Feb 21, but they have been extending it monthly since the whole thing began. It also says “land border” but it also includes marine recreational traffic too.

Work arounds - two ways that I am aware of. Skip US completely and long haul to Mexico. Or have a delivery skipper pick up and deliver the boat to Seattle and you fly down and meet it. Delivery skipper is a “work” thing and is exempted from border closures because they are not crossing for recreation. Don’t know how it works for cruising permits once you are down there or what happens when you leave.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Rob Skinner

Small World indeed! Good to know about San Diego re: Cruiser 'friendliness' or lack thereof. Ensenada will be a mandatory first stop once crossing into Mex waters to clear immigration, visas, import permits, etc. Except for the option of joining up with the Baha Ha Ha - an option we're considering, there's no compelling reason that I see to stop over in San Diego... Thanks for your advise!

San Diego is an excellent stop to work on your boat. If this is your first long offshore passage down the coast, then you will have a list of items to fix and procure before you enter Mexico.
Lots of anchoring rules, but they are clearly available from the Harbor Police. Plenty of temporary berths available, except when overrun by the HaHa crowd.

If you arrive in southern Cal earlier than you want to be in San Diego, the fall mooring prices in Catalina are not bad.

You are going to want to clear into the US while still in the Puget Sound. This will make it much easier to stop in ports on the way down to San Francisco. Of course, this depends on Covid season lightening up.