Portland to Seattle

[anhinsb]

I just bought a Hans Christian 38 in Portland a month ago. I intend to deliver her to Seattle in the near future. Are there any books/referances in regard to sailing north, crossing the Columbia River bar, etc? I am having a hard time finding info since I think most head south instead of north. If any of you have done this trip please feel free to give your experiences/ best practices. I appreciate everyone's input and I'm very excited for the trip. April

[Yorksailor]

It is a lovely trip both down the river, across the Bar and up the Juan de Fuca. With lovely places to stop like Astoria, Victoria and Port Townsend and you have bought the perfect boat for the areas

You need to make sure you know the tides on both the Bar and the Juan de Fuca. I found the Canadian tables for the Juan de Fuca better than the US ones.

Canadian Tide and Current Tables V5 2011: Juan de Fuca Strait and Strait of Georgia $6.44 (800) 596-7245 Persistence with a google search should find you suitable guide books that give advise on the trip.

You can easily find yourself going backwards on both the Bar and the Juan de Fuca.

This is not a benign trip so you need decent guides, charts and skipper and crew with some experience. It is also a 'weather window trip' because in bad weather this is a seriously dangerous area.

Enjoy, Phil

[jrd22]

Get the Coast Pilot for the area and like York says get the tide and current info for the bar. Weather will be your biggest concern, pick a window with light to moderate SW winds predicted for several days and it should be a nice sail. All paper charts on board of course.

[Faster]

SN member olson34 is a veteran of this run.. he does it a couple of times a year at least.. Hopefully he'll chime in, or you can PM him yourself.

[Boasun]

I've helped with the Lady Washington from Portland to Grays harbor and again from Port Angeles to Grays harbor. No problems, but she is 65 feet on deck and full keel and quite heavy. So again no problems.
But the boat you have is a tad smaller so the weather will affect you more. A good crew on board to the point where you can stand 4 on and 8 off. would be the best way to go.

[anhinsb]

I appreciate everyone's advice. Hopefully midApril will work in our favor.

[puddinlegs]

It's all about the weather. Go when it's good, don't go when it's not. Simple and dumb, but ignored at your peril.

[dhays]

Originally Posted by anhinsb

I appreciate everyone's advice. Hopefully midApril will work in our favor.

Good luck with that. Our Spring weather is iffy at best with good weather windows being rather short.