 |
|
|
| How Long Should This Trip Take?
|
|
May 13, 2003
|
|
|
Here is a very simple, straightforward question that ought to have a simple, straightforward answer, except that it doesn't. I hope I haven't scared the lady off.
|
|
|
|
Can you tell me how many nautical miles it is from Olympia to the San Juan Islands, and about how long that would take on a 45-50' boat? Or can you direct me to the information. Thank you.
Debby Sigel
|
|
|
Response
|
|
|
|
The easy part is the actual nautical miles, assuming you can follow that route. This would be north in Puget Sound to Point No Point, then north through Admiralty Inlet to Point Wilson, then across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cattle Pass, the entrance to San Juan Channel. That distance is approximately 100 miles, give or take a few miles.
So much for the easy part. The harder part is deciding what to do with the information. Weather, sea conditions and tidal currents play major roles in your actual running time and the routes you choose. In a major storm, for example, you won't leave the dock. You have to allow for the possibility, even in the summer.
Tidal currents will add to your speed over the bottom if the current is flowing with you, and take away from your speed if the current is against you. It's not just a question of the duration and strength of the flood or ebb currents; you also have to calculate where you will be. The current flows more strongly in some places than in others. You might be heading north from Olympia fighting a 1-2 knot flood current, and get to the Tacoma Narrows at maximum flow of, let's say, 6 knots. If you're in an 8-knot boat you won't get through the Narrows very quickly.
Conversely, if you are riding a 1-2 knot ebb and get to the Narrows when it's ebbing at the same 6 knots as above, you'll wash right through and save a ton of time.
Tidal current decisions enter into every leg of the trip, even legs as short as a mile or two. If you reach Point No Point when a major tide-rip is in the works, you'll have to alter your course eastward, perhaps a considerable distance eastward, to get around the rip. Then, because of rough water conditions in Admiralty Inlet, it may be better to run back west, toward Foulweather Bluff, before turning north again to run up the east side of Marrowstone Island. Or you may choose to avoid Admiralty Inlet altogether and go through Port Townsend Canal and through Port Townsend Bay.
You ask how long the trip should take in a 45-50-foot boat. That depends on the boat. Is it a displacement hull trawler style with a cruising speed of 9-10 knots and a top speed of 11 knots, or is it a planing hull sport fisherman with a cruising speed of 25-30 knots? Even if it's the sport fisherman, there's no assurance that you'll be able to travel at 25-30 knots. Your pocketbook may not like the fuel bill that results, weather and sea conditions may dictate otherwise, and if there's a lot of drift floating around (logs, lumber, trees, all kinds of stuff), you won't be able to travel that fast without hitting something and taking out your running gear.
Uncertain? Complex? Complicated? Absolutely. But these are some of the things you must allow for. It's not like driving a car, where you know it's 180 miles between Seattle and Portland, and the trip should take about three hours. To me, however, this puzzle that must be worked is an important part of the thrill of boating in the Northwest. The trip between two points can be different every time it is made. Each leg of the trip requires analysis and decisions. Yesterday's solutions may not apply today. It is anything but boring.
You may think that I'm just preaching here, making the trip sound more complicated than necessary. So here's a real-life example to illustrate. Last September we left Pleasant Harbor Marina in Hood Canal, destination San Juan Islands. We were able to ride the ebb current out of Admiralty Inlet, and the weather forecast for the Strait of Juan de Fuca sounded good. My wife Marilynn (who is very cautious) agreed with my assessment that we could look forward to a good run. All went well until we passed Point Wilson and got part way out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The light wind that had been forecast turned not-so-light, and the cloud cover began to lower. The seas built up. We slowed to a crawl, still pressing on, but after we crashed down off the third big wave we turned back.
Determined to get to the San Juans that day, however, we ran 30 miles south to go around Whidbey Island, then north through Saratoga Passage, on the east side of the island. When we got to the turn that would take us through Swinomish Channel and past LaConner (a long, slow detour), we realized that we could reach Deception Pass close to slack water. The weather was clearing, so we went through Deception Pass and out into the eastern part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. By then the sun was shining and the wind had died away. In retrospect, we could have simply gone back to Port Townsend and waited for better weather, but we didn't know it at the time. So we spent several hours and about 60 gallons of fuel trying a different route.
Were we unhappy? No (other than for the 60 gallons of fuel). It was interesting. We were working the problem, and enjoying it.
If you're not familiar with the geography and all the place names I have used, parts of this reply won't mean as much to you as they do to me. You'll need to get some charts and study them to see what I'm talking about.
Feel free to follow up with more questions, too.
Bob Hale
Editor/Publisher
|
|
|
Back to Readers Write In |
|
|
|
