Jeff, I live in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle. Haven't made that
trip, but you want to pick your weather--I know that much. From October
through March/April there are snorting storms along the west coast, so avoid
that time slot. And the hidey-holes are pretty scarce. Consider just the
west coast of the US. You have San Diego, LA, San Francisco Bay, then a few
coves along the Oregon coast: very few places you can overnight. You'll be
offshore for periods of longer than a day quite a few times. The favorite
long, coastal cruise hereabouts is north, not south. Last summer we made a
3-montb round trip to Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, 1200 miles up the
coast, and anchored or moored every night. This was the fabled "inland
waterway to Alaska," through and among some 20,000 islands along the way.
Our boat is not really a wimp--a 37' Lord Nelson Victory Tug--so she's
seaworthy enough (we hid some thought-provoking seas off Cape Caution coming
south)--but it's nice to ride the anchor every night and not even think
about the weather as you turn in. (Not quite that simple, obviously;
anchors can drag.)

You can probably make Mobile-Seattle in a kayak. (People have made the
Alaska trip in kayaks.) But a seaworthy boat is hardly ever a real
handicap.

I had a friend here who wanted his 32' Westsail in Maine. He sailed to San
Diego, trucked the boat to Galveston, Texas, and sailed on from there. You
might consider a similar alternative.

Fair winds,

Dick Behan
M/V Annie


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Jeff, one more thing.

Sailing north up the west coast is nobody's favorite; you'll be beating most
of the time. Cruising friends who've sailed from here to Baja typically do
one of two things heading back north. They truck the boat home, or they
reach westward almost to Hawaii, and then reach eastward to Juan de Fuca
Strait and Seatlle. (The latter option sidesteps, of course, the lack of
safe harbors.)

Meant to say that in the earlier note.


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Jeff, one more thing.

Sailing north up the west coast is nobody's favorite; you'll be beating
most of the time. Cruising friends who've sailed from here to Baja
typically do one of two things heading back north. They truck the boat
home, or they reach westward almost to Hawaii, and then reach eastward to
Juan de Fuca Strait and Seatlle. (The latter option sidesteps, of course,
the lack of safe harbors.)

Meant to say that in the earlier note.


"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up the
west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad weather
or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff

Usually true, but it's hard to predict.. had a friend who did the Baja bash
with no problems and easy sailing the whole way.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:48:04 -0800, Tamaroak
wrote:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

The trip north from the canal to Baja has a reputation for being
extremely tough, with lots of strong northerlies frequently
approaching gale force, big open ocean seas, and very few places to
put in.

I'd definitely go for seaworthy, if at all.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:48:04 -0800, Tamaroak
wrote:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

The trip north from the canal to Baja has a reputation for being
extremely tough, with lots of strong northerlies frequently
approaching gale force, big open ocean seas, and very few places to
put in.

I'd definitely go for seaworthy, if at all.


Cordonazo The "Lash of St. Francis." Name applied locally to southerly
hurricane winds along the west coast of Mexico. It is associated with
tropical cyclones in the southeastern North Pacific Ocean. These storms may
occur from May to November, but ordinarily affect the coastal areas most
severely near or after the Feast of St. Francis, October 4.

From Lat. 38:
Nasty Weather. While the sailing winds in Mexico are normally light and
benign during the prime cruising season between November and June, there are
some notable exceptions. The Pacific Coast of Baja is periodically subject
to strong winds from the north, northwest and east, as well as 'Pineapple
Expresses' from Hawaii. See Jack Williams' Baja Guide to find the best
shelters for the different conditions.

The Sea of Cortez can also be dangerous from November to March, as Northers
howl down from the States on a semi-regular basis. It's not uncommon to have
40 or more knots of wind during a Norther. But the wind isn't the problem
that the short and steep seas can be. When there's a Norther blowing, you
want to be holed up in a snug anchorage, not crossing the Sea of Cortez.
Thank goodness for modern weather forecasting.

In the summertime, the Sea of Cortez is also subject to chubascos - brief
storms appearing out of nowhere with winds that often blow at close to
hurricane force. In the fall of '97, a number of cruising boats were driven
ashore at Puerto Escondido by a chubasco.

Here's an article...

http://www.oceannavigator.com/article.php?a=9612

Tamaroak wrote:
So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff
The slog up the west coast is hard work. I sailed down to the northern
California border from Barkeley Sound on Vancouver Island last summer in
two days, the trip back up against wind, sea and current was a hard 6
days. We were very wet, cold and miserable and it was July and we were
on a 100' boat. The problem is, when the weather picks up, the
coastguard closes the bars so you can't get in. You gotta quit early or
stick it out offshore.

The low powered vessel/sailing recommended route from Panama has you
going out to sea to Hawaii then swinging north west over the top of the
quasi stationary north pacific high. I've done that too and it was
still a slog but an easier slog.

Gaz

Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff


Too bad you can't swap boats like some of my friends swap houses.....

I have a friend who is in Orlando, living in a ham radio operator's
house for a month (or more, maybe). The American ham is living in his
house in Dublin, IE, for a month (or more, maybe). This is the third
time they swapped houses in 4 years. My friend has lived in other
hams' houses in about 8 countries over the years. They swap everything
except their clothes. They drive each other's cars, on the wrong side
of the road, of course. Last year they extended it another 2 weeks so
my friend could go to some Irish festival or other and the Irish ham
could wait for his daughter to come over for the Dizzy World with the
grandkids. Everyone had a great time.

Too bad boaters can't do something like that. Someone in Seattle would
kill their mother to have a boat in Mobile to get out of the cold and
rain for a while....(c; His boat has an enclosed cabin and HEATER no
boat in Mobile is equipped with. Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

going out to sea to Hawaii

Yeah, but noone already in Hawaii, especially this time of year, would ever
be crazy enough to go on to Seattle...(c;

Cap'n Jeff probably wouldn't make it back to Mobile, either!

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Gary wrote in news:OTXuf.20760$tl.2430@pd7tw3no:

So how tough is it to go from Mobile, through the Panama Canal and up
the west coast to Seattle? Are there lots of places to hide from bad
weather or do you have to have a very seaworthy boat.

Capt. Jeff


Too bad you can't swap boats like some of my friends swap houses.....

I have a friend who is in Orlando, living in a ham radio operator's
house for a month (or more, maybe). The American ham is living in his
house in Dublin, IE, for a month (or more, maybe). This is the third
time they swapped houses in 4 years. My friend has lived in other
hams' houses in about 8 countries over the years. They swap everything
except their clothes. They drive each other's cars, on the wrong side
of the road, of course. Last year they extended it another 2 weeks so
my friend could go to some Irish festival or other and the Irish ham
could wait for his daughter to come over for the Dizzy World with the
grandkids. Everyone had a great time.

Too bad boaters can't do something like that. Someone in Seattle would
kill their mother to have a boat in Mobile to get out of the cold and
rain for a while....(c; His boat has an enclosed cabin and HEATER no
boat in Mobile is equipped with. Cap'n Jeff has AIR CONDITIONING noone
in their right mind in Seattle would have to go with an open cockpit.

Why can't you?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com