Northwest Cruising

Joe,

The end of October might be a bit dicey. Actually I did a charter up there a few years ago late Sept. and the weather sucked most of the trip. Still it was, for the most part, a great trip.

I grew up in the Seattle area and I was familiar with the weather so I was not really surprised.

I don't know what charter company you are considering but I will tell you I had a not too pleasurable experience with ABC Yacht Charters in Anacortes. The details are too involved to get into here but I will say they are not as easy to work with after they have your money. There are plenty of others to choose from both in Anacortes and Bellingham. We put together our own cruise plan and saw everything we hoped for.

Enjoy the trip.
Shawn

How long are you planning on going for?
Sail or power?

You can expect it to rain a lot. Lots of grey days. Sep can often still be reasonably warm, but by Oct it's generally cold and rainy and grey.

My preference would be to go north, but that's mostly a matter of what I'm more familiar with - Gulf Islands, Georgia Straight, Pender Harbour, and Desolation Sound. But that'd take more than a week or two...

So much to see

I chartered from Bellhaven four summers ago in September and had great weather the whole week. Most of the charter websites there have cruising info and plans. I suggest you include a visit to the city of Victoria but it can be before or after your charter.

Another option is to charter out of Vancouver BC with Cooper boating centre, sail only I think, will give you advantage of two sets of Islands cruising , Gulf Islands and San Juans, mostly protected waters and early Sep. is usually good weather.

We operate a crewed yacht charter company in Seattle, Puget Sound, and Alaska and work with several brokers. The ones I prefer are Bellehaven and Ledger Marine Charters. I have had the best experiences for my clients and myself. I think they will take care of you the best.

As far as your timing, it can go either way on you about the time October comes around. I would recommend sometime in September if you can swing it. The weather has a lot better chance to be good for you and the tourist places haven't shut down yet.

Depending on what your interests are, I would agree with Butchart Gardens (in CN, so bring passports) as well as Roche/Friday Harbors on San Juan Island. You can stay across the way on Stuart Island and tender across if you prefer to hang on the hook and the weather is nice. Stuart also has lots of hiking and a small schoolhouse that is nice to see.

Sucia Island is known to have fossils on it and is fun hike around on. Rosario Resort on Orcas Island is a fun place to visit with tons of history and the deer are pretty friendly and should still be trying to get the apples off of the trees. The head of East Sound is fun to walk around and do a little shopping as well. It is accessible by taxi or water.

Depending on where you stop/start your trip you should be able to see quite a bit while you are here. I know some of the boats winter in the Seattle area, so you may be able to work a deal where you bring the boat south in trade for an extra day or two if you're interested.

I would be happy to help you with your route planning if you wish and put you in contact with some folks around the area. Please feel free to PM me and we can talk over the phone or via email. Hope this was helpful.

Good Luck and Enjoy!!