Pacific Northwest

[Scuba_ref]

alright guys its almost boating season again anyone got any trips planned or want to do a gathering.

See three replies above this one for my dates we will be at Banks Lake. We will also go to Lake Osoyoos July 21st - 24th and we will be at Daroga State Park June 30th - July 3rd. That is all I have planned so far.

 

[topgun882006]

any on the western side of the mountains

 

[jfkraus]

We're going to be camping at Daroga State Park May 27-30 and camping at Alta Lake June 29 to July 8. We will be boating on the Columbia and Lake Chelan.

 

[Scuba_ref]

any on the western side of the mountains

I've never boated on the west side and I'm not sure what it has to offer - other than cooler temps and more people. Of course you do have the San Juans and someday I will want to give that a try.

 

[topgun882006]

I will be doing that again this year anyone up for some whale watching trip to the orca islands, it would be the equivalent to the pacific north wests Bimini island trip.
Who's down?

 

[jfkraus]

I will be doing that again this year anyone up for some whale watching trip to the orca islands, it would be the equivalent to the pacific north wests Bimini island trip.
Who's down?

We definitely want to try a trip to the San Juans again.

 

[topgun882006]

well im flexable whats some good dates for everyone

 

[jfkraus]

These dates are the most promising for us:
July 16-17 or 23-24
August 13-14 or 20-21

 

[topgun882006]

alright im flexable anyone else wanna jump in on the trip

 

[Scuba_ref]

I am interested, but need to take a long hard look at the calendar. July 23/24 and Aug 13/14 are already spoken for; July 16/17 is a possibility as are the Aug 20/21 dates. My problem is my wife works every other weekend and these are the every other weekend - that is why they are open currently.

Are you guys thinking of making this a day trip or are you looking at spending the night on one of the islands?

 

[jfkraus]

We stayed in Anacortes last time at the Fidalgo Bay Resort (http://www.fidalgobay.com/) in our RV and just went out for the day.

 

[Scuba_ref]

We stayed in Anacortes last time at the Fidalgo Bay Resort (http://www.fidalgobay.com/) in our RV and just went out for the day.

@jfkraus did you launch from Fidalgo Bay Resort? I see that they have a boat launch.

 

[topgun882006]

ya we stayed just south of deception pass got there around 3 in the afternoon so did a short cruise around the islands for an hour or so and then the next day started around 9 ish and headed the 35 or so miles straight out to the opposite side of the islands on the Canadian side and that's where we saw the whales stayed with them for almost an hour and went to a stone beach pulled the boat up and bbq'ed on the boat on my little grill and then were going to go back out with the whales but the weather started turning and rain is not fun with no cover at 30 mph sooo headed back wish we stayed out honestly because after we left the whales chased two seals and were flipping them through the air and letting the baby orcas hunt on their own and also I will be bringing 2 five gal fuel tanks just in case or a ten gal tank extra we filled up right before the water and had about a quarter tank left when we got back. we where doing the best speed for gas which for me is about 27-28 knot and that's with new solas propellers and the engines with new oil and spark plugs so best the engines could have been. just next time would like to spend more time with the whales and go from the bottom of the islands to the top and around the top back down. the extra gas would be a safety. ended up doing 79 miles in about 6 hours.
this is the tracks we took and if anyone is planning on dong the sound and doesn't have gps or charts this is an app on my phone called navionics and its free and you download areas of the area you will be in and it lets u check depth and all even if u don't have cell service works off your phones gps
and also if you see the third image that is where we want to go up and around going through the islands is actually kinda rough water and the wind kicks up since the islands channel the wind at you kinda crazy but worth every minute of it and a lot cheaper then going one of those big whale watching boats for 117 a person and 75 for kids. we stays just south of deception pass in a hotel for 60 for the night with breakfast.

 

[Scuba_ref]

What about hitting Friday Harbour for fuel? Looks like you were pretty close and there are other fuel docks as well. I know it cost more but is sure would be convenient.

 

[topgun882006]

that is true never though of it I am down for a day trip or spending the night out on the islands I know there are a lot of groupons for cabins and hotels for real cheap because u need a ferry to get to the island but we have boats sooo maybe we could sleep in one of those last I checked it was 60 bucks a night in a single family cabin with a hot tub and views of the sound

 

[jfkraus]

@jfkraus did you launch from Fidalgo Bay Resort? I see that they have a boat launch.

No, that boat launch is for small personal watercraft. We launched from Washington Park.

 

[jfkraus]

What about hitting Friday Harbour for fuel? Looks like you were pretty close and there are other fuel docks as well. I know it cost more but is sure would be convenient.

We went from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and back on less than one tank no problem.

 

[topgun882006]

We went from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and back on less than one tank no problem.

sounds good to me just like extra just incase and probably going farther south then your route because of staying south in the hotels and then coming out deception pass

 

[jfkraus]

sounds good to me just like extra just incase and probably going farther south then your route because of staying south in the hotels and then coming out deception pass

Definitely.

 

[topgun882006]

you wanna do the loop with us this time and is it just 3 of us anyother friends of yours that want to join us that have a boat?