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Showing posts with label docks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label docks. Show all posts

Mar 19, 2022

Friday Harbor Marina Map

       For first-timers to the Friday Harbor Marina, it is really handy to know where your assigned slip is in a maze of fairways and other boaters.


        Even regular visitors can forget where G-dock is or which side are the odd-numbered slips!

Does anyone see the dinghy dock?  (It's at the end of A-dock)

Tip #1  Ask for a slip close to land, that quarter-mile walk gets old real fast!


Tip #2  If your visit includes loading and unloading passengers and gear,  save yourself a long walk and use the loading dock below the marina office. (just motor past the fuel pier) The side-facing land is for public use. The other side is for VIP's


Friday Harbor Marina Map showing slips, slip numbers, fuel, gas dock, and ferry  terminal
Image Courtesy the Port of Friday Harbor
Click on the image for a bigger view.


Click below for Satellite view of Friday Harbor

Oct 5, 2021

Places to go in the San Juan Islands

What is there to do in the San Juan Islands.

  All the places listed are accessible by boat, some by vehicle too.

    Almost every park has easy to lengthy hikes so  follow this link to all the parks  All the parks Below are San Juan area hikes not found in parks.

      Eagle Bluff on Cypress (My all-time favorite - Start at Pelican Beach)

Afterglow Mausoleum at Roche Harbor

Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island

Young Hill at English Camp

China Caves from Fossil Bay

Vendovi Preserve on Vendovi Island

Fort Whitman on Goat Island

Turtleback Mountain, begin at West Sound County dock

Click here for >> Detailed instructions for the hikes

            
Eagle Bluff on Cypress Island
Eagle Bluff (Cliff) from Rosario Strait

Dining/eats:  I have never reviewed restaurants and won't here.  However a newbie to the San Juans has no idea where to go so here goes some locations.

Blakely's: Just inside Peavine Pass has a small deli bar  (great hard ice cream stop)
Eastsound: It's a one block walk from the dock to downtown with many bistros, and shops.
Rosario: Dock, restaurants
Lopez Village - Fisherman Bay: Restaurant at Islander Resort or click here for Dinghy beach landing at Lopez Village
Friday Harbor: many places are walking distance from complementary tie ups in marina
Deer Harbor: Deli on dock, restaurants on shore
Roche Harbor: several restaurants on shore, complementary dock
West Beach: north shore on Orcas, deli in store on dock Transient tie ups:  

All cities and marinas are well noted on this site but there are lots of docks other than parks that you may visit for short term, try this link, 16 public docks other than parks where you are welcome

Groceries, shopping: 

 The best advice here is to bring what you can before you head out, but the San Juans are not without good grocery stores.  You just need to know where they are.  This comprehensive post has them all >> Where are all the big stores?

Fuel: 

 Gas and diesel are readily available.  I would arrive with full tanks but not to worry if you don't.  This link will take you to all of them  >>  fuel docks 

Whale Museum in Friday Harbor is just up a flight of stairs from the marina office

Turn Point Lighthouse museum on Stuart Island

Patos Island Lighthouse Museum on Patos

Moran mansion has a third floor museum at Rosario Resort

English Camp at Garrison Bay on San Juan Island

Sculpture Garden at Roche Harbor

There are Saturday Markets at Lopez Village, Friday Harbor and Eastsound

Campgrounds, parks: 

For all the parks, click right here  >> Parks - Parks - Parks 

Special places we really like: Fifteen lessor known places to go



Click below for a satellite view of West Beach Resort on Orcas Island

Apr 28, 2019

First Timers Guide to the San Juan's

Matia Island, San Juan Islands travel cruise itinerary
Matia Island

This post is written to help new cruisers headed to the San Juan's needing the same simple answers 

we needed.

From time to time I refresh my thinking and remember our first visit nearly thirty years ago. Specifically what a pain it was not knowing the simplest answers to questions many of us take for granted today. 
     I define the San Juan cruising area not by county or even country, but rather by places we want to visit and spend some time. But that also means, places we have the capability to get to without too much effort or time.  So that being stated, I think of Port Townsend and Deception Pass Park (Cornet Bay), and Swinomish Channel as our loosely defined southern boundary.  I think of Vancouver BC and Nanaimo as our northern most point, and everything in between Vancouver Island and the mainland completing the east west box. Keep in mind, with a day or two extra, you can run down to Olympia or up to 
Princess Louisa Inlet.
 For this discussion, we are sticking to the 
core San Juan Island area and what you need to get there.


Obvious (to some) Cruising Basics

You need a boat, but you can rent a sail or powerboat in Anacortes or Bellingham if you prefer, and it doesn't take much experience to qualify.

  • Size matters? yes and no.  Bigger is more comfy, costly and feels imminently safer in a storm. As size goes up, so do your skill requirements. Once past about thirty five feet you will find you don't fit at some docks and fuel burns at over twenty five gallons an hour. Smaller is  better at times. Eighteen foot ski and fishing boats or day sailors are very easy to get in and out at virtually all places but with all your food and gear, you could be crowded on board. When packing and provisioning, be honest and admit you don't really need all that stuff you take car camping. Above all, don't let your lack of a perfect boat cause you not to go. Take what you have, you can make it work.
  • Bring a dinghy, even a two person inflatable kayak is okay.  You need a way to get to shore where there are no docks. You don't have to carry the dinghy on board, you can tow it everywhere you go. Yes you can beach your runabout and let the tide leave you dry on a beach but bringing a dinghy is so much easier. (update 2025) Lately we have seen inflatable paddle boards used as dinghys. 
  • Sleep on board, at anchor, at the dock, or in the many park campgrounds. (there are about twenty marine campgrounds, you can camp at a different park every night) If preferred, you can spend every night at a marina or resort and sleep on shore.
  • The best weather will be in July and August, but the shoulder seasons have less people and okay weather too.
  • I suggest you plan a week, but you can make a weekend work.  If you have a comfortable all weather boat, spend the summer.
  • If you rent, don't forget you have to park your car(s) If you trailer, plan on a daily parking fee of around $12.  (Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham is free, even long term) Call harbormaster for current rules.
  • See this posting for launch ramps. ---launch ramps with long term parking  This is probably the only real planning decision you need to make before you go, but we have changed our planned take off point as we drove up the highway.  Do not start your San Juan cruise down south in Olympia, Seattle or Everett or Port Townsend or Port Angeles. If you do you will spend much of your time motoring long distances (both ways) My advice is to start in Bellingham or Anacortes using one of the ramps from the list above.
  • You need with you on the boat, a chart, or you will get lost, count on it. You should have a list of parks, marinas and resources preferably marked on your navigation chart. Get this chart. Noaa # 18421  -  We use noaa chart # 18421 you can see it by clicking here or anywhere charts are sold.  Navigation charts do not show what's on shore, (roads, city's, marinas, parks, etc) so we carry a highway map as well.
  • Don't run out and buy an expensive chart plotter. At minimum, you need a paper chart, a  portable GPS and a compass, your smart phone will probably do.  All boats need a depth sounder or you are risking an expensive grounding.

Sample itinerary: #1. Begin at Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham (open 24/7).

2. Head for Friday Harbor and get a slip for your first night or every night (they take reservations).  

3. Use Friday Harbor as your base, returning every night to your own slip with power, water, restrooms, on shore restaurants and entertainment. 

This plan will work for virtually all boaters regardless of  gear, experience or creature comfort requirements. None of the Marine State Parks have reserve-able docks or anchor buoys, everything is first come first gets it. This means you should plan on anchoring and using your dinghy,  it also means when someone pulls out you may grab the spot at the dock. Rafting is the term  used when several boats tie together at anchor or the dock.

Sample itinerary: #2. Begin at Squalicum again but this time head for Matia or Sucia. 

  • Tie up to the dock at Fossil Bay (Sucia) or anchor.  Sleep on the boat or camp on shore.
  • Next, Jump over to Stuart, repeat and then Roche Harbor or Jones, then to Friday Harbor, then Fisherman Bay. This itinerary will make sure you have a shower and food store available (Roche and Friday) when you really need and want both.  
  • Fuel is readily available but you should try to have a minimum range of seventy five miles just to be sure should you encounter adverse conditions.
  • How many days you spend at each park is up to you, your car and trailer will be waiting in the free parking lot when you circle back to Bellingham.
  • You can do exactly the same cruise, but begin at Washington Park or Deception Pass  (Cornet Bay) and perhaps change the order.
  • Search this website for other suggested itineraries.  The possibilities are endless.

Get my San Juan Islands Cruise Guide, it  has all the parks, marinas, fuel, resources,

 phone numbers.

 The guide is written specifically for visitors coming by boat. My companion book, the San Juan Islands Travel Guide is written for visitors coming by car.
              San Juan Islands Cruise Guide     -----   San Juan Islands Travel Guide
         Don't be cheap, the books cost less than a meal and will pay for themselves in saved frustration,  making your cruise a real success.
  • Lastly, I can't address everything you may want to know in a single post, so I suggest you search this site and read some more articles. There are several with detailed day by day itineraries. Next, after becoming more knowledgeable about what and where you want to go and do, set aside a week and go. It really is that easy. The central cruising area is small enough that you can completely change your plans on the fly. You don't need reservations, you don't need a plan, you don't even need to bring food, just grab your gear and boat and hit the road. OH - bring some cash or plastic for, fuel and park fees and that food I just said you don't need.
If you happen to see us on Kraken somewhere, please say hello. We hope to be anchored in Fisherman Bay for the Lopez Island 4th of July fireworks show.

John and Linda
              feel free to use the e-mail contact form with your questions