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| Best Route from Puget Sound to San Juans
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August 18, 2006
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Bob:
We have a 28-foot sailboat and are planning to sail from Seattle to the San Juan Islands in September. Is it wise to take the west side of Whidbey Island up across the Strait of Juan de Fuca if the weather is favorable, or should we take the east side of Whidbey Island and go through Deception Pass or LaConner?
David Garland
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Response
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Hi, David,
How to get from Puget Sound to the San Juan Islands? An easy question with a complex answer. I’ll give you some guidelines from our experiences.
First, in general, the east side of Whidbey Island is the less challenging route between Puget Sound and the San Juans. The chief advantage is that this route completely avoids the open water of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The disadvantage is that it’s also the longer route, especially if you go past LaConner.
If conditions are favorable, it makes great good sense to take the shorter route up the west side of Whidbey Island (Admiralty Inlet) and cross the strait to Cattle Pass and San Juan Channel. It’s almost but not quite a straight line all the way.
We don’t decide until the last minute which way we will go. Everything depends on conditions. Here’s what we consider:
- Weather. We want to know what the wind is doing and what it is apt to do. So we endure the seemingly endless weather broadcast on weather channel WX4, with special emphasis on winds at the various reporting stations. We pay special attention to the wind at Smith Island, about halfway across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If it’s blowing at Smith Island, we go the long way.
- Phase of the moon. We prefer half-moon for its neap tides and less current to full moon or new moon, with their spring tides and strong current.
- Tidal current information. We write down the times of turn and the time and velocity of maximum current at the following stations: Admiralty Inlet (Bush Point); Deception Pass; San Juan Channel; Rosario Strait. I write this information as, for example, 0649 turn to ebb, 1012 max -3.2, 1333 turn to flood, 1641 max +2.5.
- Boat speed. We estimate the time needed to get where we want to go. With our powerboat we have the luxury of altering our speed to meet our goals. Your sailboat does about 6 knots through the water, which limits the number of calculations you make.
Here are some broad-brush scenarios.
Northbound
- If we take Admiralty Inlet heading north, our ideal scenario would be gentle winds and a long neap ebb tide to carry us up Admiralty Inlet and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. About two-thirds of the way across we would pick up a flood to carry us through Cattle Pass. The same flood could take us up Rosario Strait or up the west side of San Juan Island to Roche Harbor.
- Reverse of the above: 20 knot westerly at Smith Island and a big flood tide. The matter is settled. We’re going up the east side of Whidbey Island. The good news is the flood flows north in Possession Sound and Saratoga Passage to somewhere around Strawberry Point. Two knots of adverse current in Admiralty Inlet translates into 1-2 knots of favorable current on the east side of the Whidbey Island. The next issue is the time of turn at Deception Pass, and whether it turns to flood or ebb.
Southbound
- Admiralty Inlet route, gentle winds, neap tides. Ideally, we carry the last of an ebb down the west side of San Juan Island, or out of Cattle Pass, or out of Rosario Strait. Partway across the Strait of Juan de Fuca we pick up the flood, which carries us into and down Admiralty Inlet and home. The sun is shining and life is sweet. Once in a while it happens.
- Same as above, only with spring tides. On a big ebb the south section of Rosario Strait turns into dangerous tide-rip mayhem, so you definitely want to avoid Rosario Strait on such an ebb. The collision of strong ebb currents can create tide-rips outside Cattle Pass, as well. If you’re coming down the west side of San Juan Island from Roche Harbor, you’ll fly. Ultimately, you’ll pick up the flood while you’re still in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and zoom on home.
- Add 20 knots of wind to the above and the east side of Whidbey Island, either past LaConner or through Deception Pass, becomes attractive.
Important Consideration
Beware the ebb, especially a big ebb, in Rosario Strait and Guemes Channel. From our experience, most of the problems occur south of a line from Thatcher Pass to Guemes Channel and the south entrance to Bellingham Channel. A huge volume of water flows through Rosario Strait, Bellingham Channel and Guemes Channel. When the currents from these three channels collide on a big ebb, the result is large, unpredictable and sometimes breaking tide-rip seas. When wind opposes these currents, hoo, boy. If you are facing these conditions, you might want to wait until sometime around the turn to flood before crossing, either direction.
Summing Up
Weather, times of turn, maximum currents, and your mood at the moment will dictate your routes. We have made many crossings of the Strait of Juan de Fuca when conditions were right. When they aren’t right we take the longer but more protected route along the east side of Whidbey Island.
No assurances that getting there will be a walk in the garden, though. Coming home this July we planned to go through Deception Pass, only to change our route to LaConner when we saw a wall of breaking seas in Rosario Strait south of Guemes Channel -- the result of a big ebb. We still had powerful, uncomfortable seas in Guemes Channel until we were east of Bellingham Channel, when things finally quieted down. When we saw how the currents laid over the buoys in Guemes Channel, we were impressed.
The objective is a nice, unruffled passage. You have to balance all the variables and make what you hope is the right decision. Don’t be afraid to change your plans as you go. And don’t be loath to wait a few hours for conditions to improve.
Regards,
Bob Hale
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