MacGregorSailors.com

Steve,
We would like to join you as well. Coincidentely we were planning the Gulf Islands the same week!! Duane, the route looks great.
Thanks,
Tom

I told my wife that I wanted to sail the San Juans. Her initial reaction was not favorable. Fortunetely, after having been married for almost 26 years, I know how she will react. She needs time to get used to new ideas. Give her a few weeks and she'll think it's a great idea.

Count us as a probable, but still not for sure.

One thing that she brought up, and I couldn't answer: How much is this going to cost? I know the gas to travel to the area is going to vary (people are travelling different distances), but once we are up there, do we have any sort of ballpark estimate as to how much it's going to cost for:

• Launching and parking
• Slip or mooring fees
• Special meals (Group dinners ashore, etc.)
• Other expenses

Thanks to everyone who is involved in the organization of this trip. It looks like a lot of fun.

--
Mark Galbraith
"Offline" 2002 Mac26x
Oakley, CA

Info noted on Bedall and using Lyall harbor as an alternate. The short cruises lend themselves to island exploring or cruising or dingying around. Thanks for putting the milage up and the comments on stops. Legs can be extended to make for more ground coverage. Looks like it would be easy to get up to Thetis from Sidney, and maybe one night at Ganges and after the market,Montague or Prevost island...lets talk. Lets call this the Northwest Gathering 05 or something...No need to call it my trip. That may lend itself to a T shirt design or something.

Keep the comments coming!!

Mark, Last year was our first cruise in our Mac. My wife was aprhensive but truly enjoyed the scenery and company. we put in at Deception Pass and it was 10.00 per day to leave the vehicle. I am told by BK that its cheaper at Anacortes. I am a yacht club member and plan on using the Anacortes Yacht club facilities to store my vehicle. Most marinas were in the mid 20 dollar range with Roche at 33 dollars the tops..my wife loved the facilities there though.

We had 2 potluck dinners so cost was cook your own meat and a dish to pass. My mac gets 3 miles to the gallon so figure that out ...YMMV.

I took 3 days to tow north from Oxnard. First day to Redding, next day to Salem, OR and the last day into Decption Pass. About 450 miles a day or 8/9 hours driving. Stayed at Best Westerns...good parking lots for towing and a breakfast in the morning. I 5 is an easy tow...cruise at 60/65 with no sweat. Same going home. Last year there was a couple of people from the Delta area that did it in 2 days each way. I dont like towing and being drowsy.

I had planned on sleeping on the mac at rest stops along the way but my wife vetoed that. She was correct..it was nice to get a good nights sleep before facing the road again.Hope you can join us.

I have no experience at Lyall Harbour other than a quick stop at the fuel dock and the local store for ice. Its a long bay open to a Norwester with a long fetch. The ferry dock is at the entrance quite a ways away and the ferry service is less frequent than many of the other islands so less wash to worry about. The main dock was severally damage by fire a few years ago. The ferries corp. has rebuilt their section. The rest of the float was patched up (best way to put it). My personal feeling is go around the corner to Winter Cove (watch for the reef is all)

Two members of our club, Steve and Mary, know this area well. I'll try to get them to comment.

I had heard the the Port Browning marina was sold (again!). I have no information on its status. One advantage is you can walk up the hill to Saturna's only shopping mail. (Don't get your hopes up ladies but it has a nice book store and largish grocery market) We will see what we can find out.

Whaler Bay is crowded private docks from the local cottages not much room.

Wallace Island is preferred to the Secretaries. Conover Cove is precious with a float for half a dozen boats and shallows a both end of the cove where macs can tuck in and other can't use. Its not a large island but has a very nice trail system with artifacts from the days of David Conover and his wife's inhabitation. He wrote a delightful book called "Once upon an Island" about his life there. Many of us have visited repeatedly as its a really pleasant spot. The shallow entry makes it fun for macs to visit while others wait outside for the tide.

I'm still high on folks visiting Thetis Island and the town of Chemainus for those that want to explore slightly farther North.

A little side info...

Laconner (10 or so miles east and south of deception pass) has a port operated lift that will take your boat off the trailer (dont even have to dunk it in the salt) and put it back on for $20, and parking is only 2 dollars a day.... (cheapest in the northsound)


So those of you freshwater sailors that dont want to get your trailers brine encrusted.....

They have mac owners sign a release prior to launch since our hulls are not technically sailboat hulls (they only do power boats...heheheheh)..... but when I am feeling really lazy........ it sure is convenient.

all the islands are an easy 2 to 3 hours motoring, Add to that the protected docks, and great service in their...., the only tricky part is the 5 kts of current with the tide while approaching the marina...... timing is everything.... and plenty of restaurants for walking along the waterfront.

I assume when you are launching with the lift you step the mast after the boat is in the water, yes?

Actually the absolute lowest price for any extended trip in the Sound is the city of Everett launch. It's also the biggest and best launch in Puget Sound. Huge paved parking lot, 14 launch lanes all with floats. Very protected and good at any tide.

Launch and parking is $5, period, no matter how long you stay. Add an extra day to both ends of the trip to the islands. The launch is 35 Nm from the islands via Deception Pass, 45 Nm via the Swinhomish channel and La Conner.

You can make it in a long day if you have to. We traveled from Deer Harbor way up in the islands on west Orcas to Langley on Whidbey via Deception Pass in a single day. This was 57 Nm and took 7-1/2 hours Everett is 9 more miles from Langley.

That said I'd still plan an extra day on each end. Stop inside Deception Pass at Cornet Bay or at La Conner, and then head into the islands the next day. Everett is only 45 minutes further south on I5 from where you turn off for LaConner and Anacortes.

Rick Worthy, of MYCBC and this list, has posted a great title..the CanAm Summer Flotilla. Super name for our group...what do you thing..I see a logo with flags, etc!!!

COOL

Another place to launch is Blaine Wa. It has a nice ramp that can be used in most all tide conditions. You are near some of the northern San Juan Islands. There is a nice large parking area. Launch & parking is $5.00 period and you can stay for the 2 weeks as long as you let the harbour master know.

So Duane, Where do you plan to launch from?

Captain Steve wrote:Rick Worthy, of MYCBC and this list, has posted a great title..the CanAn Summer Flotilla. Super name for our group...what do you thing..I see a logo with flags, etc!!!

I like the name, but shouldn't it be CanAm?

--Mark

Right you are Mark..>.CanAm 05......

A few of us MYCBCers were discussing options to the plan outlined by Duane. There are several other good places to visit between the 'Anchor' weekends of Stuart and Saltspring Islands.

However not everyone will have the time nor the inclination to visit alternate locations. So I have been envisioning this Busby Berkeley routine where boats split off go their own way then return and maybe split off again and back and so on.

As I meantioned before, no place in these islands is far from any other. Its a short hop to nearly all the choice locations.

Over the next few weeks I will post descriptions of some of these alternate locations so people can be informed of what to expect here on the Canadian side anyway.

I have been looking for the Article in Pacific Yachting on Stuart Island. It has some pointers. I will toss those in if I can find it also.

Maybe we should stretch this to 3 weeks

We are planning to make this trip, but we are also working on becoming foster parents. It's possible we may have a child placed with us by this time. If so, we may have to pass on the trip. It all depends on the judge. A foster child is a ward of the court, and the judge has the discretion to allow or refuse to allow the child to travel out of the county, state, or even country.

I'm continuing my planning for both events, and I'm making our case worker aware of the trip as well. She can help advise us as to the best course of action.

I've been reviewing the charts necessary for the flotilla. For the US portion of the trip, the charts that will probably come in handy are:

• 18421 (80,000:1) Strait of Juan De fu@ to Strait of Georgia
• 18427 (25,000:1) Anacortes to Skagit Bay
• 18434 (25,000:1) San Juan Channel
• 18432 (25,000:1) Boundary Pass
• 18433 (25,000:1) Haro Strait-Middle Bank to Stuart Island

In Canadian waters, the following charts will be the most useful. The catalog Moe found for me doesn't list the scale of each chart. I'll keep looking for this information.

• 3462 Juan de fu@ Strait to/a Strait of Georgia
• 3441 Haro Strait, Boundary Pass and/et Satellite Channel
• 3442 North Pender Island to/a Thetis Island
• 3476 Approaches to/Approches a Tsehum Harbour

Charts listed in bold text are area charts. If you don't think you need the harbor charts, you can probably just get by with the two area charts.