On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:11:20 -0700, Gary G see.signature@bottom
wrote:

Greetings:

We are going to be crusing the San Juan Islands in Sept in a 32'
dual Diesel cruiser from Anacortes WA. Any suggestions on a suitable
itinerary for this time of year?

We have not been to the San Juans before.

I'm concerned about potable water, pump out stations and docked power.
Since we are likely on the off-season, many of the normal high season
feature will not be present. If anyone has been in this area around
the same time, personal feedback is appreciated.


Wow!! We just returned from a 7 day charter from Ship Harbor Yachts
in Anacortes Skyline marina on their Meridian Infinity II 34'. This
was our first time with a twin screw boat. We did one day (stressful)
for training and then less than a half day to finish up... we felt
confident about going it alone. We went to almost all of the San
Juan Islands' points. Roche Harbor is excellent. Friday Harbor was
good. I bought a T shirt in Roche Harbor. Unfortunately, it got
Diesel on it at Skyline Marina. Oh well, it is broken in.

Anyway, this is a marvelous area to cruise. We did not go to Canada
since we were not familiar with the customs thing. Next time, we
will likely go there. I heard of folks piled up waiting to get
through customs. What are they doing? (customs). What is the big
deal? I read of Canadian booze in Wagoners about WA/CAN booze. What
is the difference? Obviously it is a revenue issue. We bring booze
from CA. So, how does this fit in? Is booze wine, beer or high
octane spirits or all of the above? Strange. CA is just anything
goes.

We're thinking that a 39' Carver would be a very nice boat for the
area. The head is a difficult component. Having a VacuFlush system
might fix this. Our standard Meridian unit was clogged the first
day out and delayed our departure. No problem since I needed
training anyway--not on the head but on the boat!




Gary Gaugler, Ph.D.
Microtechnics, Inc.
Granite Bay, CA 95746
916.791.8191
gary@microtechnics dot com