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| Northwest in the Winter
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August 2, 2005
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Dear Waggoner:
We are purchasing a new American Tug in LaConner this October. We plan to spend Nov./Dec. in the area and possibly longer before shipping the vessel back to our home port of Vero Beach, FL in the summer. For the past 10 years we have lived aboard our sailboat, cruising the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Bahamas, and the Eastern Seaboard, but we are not familiar with the NW. After shaking down the boat in LaConner, what would be your suggestions as to our living aboard for the November-March months? Would you recommend that we pick a marina as a base and venture from there, or travel around and find sheltered anchorages (we almost always anchor out in the tropics). I guess the weather question is what is throwing us, as we don't know the local knowledge for your area. Any advice would be most appreciated!
Richard & Colleen Gray
Vero Beach, Fl
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Response
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Hi, Richard and Colleen,
The sad news is that you are planning to be in the Northwest during our darkest, rainiest, coldest, guckiest months of the year. Although there will be be some windows of nice (but not shirtsleeves) weather, for the most part you'll have the cabin heat on around the clock and be glad of it.
Absent a blast of continental arctic air which can lower temperatures to near-zero F, most days will be overcast and/or rainy, with temperatures in the low to mid 40s. It'll be too warm to wear long underwear, and too cold not to. Except when it's really raining, you won't bother with a raincoat or umbrella for short walks, such as across the parking lot from the car to the Safeway. We locals just wander along as if it weren't raining. A genuine storm, of course, is a different matter.
You'll be apt to have some snow, although it usually doesn't last long. On the other hand, you have to watch it carefully. A few years ago we had a heavy wet snowfall at New Years, followed by a rainstorm. Snow on boathouse roofs held the rainwater, and the resulting weight collapsed many boathouses and covered moorages, damaging or destroying the boats beneath.
I think you'll be better off picking a marina as a base and venturing out from there. Let's say you find something in Anacortes. You could run down the east side of Whidbey Island to LaConner, Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Langley and Everett. Then you could run over the the San Juan Islands for a few days. During awful weather or when you want to work on the boat, Anacortes itself would be delightful. Wherever you go, you'll meet some nice people. The boats may stay mostly in port, but the docks are always active. And when you get those little windows of sunshine, you'll see just how beautiful this region is. There's nothing quite like a sunny winter day when you're surrounded by blue water and green trees, and snow-covered mountains so close you could invite them in for tea.
Our more intrepid cruisers revel in winter cruising. Pacific Yachting magazine, in Vancouver, B.C., carries stories of Christmas or New Years in Princess Louisa Inlet or other magical places. A recent issue of PassageMaker had a good story of Christmas at Princess Louisa, by Jennifer and James Hamilton. Destinations that are crowded in summer are charmingly empty in the winter. That said, I think you're better off working from a home base rather than bumming around from place to place, taking your chances.
You might even decide to stay through the summer and run the boat north into the wilderness. That's where the serious Northwest cruisers go, you know. The early ones depart for Alaska in April or the first part of May, and often stay the summer up there. But you could leave in June and work your way up the British Columbia coast, and have a stunning cruising experience. Are you sure the boat needs to go to stifling summer Florida heat just when the cruising gets delicious up here?
The docks are full during the winter months, so start your central moorage search as soon as you can. Also, you'll probably want to visit Canada, either by boat or car. You'll need passports if you don't already have them.
Regards,
Bob Hale
Editor/Publisher
Waggoner Cruising Guide
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