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Mark Borgerson

In article ,
says...
On 4/11/2010 10:15 AM, Mark Borgerson wrote:
In ,

The Inside Passage I was referring to goes from Olympia, Washington
to Juneau, Alaska. The navigational challenges may be a bit greater
than on the ICW. Tides and currents are more than an inconvenience
in some areas! ;-)

I'm very familiar with electronic navigation systems, having designed
and built a number of systems that use GPS for autonomous navigation.
That said, I don't really want to spend a lot of time fixing electronics
when I can use my laptop and a GPS module, or purchase
a new GPS system for under $1K.

I have no familiarity with those waters. My understanding is that the
Japanese Current runs right there which is sort of a Gulf Stream but
running to the south. I know when returning from Hawaii you can sail
north from the Pacific high and then sail the current down to California
where I was berthed. Apparently many did that.

I wouldn't be cruising offshore. I would stay in what is now
the "Salish Sea" to the PC folks (It used to be Puget Sound
and the Strait of Georgia), as well as waters to the North.
There are a few crossings of open water to the North
of Vancouver Island, but most of the rest is more sheltered
with lots of nooks and crannies to investigate.

This inquiry is a result of my experience when I got out of the
Navy in 1974. I bought an Islander Bahama 24 in Alameda, Ca
for about $5000 and spent 6 weeks fixing it up, finding a
new outboard and doing some mods for single-handed cruising.
I then sailed the Bay area as well as up to Bodega Bay and
the Sacramento Delta for about three months. I sold the
boat for $4K and went back to grad school in September.
Total costs were about $1800/month, including maintaining
a slip in Alameda.

A simple boat holds its value well because nothing much changes on it
except some age. A complex boat can depreciate greatly by having
unaddressed systems failures. This goes beyond nav gear. How good are
you with refrigeration? Pressure hot water systems? Reverse cycle pumps
for heating and cooling? Electric windlasses? Inverters? Battery
systems? I can go on.

Good to go on most of that except the reverse cycle pumps and
refrigeration. I've been practicing on a 1987 motorhome! ;-)
I think I would want to stick with a modular refrigerator
and simple diesel furnace for cabin heat. You don't need
AC in the Pacific NW, as water temps seldom get above 60F
and few summer days above 80F.

Of course, the boat had very simple systems---an outboard
motor being at the top of the list. The plumbing didn't
involve a holding tank or an electric pump of any kind.
Navigation was charts, compass, and a simple radio direction
finder.

Perhaps simplicity is the key. Maybe I should scale back to
a 27 to 30' sailboat. At least that would reduce the impact
of an engine failure. OTOH, summer winds in the Northwest
are not particularly reliable either. Like everywhere else,
they always seem to be either nonexistant or blowing from
just where you want to go! ;-)

I would GUESS that sailing north against that current would be a heck of
a challenge and maybe not really practical. I sailed north from SoCal to
NoCal and it was an utter misery. It was a beat into the wind (cold) and
current demanded long miserable tacks to sea and back toward shore. Were
I to do it again, I'd never do it in a sailboat unless I had to. I'd
really like an inside steering station and an engine.

The currents in the Inside Passage change several times daily with
the semi-diurnal tides. Current velocities can exceed 15 knots----
you don't try to buck those in a trawler yacht!

I would GUESS that the going further north would be even worse. Good
luck. BTW, I think the idea of renting good but impractical. I doubt
you'd find a boatlord.

I didn't find anything with a quick internet search. It might require
posting inquiries to some NW boating sites.

Mark Borgerson