One way to plan a cruise to the San Juan's!
Many times on this site I have suggested that the most important planning thing to do is set a date, and the rest of the cruise will come together, that philosophy has not changed. But that doesn't mean you can ignore important details expecting them to magically fall in place. Someone still has to grease the wheel bearings, apply for passports, order techie toys, mow the lawn.
Just put a big X on the calendar and then sit back and let your cruise plan unfold (bad word choice, sounds too much like unravel) just sit back and let your plan develop. In our case, with some prodding (one poke) from my oldest daughter, I agreed to go to Roche Harbor for the 4th of July. No big X date on exact arrival but the 4th is the 4th, so I figured we would arrive in the general area a few days earlier.
Now, some months later, the plan is starting to come together. I have a day planned for bike riding on San Juan. I have a campfire night planned on shore at Jones for hot dogs. I have a toss up day to get Ice Cream at Blakelys or Friday Harbor, and it looks like if I can make my Livingston Dinghy sail properly, I will have the day of the 4th to sail around Roche Harbor dodging anchor lines and other dinghies. Yesterday another daughter announced she and her friends had camping reservations on San Juan Island, also over the 4th of July, and that I could give her, her friends and their bicycles a ride over to Lopez on the 2nd, and then they would ride the ferry back that evening. The plan for Saturday after the 4th is still open, but I know it will fall in place just like always.
So, we put the big X on the calendar, and the plan is evolving, I can't believe I used to actually stress over vacation details. I wonder if I should enter the blind dinghy race the day of the 4th. hmmm!
Just in case someone needs an exhausting check list to stress out over when making plans, take a look here.
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