Cruising in the San Juans

[djodenda]

Have you thought of where you want to launch?

Places that come to mind are Bellingham, Anacortes, Cornet Bay...

Don't know where else....

[JacquelineHaden]

Sorry for the flub...anchor at Eagle Harbor at Cypress Island

[netscheid]

I'm probably going to launch at Anacortes. Thanks a lot everyone, this has helped me.

[AdamLein]

Speaking of anchoring, what sort of ground tackle do you have/plan to use? I've been to the northernmost of the San Juans, but have not anchored there yet. I've got a smallish Danforth (maybe 15#) with 30 ft of chain but am thinking of upgrading to something a little more substantial.

[djodenda]

Never been here, but launching here might save you some time..

Washington Park

[netscheid]

Originally Posted by AdamLein

Speaking of anchoring, what sort of ground tackle do you have/plan to use? I've been to the northernmost of the San Juans, but have not anchored there yet. I've got a smallish Danforth (maybe 15#) with 30 ft of chain but am thinking of upgrading to something a little more substantial.

I have about the same anchor as you and I have around 30 feet of chain with plenty of rode.

[erps]

When we first started cruising the San Juans we were using a small Danforth recommended for our boat size. It was really hard to set. If there was any eel grass, it wasn't big enough to get through the eel grass and into the mud. I think the bottoms in the more popular anchorage get pretty plowed up and the small anchor was hard to set in those conditions too. We really didn't start sleeping well until we moved up to a 22 lb Danforth for a 25' sailboat. It sure made life a lot easier. Nowadays, there are lots of anchor choices, but you'll sleep better if you bring along a big one, whatever it is.