Mobile to Seattle
 

Jeff, I live in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle. Haven't made that
trip, but you want to pick your weather--I know that much. From October
through March/April there are snorting storms along the west coast, so avoid
that time slot. And the hidey-holes are pretty scarce. Consider just the
west coast of the US. You have San Diego, LA, San Francisco Bay, then a few
coves along the Oregon coast: very few places you can overnight. You'll be
offshore for periods of longer than a day quite a few times. The favorite
long, coastal cruise hereabouts is north, not south. Last summer we made a
3-montb round trip to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, 1200 miles up the
coast, and anchored or moored every night. This was the fabled "inland
waterway to Alaska," through and among some 20,000 islands along the way.
Our boat is not really a wimp--a 37' Lord Nelson Victory Tug--so she's
seaworthy enough (we hid some thought-provoking seas off Cape Caution coming
south)--but it's nice to ride the anchor every night and not even think
about the weather as you turn in. (Not quite that simple, obviously;
anchors can drag.)

You can probably make Mobile-Seattle in a kayak. (People have made the
Alaska trip in kayaks.) But a seaworthy boat is hardly ever a real
handicap.

I had a friend here who wanted his 32' Westsail in Maine. He sailed to San
Diego, trucked the boat to Galveston, Texas, and sailed on from there. You
might consider a similar alternative.

Fair winds,

Dick Behan
M/V Annie


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Mobile to Seattle
 

Jeff, one more thing.

Sailing north up the west coast is nobody's favorite; you'll be beating most
of the time. Cruising friends who've sailed from here to Baja typically do
one of two things heading back north. They truck the boat home, or they
reach westward almost to Hawaii, and then reach eastward to Juan de Fuca
Strait and Seatlle. (The latter option sidesteps, of course, the lack of
safe harbors.)

Meant to say that in the earlier note.


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Mobile to Seattle
 

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Mobile to Seattle
 

"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Jeff, one more thing.

Sailing north up the west coast is nobody's favorite; you'll be beating
most of the time. Cruising friends who've sailed from here to Baja
typically do one of two things heading back north. They truck the boat
home, or they reach westward almost to Hawaii, and then reach eastward to
Juan de Fuca Strait and Seatlle. (The latter option sidesteps, of course,
the lack of safe harbors.)

Meant to say that in the earlier note.


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Usually true, but it's hard to predict.. had a friend who did the Baja bash
with no problems and easy sailing the whole way.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Mobile to Seattle
 

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:48:04 -0800, Tamaroak
wrote:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

The trip north from the canal to Baja has a reputation for being
extremely tough, with lots of strong northerlies frequently
approaching gale force, big open ocean seas, and very few places to
put in.

I'd definitely go for seaworthy, if at all.

Mobile to Seattle
 

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:48:04 -0800, Tamaroak
wrote:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

The trip north from the canal to Baja has a reputation for being
extremely tough, with lots of strong northerlies frequently
approaching gale force, big open ocean seas, and very few places to
put in.

I'd definitely go for seaworthy, if at all.


Cordonazo The "Lash of St. Francis." Name applied locally to southerly
hurricane winds along the west coast of Mexico. It is associated with
tropical cyclones in the southeastern North Pacific Ocean. These storms may
occur from May to November, but ordinarily affect the coastal areas most
severely near or after the Feast of St. Francis, October 4.

From Lat. 38:
Nasty Weather. While the sailing winds in Mexico are normally light and
benign during the prime cruising season between November and June, there are
some notable exceptions. The Pacific Coast of Baja is periodically subject
to strong winds from the north, northwest and east, as well as 'Pineapple
Expresses' from Hawaii. See Jack Williams' Baja Guide to find the best
shelters for the different conditions.

The Sea of Cortez can also be dangerous from November to March, as Northers
howl down from the States on a semi-regular basis. It's not uncommon to have
40 or more knots of wind during a Norther. But the wind isn't the problem
that the short and steep seas can be. When there's a Norther blowing, you
want to be holed up in a snug anchorage, not crossing the Sea of Cortez.
Thank goodness for modern weather forecasting.

In the summertime, the Sea of Cortez is also subject to chubascos - brief
storms appearing out of nowhere with winds that often blow at close to
hurricane force. In the fall of '97, a number of cruising boats were driven
ashore at Puerto Escondido by a chubasco.

Here's an article...

http://www.oceannavigator.com/article.php?a=9612

Mobile to Seattle
 

Tamaroak wrote:
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff
The slog up the west coast is hard work. I sailed down to the northern
California border from Barkeley Sound on Vancouver Island last summer in
two days, the trip back up against wind, sea and current was a hard 6
days. We were very wet, cold and miserable and it was July and we were
on a 100' boat. The problem is, when the weather picks up, the
coastguard closes the bars so you can't get in. You gotta quit early or
stick it out offshore.

The low powered vessel/sailing recommended route from Panama has you
going out to sea to Hawaii then swinging north west over the top of the
quasi stationary north pacific high. I've done that too and it was
still a slog but an easier slog.

Gaz

Mobile to Seattle
 

Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff


Too bad you can't swap boats like some of my friends swap houses.....

I have a friend who is in Orlando, living in a ham radio operator's
house for a month (or more, maybe). The American ham is living in his
house in Dublin, IE, for a month (or more, maybe). This is the third
time they swapped houses in 4 years. My friend has lived in other
hams' houses in about 8 countries over the years. They swap everything
except their clothes. They drive each other's cars, on the wrong side
of the road, of course. Last year they extended it another 2 weeks so
my friend could go to some Irish festival or other and the Irish ham
could wait for his daughter to come over for the Dizzy World with the
grandkids. Everyone had a great time.

Too bad boaters can't do something like that. Someone in Seattle would
kill their mother to have a boat in Mobile to get out of the cold and
rain for a while....(c; His boat has an enclosed cabin and HEATER no
boat in Mobile is equipped with. Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Mobile to Seattle
 

Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

going out to sea to Hawaii

Yeah, but noone already in Hawaii, especially this time of year, would ever
be crazy enough to go on to Seattle...(c;

Cap'n Jeff probably wouldn't make it back to Mobile, either!

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff


Too bad you can't swap boats like some of my friends swap houses.....

I have a friend who is in Orlando, living in a ham radio operator's
house for a month (or more, maybe). The American ham is living in his
house in Dublin, IE, for a month (or more, maybe). This is the third
time they swapped houses in 4 years. My friend has lived in other
hams' houses in about 8 countries over the years. They swap everything
except their clothes. They drive each other's cars, on the wrong side
of the road, of course. Last year they extended it another 2 weeks so
my friend could go to some Irish festival or other and the Irish ham
could wait for his daughter to come over for the Dizzy World with the
grandkids. Everyone had a great time.

Too bad boaters can't do something like that. Someone in Seattle would
kill their mother to have a boat in Mobile to get out of the cold and
rain for a while....(c; His boat has an enclosed cabin and HEATER no
boat in Mobile is equipped with. Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Why can't you?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Mobile to Seattle
 

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 19:42:03 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Why can't you?

====================

They don't call it the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

Mobile to Seattle
 

"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Jeff, I live in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle. Haven't made that
trip, but you want to pick your weather--I know that much. From October
through March/April there are snorting storms along the west coast, so
avoid
that time slot. And the hidey-holes are pretty scarce. Consider just the
west coast of the US. You have San Diego, LA, San Francisco Bay, then a
few
coves along the Oregon coast: very few places you can overnight. You'll
be
offshore for periods of longer than a day quite a few times. The favorite
long, coastal cruise hereabouts is north, not south. Last summer we made
a
3-montb round trip to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, 1200 miles up
the
coast, and anchored or moored every night. This was the fabled "inland
waterway to Alaska," through and among some 20,000 islands along the way.
Our boat is not really a wimp--a 37' Lord Nelson Victory Tug--so she's
seaworthy enough (we hid some thought-provoking seas off Cape Caution
coming
south)--but it's nice to ride the anchor every night and not even think
about the weather as you turn in. (Not quite that simple, obviously;
anchors can drag.)

You can probably make Mobile-Seattle in a kayak. (People have made the
Alaska trip in kayaks.) But a seaworthy boat is hardly ever a real
handicap.

I had a friend here who wanted his 32' Westsail in Maine. He sailed to
San
Diego, trucked the boat to Galveston, Texas, and sailed on from there.
You
might consider a similar alternative.

Fair winds,

Dick Behan
M/V Annie

Dick,

Did you keep a log of your trip and/or have links/sources that were helpful
in planning this trip. I want to make this trip in about 5 years, hopefully
with a Glacier Bay Cat.

-Greg

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 19:42:03 -0800, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Why can't you?

====================

They don't call it the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

or....The Great Wet North.

-Greg--- Portland, Oregon

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Dene" wrote in :

They don't call it the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

or....The Great Wet North.

-Greg--- Portland, Oregon



Hurricane season is over. Mobile was in the 70's today and fair. Seattle
is 40, freezing and every station in the NW says RAIN....

Why would anyone in MOBILE wanna go to SEATTLE?!!

Is everyone going crazy?!

Mobile to Seattle
 

People in Mobile know summer is coming and want out. People in Seattle know
it is coming and can't wait. Today marks our 24th straight day of
measurable rain. By the way, freezing is 32 not 40. Freezing is what
happens in Chicago - most years.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Dene" wrote in :

They don't call it the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

or....The Great Wet North.

-Greg--- Portland, Oregon



Hurricane season is over. Mobile was in the 70's today and fair. Seattle
is 40, freezing and every station in the NW says RAIN....

Why would anyone in MOBILE wanna go to SEATTLE?!!

Is everyone going crazy?!

Mobile to Seattle
 

"johnhh" wrote in news:zLSdnVQkfrWAN1jeRVn-
:

By the way, freezing is 32 not 40. Freezing is what
happens in Chicago - most years.


You stand outside in the pouring rain when it's 40F and tell me that's not
"freezing", even though the water doesn't change from liquid to solid
state....(c;

Last time I got wet at 40F, there was no issue. I WAS FREEZING!

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Dene" wrote in :

They don't call it the Pacific North Wet for nothing.

or....The Great Wet North.

-Greg--- Portland, Oregon



Hurricane season is over. Mobile was in the 70's today and fair. Seattle
is 40, freezing and every station in the NW says RAIN....

Why would anyone in MOBILE wanna go to SEATTLE?!!

Is everyone going crazy?!

Trust me....I'm wondering the same thing myself. I spend 9 days in Tucson
with the highs never below 70 degrees. So nice that my wife stayed an extra
three days.

But....10 more winters from now, we hope to become a winter live-aboard
somewhere south of Savannah.

-Greg

-Greg

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Dene" wrote in :

But....10 more winters from now, we hope to become a winter live-aboard
somewhere south of Savannah.

-Greg

-Greg


Anywhere from Charleston to Jacksonville has the same weather all year.
The temperature difference is less than 5 degrees across the region.
South of Jax, you bet the breeze floating across FL from the Gulf, which
changes the weather drastically by the time you're at Daytona Beach.

Only thing I don't like about Florida in a boat is there's no place to go
boating...ocean or ditch and the ditch is SHALLOW! There's a few places
on the west coast that are interesting, but the East Coast is boring as
hell. Eastern GA does have some pretty scenery in the many swamplands,
just like SC. Florida doesn't. And where you can boat is like taking a
motorhome to Times Square...bumper-to-bumper other boaters also thinking
"Why did I come here??".

That's why I love Charleston. The harbor is large enough to not become
too crowded, and if you get bored, there are 2500 miles of navigable
waterways within 50 miles, salt and fresh. You can anchor off some
island here and never see another soul for days, or you can be with other
people, your choice. The 5-6' tides keep the waterways pumped out,
unlike Florida's 18" tide where there's not enough flow to clean it, just
make some impressive sandbars.

Y'all stop by. We'll anchor off a deserted island and take the dink
ashore for a little shelling on an Atlantic beachfront with NO
FOOTPRINTS..(c;.....and NO CONDOS!!

Mobile to Seattle
 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry"
Newsgroups: rec.boats.cruising


Anywhere from Charleston to Jacksonville has the same weather all year.
The temperature difference is less than 5 degrees across the region.
South of Jax, you bet the breeze floating across FL from the Gulf, which
changes the weather drastically by the time you're at Daytona Beach.

Only thing I don't like about Florida in a boat is there's no place to go
boating...ocean or ditch and the ditch is SHALLOW! There's a few places
on the west coast that are interesting, but the East Coast is boring as
hell. Eastern GA does have some pretty scenery in the many swamplands,
just like SC. Florida doesn't. And where you can boat is like taking a
motorhome to Times Square...bumper-to-bumper other boaters also thinking
"Why did I come here??".

I always ask, "where am I?" Hard for me to get use to flat terrain, void of
any natural landmarks. Attributable to being born/raised in Oregon.

That's why I love Charleston. The harbor is large enough to not become
too crowded, and if you get bored, there are 2500 miles of navigable
waterways within 50 miles, salt and fresh. You can anchor off some
island here and never see another soul for days, or you can be with other
people, your choice. The 5-6' tides keep the waterways pumped out,
unlike Florida's 18" tide where there's not enough flow to clean it, just
make some impressive sandbars.

You forgot that there are about a 100 golf courses nearby too.

Paradise!!!

Y'all stop by. We'll anchor off a deserted island and take the dink
ashore for a little shelling on an Atlantic beachfront with NO
FOOTPRINTS..(c;.....and NO CONDOS!!

I'll be there. Just stay alive for another 10 winters. 5 if we get an
inheiritance.

BTW....what kind of boat do you have?

-Greg

Mobile to Seattle
 

"Dene" wrote in :

BTW....what kind of boat do you have?



Hmm...well, let's list:

Amel Sharki 41 ketch
Endeavour 35 sloop
Grand Banks 42 trawler
Hatteras 52 for fishing (just started on this one)
various other boats at intermittent intervals when their electronics or
electrics fail.

I don't "own" any of them. I'm sort of the engineer on the first two and
chief electronics technician on the others. I can visit West Marine, buy
a bunch of stuff for the boat, and my credit card balance remains the
same!

These boats belong to out-of-towers from Charlotte, Atlanta, all
inlanders. I'm the local "custodian" when the radio or air conditioner
is broken.

Well, I'm off to race on the Endeavour in a really STIFF breeze at noon.
http://www.charlestonoceanracing.org/
Dress warm...it's only going up to 50F, today. It was mid 70's until
this front passed in the night, but man what sailing weather this
morning!

http://www.charlestonraceweek.com/
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?n...section=sports

Race ya to bouy BP...(c;

Mobile to Seattle
 

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 20:21:13 -0500, Larry wrote:

That's why I love Charleston... Y'all stop by.

Nice area but make sure the tax man does not take a liking to your
boat. They seem to have spys everywhere.

Mobile to Seattle
 

Yes, why not? Right about now seems like a splendid time... 28
consecutive days of rain (Ok. I'm exaggerating..yesterday we didn't
have rain but its pouring now)
http://www.48north.com/contents.htm