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wrote:

Truth is that once you are south of Seattle, there are a lot more
cruising opportunities on the east coast. And you don't need foul
weather gear, long underwear and a cabin heater to enjoy them.

Fair comment, if one overlooks the minor technicality that some of the
prettiest parts of Puget Sound are south of Seattle.

Our sheltered "inland" waters, and "Inside Passage" waters that run in
an almost uninterrupted 1,300 mile link from Olympia, Washinton to
Skagway Alaska are, IMO, the finest cruising waters in the world unless
baking up a good case of melanoma is high on the list of ones'
proiorities. Yes, you will find days in June, July, and August where a
little cabin heat will be welcome just about sunrise.

The other difference may be that for most Pacific NW waters, miles and
miles of pristine wilderness shoreline will be ocassionally interrupted
by a small patch of "civilization". My limited observations lead me to
suspect that the reverse is more commonly true on the hot, humid, side
of the continent. :-)

And lest we forget:

"Some quality there is in the whole Gulf that trips a trigger of
recognition so that in fantastic and exotic scenery one finds oneself
nodding and saying inwardly, 'Yes, I know.' And on the shore the wild
doves mourn in the evening and then there comes a pang, some kind of
emotional jar, and a longing. And if one followed his whispering impulse
he would walk away slowly into the thorny brush following the call of
the doves. Trying to remember the Gulf is like trying to re-create a
dream. This is by no means a sentimental thing, it has little to do with
beauty or even conscious liking. But the Gulf does draw one, and we have
talked to rich men who own boats, who can go where they will. Regularly
they find themselves sucked into the Gulf. And since we have returned,
there is always in the backs of our minds the positive drive to go back
again. If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it
is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky
and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live,
and we don't know why."

John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

--
Skipper