Seattle to Portland Oregon in January

[Siberian Sea]

Your going to be just fine......

[docrn]

Thank you all for the replies and excellent advice. I really wish I could bring all of you with me for the trip!

In any case, I'm afraid I do have to leave Bremerton on the 24th no matter the conditions on the coast. I am however, prepared to wait for a good weather window in Neah Bay for up to 2 weeks if needed.

I am mostly worried about what I don't know if that makes any sense. Having served in the USN and experiencing the full force of a Nor'easter in the North Atlantic I have the utmost respect for the power of the oceans (and I was even on an aircraft carrier for that one). I'd even go as far as calling it a fear which I will certainly need to overcome if we are going to sail to Hawaii and Alaska in a few years.

Again, thanks to all for the replies. I will try to time my arrival to the CRB as suggested. I've also been told to go out as far as the 50 fathom line to avoid the crab pots and nets. Is there is a chart that gives an obvious indication of where that line is? I've done some searching and am not finding one outside of the NOAA charts.

[sepharad]

The Oregon coast is called the Graveyard of the Pacific for a reason. We buried my parents friend, once the body washed up and it wasnt January. The boat vanished without a sign.

If you crave pain, cold, wet and risk...go for it, otherwise why? The fascination with sailing in bad weather eludes me.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by sepharad

If you crave pain, cold, wet and risk...go for it, otherwise why? The fascination with sailing in bad weather eludes me.

I presume you noticed this is a 5 year old thread so the actual passage happened long ago. As far as I can tell in a search of the archives, docrn did not post a report after he completed the passage. Maybe he will see this follow on discussion and share the end of the story.

[docrn]

We ended up keeping the boat moored in Washington for about 6 months before taking the trip down to Portland in May of that year. This was mostly due to my insurance company not covering the trip unless it was between May and October.

In fact, I’ve made the trip up and down the coast several times since then. We also moved aboard for a couple years and sailed the inside passage which was incredible.

On a side note I did decide to sell the boat last year and am preparing for my move to the dark side on a Nordhavn 40 sometime in the next couple years. As a lifelong sailor it was a hard decision but I suppose it’s the natural progression to switch to a trawler for many aging sailors but I’ll save all that for another post.

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by docrn

Thank you both for your input.
It’s a Beneteau 393 and yes if we go we will absolutely watch for a good weather window but I think I’ll look into trucking it down or see if I can move it to BC Canada for a month or so. Trying to avoid state tax on the boat purchase made in Washington so I think I may look into what my options are for avoiding that (we live in Oregon and there’s no sales tax here). Possibly an extension if the state will allow it. In any case it’s a new to me boat and I’d feel I’d need way more than just a few weekends of sailing her to feel confident enough to risk being caught in a storm this time of year. I know how nasty it can get on the coast this time of year.

Worst case take the boat to Canada, get winter moorage there, then take it back south in the spring, that Beneteau has a little fin keel, not a boat I would want to challenge the Pacific in the winter in.

[docrn]

Originally Posted by Renegde_Sailor

Worst case take the boat to Canada, get winter moorage there, then take it back south in the spring, that Beneteau has a little fin keel, not a boat I would want to challenge the Pacific in the winter in.

We did end up checking the boat into Canada just to be able to say we left the state of washington (to avoid the sales tax). We moored the boat in Bremerton on a 6 month cruise pass until I sailed it back to Oregon that following May. Note that this was 5 years and several thousand sea miles ago.