Take What you Have and -- GO

      As the primary irritant and contributor to this website, I am drawn back to promoting boating and the San Juans.

        How many times have you heard  (or said yourself)  "I can't because...."   -- finish the statement with any handy excuse for not making that long talked about trip.  In many cases, the excuses I use are bogus or easily overcome.

For instance:

• The no money excuse:
• If you are dead broke, I suggest that you forge ahead and make plans anyway, things have a way of working out.
• Reduce the budget some,  try dialing back what you really need to get going to the San Juans.  
• New radar - NO, new motor - NO - how about used? New plotter - NO.  You may be  hopeless if you need all the newest toys to vacation or go on a boat ride.

• The no boat excuse:

• Take what you have, or consider renting or buying a used runabout or skiff.
• One time we came across a couple (a well seasoned couple I might add) at Pelican Beach.  They arrived in an 8' plywood sailing pram (with oars and no motor) and they had towed another 8' pram with  camping gear.  They told us they had put in at Anacortes and were spending a week as they had done for many years.  I was  impressed and somewhat embarrassed for my boat full of goodies, and creature comforts.

                Let's expand on the idea of buying a used boat.  Once a few years back, I sold our primary boat just a few weeks before a planned trip to the San Juans.   Now boat-less, except for my beloved 9' dinghy, I was faced with canceling my family vacation. Instead, I decided to buy an inexpensive boat, and use it once for our  San Juan trip and then sell it upon our return.  I bought a small well known   readily available sailboat and trailer.  We boat camped for ten days, and then  I sold the temporary boat for 100% what I paid for it. 

          The overall cost for that trip was just the cost of fuel and provisioning.  I know, some people will criticize the wisdom of taking an unknown boat, breakdowns, blah blah blah. Thats OK, I agree what we did is not for everyone, but it worked well for us, and besides, I brought my dinghy and trusted 5hp Honda as back up.

• The no time excuse:
• Baloney - If you really want to go you will make the time, so go mark your calendar right now!
• help for procrastinators --- click here for Step by step plan for that San Juan trip

• One last thought; life happens, when everything in life gangs up on you conspiring to stop your boating trip, don't give up.  Instead, postpone the boat part and go in your car. Camping or resorting around the San Juans is almost as good as boating around the San Juans.

Take what you have and -- GO!

     My new travel guide may be just what you need.  That's right, I am shamelessly promoting my 2017 "San Juan Islands Travel Guide" -- It is a Land and Sea Guidebook, so whether you are a boater, biker, or car camper, it has what you want.   CLICK HERE   or search Amazon Books - "San Juan Islands Travel Guide"

Thanks - John

Touring San Juan Island, Orcas, and Lopez Using Public Transportation and Bicycles and Ferries

        Don't go to Friday Harbor and just stay there. If you do you are missing out.  About once an hour the San Juan Transit van/bus picks up and drops off passengers.  From the marina, simply walk over to the ferry lanes where cars are waiting to board and look for the small four foot wide island between the waiting lanes and the road.  There's a little sign saying Transit Stop - that's where you wait, the posted schedule will tell you when the next bus leaves.  For five bucks you can ride anywhere, and for five more you can ride back. For fifteen bucks you can ride all day back and forth everywhere.  Kids are cheaper.

       The talkative drivers will give you a mini tour guide talk while taking you over  to Roche or to whale watch at Lime Kiln.

        So, get on the bus, get off somewhere and hang around, get on the next bus, and repeat. When you've had enough, go back to the marina and talk to your neighbor boat people that went nowhere.

        Lopez and Orcas transit bus/vans are the same, except with different stops (you think?)

Click here to go to the page with all the schedules and links and much more
>>   getting around on public transit and ferries

all---aboard!

Things to do - Get off the boat -There are places to go - Bring Bicycles on your next Cruise to the San Juan Islands

       Bicycling the San Juans, may not describe our cruise last month, but we did bring three bicycles, and we did knock off about forty miles on San Juan Island.

At Friday Harbor with three bicycles, and yes the jib sheets caught on the handlebars on every tack.

      Last January I posted a short blog laying out a possible bike/hike/cruise scenario/itinerary that you could use as a planning building block for your own cruise. Bikes in the San Juans  Below is a quick summation of what we actually ended up doing.

      Our San Juan Island trip started at Shelter Bay LaConner on the Swinomish Channel.  We had just returned from a week long cruise into Hood Canal and after one night in our slip we cast off again at 5:30 am trying to beat the falling tide which would leave us trapped at the dock. With just inches or less to spare we sneaked across our shallow entrance shoal and slid into Swinomish Channel, and rode the remaining outgoing current all the way into Padilla Bay.  After a day of on and off winds and then really great afternoon sailing winds we arrived at 5pm and hailed the Friday Harbor Harbor Master staking claim to a slip for the next two nights.  A casual stroll around town, and live local music drifting down from the city's seawall  gathering esplanade contributed to a very relaxing evening on board. Not having tides or currents dictating our bicycling schedule allowed us to sleep in the next morning. Finally with hot coffee in hand, (okay, in the cup) I wandered up to Kings Market and purchased hash browns, eggs and some yummy impulse items to bring back to the boat for a late breakfast.

      Definitely before noon, (but not much) we walked our bikes off the floats and headed uphill, of course it's always going to be uphill when you start at sea level. We used a folded and wadded up, photocopied not to scale scrap of map for guidance and headed for Cattle Point. The roads were without bike lanes, but drivers were respectful and we had an easy ride to American Camp and then on to Cattle Point Lighthouse.  Fortunately the weather was clear and with no fog we had  views all the way to Vancouver Island and across the strait of Juan De Fuca. The Olympic mountains hung in the distance completing our postcard views.  Viewing Cattle Pass from up high was a thrill and brought into perspective what was previously a cockpit level chart image.  It was easy to see why the Americans chose this location to set up their cannons. From our vantage point we could scan the water route all the way back to Turn Island where our boat lay just around the corner.

      We brought cookies and water for lunch, and learned next time to bring lots more water and less cookies.

      There is no road right along the coast so we rode part way back to Friday Harbor before turning towards Lime Kiln Park. We encountered a few long steep grades which required walking for some of us. The cliff side views are stunning and it is somewhat difficult to ride safely while scanning the waters for Killer Whales.  I learned right away to stop if I wanted to really take in the sights. We followed a circle route taking us by the Lavender Gardens and back to town on a different road.

      I forgot and left my camera on  the boat so no pictures, sorry.  The next day we were fortunate to not have any soreness brought on by being out of shape and suddenly biking like we were still children. On the way back to La Conner we stopped by Spencer Spit for an afternoon hike, and then anchored at James Island. We hung around in the morning waiting for the rising  tide which we rode almost all the way to Shelter Bay.

      This cruise, in spite of motor problems (our diesel quit and forced us to use our 7.5 kicker for the entire trip) turned out to be one of our best, longest and most enjoyable.  I highly recommend planning a bicycle/cruise to any of the San Juan Islands.
John