Cruising the San Juan’s in winter

[Mithril Bham]

Orcas would swim alongside all the time before it was illegal to get close. I was waterskiing before the first Orca was captured. Blackfish. Killer Whales. We thought they ate people. Fishermen would shoot them because they would destroy their nets. A pod came up around me skiing. Scared the hell out of me.

[docrn]

Thanks all. Taking notes! Keep them coming!

[Maka]

I love threads like this.

[Char99]

I Stayed at Telegraph harbour on Thetis Island Late October one year and found they let us dock and use Power. I looked at their website and see a photo of a very empty marina. There are some neat hikes on the island.

Contact & Location — Telegraph Harbour Marina Resort

[TrentePieds]

An exceptional circumstance, although I suspect such wind strengths are becoming more common.

Yesterday the Pier at White Rock BC was destroyed, as were a dozen boats moored there, by winds that blew a steady 50 knots for hours and gusted to 70 knots.

The press reports that 200,000 people in the Vancouver area were left without power due to storm damage. One woman at Duncan on Vancouver Island was killed by a tree blown over by the wind.

We have had several lesser storms this autumn.

Do pay very close attention to the weather if you are going to sail here in the winter. The storm path followed by these high intensity cyclones seems to be from about Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island directly towards Vancouver BC, sometimes a little further north. Obviously all of the Salish Sea is affected regardless of the precise track of the depression.

Any of the marinas in the Gulf Islands and on Vancouver Island will let you plug in against a small charge, mebbe five bucks a night. 30A is the norm.

TrentePieds

[Mithril Bham]

During the 60's I used to sail my Lightning to Roche Harbor, anchor in front of the restaurant, and swim to the dock. This was before they built all the docks and condos. Now the summers are like a zoo. Winters remind me of what it used to be like. Best showers on earth. Private rooms with toilets. Heated with sink. Occasionally I would spend $50 for a hotel room at De Haro where Teddy Roosevelt used to stay. Last time I stayed there my room cost $300. Tons of Dungeness crab.

[rsn48]

We should be through our worst wind storms until this time next year through the Salish Sea. We frequently will get a bit of snow close to and around Valentines Day, but not much, a couple of inches, which usually but not always clears within a day or two. Where I am living, I have experienced two power outages so far in the past two days, expecting another one any time soon.

[coastalexplorer]

White Rock BC is the closest location in British Columbia to the San Juan Islands. on western Canada's true mainland South coast.


Thursday 20th December, of the 20 mostly sailing vessels; moored behind the break water, only 8 survived, The storm broke loose and drove many of them at the middle of the pier built in 1914 and broke out a section of the middle trapping one person on the seaward portion who was rescued by a cormorant Helicopter,



https://globalnews.ca/video/4783615/...r-during-storm



Several BC ferries voyages have been canceled.

[Mithril Bham]

Again. Good idea to not be sailing in November & December unless you like heavy weather sailing with short waves. It can get way worse than this.