Birch Bay WA to Newport, OR

[mestrezat]

We will be sailing the boat we just bought(Liberty 458) from Birch Bay to Newport next month. Any suggestions as to how far off shore we should take her after rounding Cape Flattery? Plus any ideas as to what we might expect on the trip? It's our first time as "coastal cruisers".

[Charlie]

Planning a similar trip except I am only going to Astoria OR. I have decided to take a trip that will take me along the costal shelf. There are more than a few places that have rocks along the shore.

I think we may have met before. Did you check in at Friday Harbor after hours in May and then head back into Canada? I met a couple, their son, and an exchange student on a Liberty 458. I have a Sceptre 41 with a dark Blue (almost black hull).

[w42]

Originally Posted by mestrezat

Plus any ideas as to what we might expect on the trip? It's our first time as "coastal cruisers".

FOG. Recommend a radar.

Watch for sport fishers off Cape Flattery. Many of them DONT have radar and seem to have a disregard for safe speed.

Avoid shipping lanes out the straight and monitor the VTS channels.

Watch out for nuclear submarines.

We found the accomodations at Neah Bay pretty good. They have a new marina there built just a few years ago. Nice grocery and tackle shop within walking distance. Great stop for last minute provisioning before heading out.

Should be a fun trip!

[mestrezat]

Just bought the boat and this is our first trip using it except to take it to Point Roberts for haulout, survey and repaint the bottom. We live in Denver, CO.
Will be arriving on Sept 9 to do a provisioning setup and reinstall the inner forestay and some additional safety equipment, etc. Set off on Sept 12.

The boat has Raymarine Radar, Chartplotter and GPS all networked together. Am still planning on getting all the charts from Birch Bay to Newport(can't be to careful). Plan at this point on sailing 24/7 to see how far we can get. Have to fly back home on Wednesday 19th. Depending on the winds, we hope to be to Newport by the 16th with luck. If we are on schedule, we will probably stop somewhere along the coast and rest a day(any suggertions?). With it being our first time "coastal cruising" in a very heavy boat I'm not sure of it's speed. We plan on the standard 3 on 3 off schedule for watch keeping.

[Charlie]

I guess it wasn't you I met in Friday Harbor. Had never heard of the boat before. Nice looking though. We'll be leaving around the same time. We are going to the wooden boat show on 9/8 then to Port Angeles on 9/9 and Neah Bay on 9/10. From there I figure a 24 hour run to Astoria if the wind doesn't blow to hard. If it does we may have to stand off the coast before going over the bar.

BTW does anyone know if there is such a thing as a "no lobster pot zone" off the WA coast. I heard rumour of one. I plan on staying 10 top 12 miles off becasue of the rocks/reefs in closer. When you look at the detailed charts they are there. On the small scale charts you can't see them.

[mestrezat]

I looked at Neah but may be to far for us to reach the first night. If we get out by 7am, not sure how far we will get the first day since we don't yet know her capabilities. Any suggestions as to where we might stop along the way?

[Charlie]

Mestrezat:

I guess you know that you are going thru some of the most beautful cruising grounds in the world. There are a number of beautiful spots that you will be passing Succia Island > 20 nm from Birch BAY (BB), Orcas Island, Lopez Island, Bedwell Island, Galliano Island, Sidney, Victoria, Well lets put it this way there are multi-volume guide books on the subject.

I'm gusessing that you can do eight knots or better so depending on tide you should be able to easily make Port Townsend, Sequim (John Wayne Marina) or Port Angeles. These places have Marinas to stay at and places to anchor. You can also look at Dungeness Spit if you just want to anchor. I think I remember you saying that this is your first Costal Passage so keep a good eye on the weather conditions. You may want to consider some bail out places short of Newport OR b/c the weather can change quickly and that section of the coast can get pretty nasty. Also the Coastguard recommends that you enter the bars on slack water going to flood b/c this will create less violent seas.

Sounds like you are in a hurry. Be careful of that. The "Wagoneer" shows good places to stop from BB to Neah Bay.

[Charlie]

Mestrezat:

I guess you know that you are going thru some of the most beautful cruising grounds in the world. There are a number of beautiful spots that you will be passing Succia Island > 20 nm from Birch BAY (BB), Orcas Island, Lopez Island, Bedwell Island, Galliano Island, Sidney, Victoria, Well lets put it this way there are multi-volume guide books on the subject.

I'm gusessing that you can do eight knots or better so depending on tide you should be able to easily make Port Townsend, Sequim (John Wayne Marina) or Port Angeles. These places have Marinas to stay at and places to anchor. You can also look at Dungeness Spit if you just want to anchor. I think I remember you saying that this is your first Costal Passage so keep a good eye on the weather conditions. You may want to consider some bail out places short of Newport OR b/c the weather can change quickly and that section of the coast can get pretty nasty. Also the Coastguard recommends that you enter the bars on slack water going to flood b/c this will create less violent seas.

Sounds like you are in a hurry. Be careful of that. The "Wagoneer" shows good places to stop from BB to Neah Bay.

[svTOTEM]

I did the reverse trip in June; San Francisco to Bainbridge Island in our Stevens 47 (Yes, I know that sailing up west coast defies logic). Others have already posted good options to Neah Bay.

Watch the weather patterns/forecasts for WA/OR coast starting several days before the intended departure. Wait for a weather window. Gales are very unpleasant; especially when you don’t know your “new” boat. We had up to 40 kts with big swells at 8 seconds and 6’+ breaking seas on top of them

From Cape Flattery in very good weather, make a course that will give you something like 20 miles of sea room by nightfall. In less then perfect weather I’d get offshore quickly. As other mentioned, there can be a lot of traffic at Cape Flattery. I believe the only two options for you to stop, short of Newport, are Grays Harbor and Astoria. If I remember right Grays Harbor has no bar, but Astoria does. Check the coast pilot (region 7) for more details http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/nsd/coastpilot7.htm.

With reasonable weather it should be a great trip. Good luck and have fun learning the new boat.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by svTOTEM

If I remember right Grays Harbor has no bar, but Astoria does. .

Nope. Here is today's Gray's Harbor bar forecast:
GRAYS HARBOR BAR-
1023 AM PDT MON AUG 27 2007

COMBINED SEAS 4 OR 5 FT WITH LIGHT BAR CONDITIONS...EXCEPT BUILDING
TO 7 FT WITH MODERATE BAR CONDITIONS AROUND THE STRONG MAXIMUM EBB
CURRENT AROUND 5 AM TUESDAY MORNING. A WEAKER MAXIMUM EBB CURRENT
WILL OCCUR AROUND 445 PM TODAY.


Personally, I perfer to do the 100 miles out the Straits of Juan de Fuca at night. You can leave from the east end, say Pt. Townsend, stay outside of the shipping lanes and arrive at Neah Bay in daylight. If you motored all night, you can drop into Neah Bay for fuel. Fuel dock is only open during normal business hours. If you got trashed or broke things going out you can spend the night at Neah Bay at anchor or in the guest slips. If things are going well, you head out into the Pacific in daylight hours. The crew has gotten some good practice with night watches in the Straits, and entering the Pacific in daylight is less intimidating. You should be careful to look for a weather window of at least 2-4 days. You may end up with some very light wind motoring on the WA coast. By the time you get to mid-OR you are more likely to get into real weather. Since all the entrances have bars, dropping in to get out the weather is not always a safe option.

Paul L