Monday, July 19, 2010

San Juan StS - What to Bring





San Juan Share the Sail - What to Bring

If this is your first Share the Sail and you haven't returned the questionaire please do so.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, request a copy:  woody@seafaring.com.   I know some of you are already packing so let's get right to it.  


Weather:
We are cruising the San Juans in peak season.  August is the warmest month of the year with an average temperature in the 70's.  Night time gets down into the 50's (did someone say hot chocolate?)   Though the Pacific Northwest sees a lot of rain, the San Juans lie in a rain shadow of sorts averaging only 20 inches a year.




What to Bring:  
You sailors know that no matter what the weather feels like ashore, it's cooler on the water.  
- Shorts, shirts and sun dresses for the warmer times.  
- I'm bringing sweats or fleece, tops and bottoms and a rain jacket so I can layer as needed.  
- Depending on where you choose to eat ashore you might need something nicer -  a toned down Hawaiian shirt or dress shirt and khaki pants for him, whatever women wear always seems to be fine.  
- Your boat shoes should not be the black deck-marking type.   
- A collapsible bag.  The big hard case luggage is a no-no.  There is nowhere on a boat to store stuff like that so if you bring it, you may end up sleeping with it.  
- Sunblock, sun glasses, hat with chin strap (shades head and neck a plus).
- Closable drinking cup.  
- Your bathroom and shower stuff.  Boats come with sheets, towels, blankets, etc.
- Maybe a camera?  Some people will bring an MP3 player that jacks into the onboard 12v receptacle and can tune into the FM radio.
- Goto Seafaring.com Ship Store for Lats & Atts shirts and hats and, of course, a Winch Wench.  
- Money for meals ashore, food bought in ports to bring aboard, trinkets, buying your favorite skipper a coldy!  There's no requirement to tip your skippers at the end.  To prevent navigational errors, you might get the crew together and take your skipper out for a hot meal ashore sometime during the adventure.  




Provisioning:
We will be stocking the boats with some basic food provisions - most breakfasts and lunches and a dinner or two.  Shailors tend to eat ashore a lot to get the local flavor.  If, during our cruise you find your boat is running short of something, consider trading items you all don't want with another of our boats.  Before we turn the boats in we'll look for a couple real cruising boats to give the extra food to.  The gift will be appreciated.  
Do bring special food and drink items that you prefer (decaf, teas, booze, chocolate, food for special diets, etc).
Lats & Atts will put a case of local brew aboard each boat.  Be surprised if it makes it out of the bay.  Often, those drinking on each boat kick into a kitty for the occasional shore run.      
We always put a coldy starter kit onboard- a case of the local.  After that you're on your own.  




Upon Arrival:
Sunday August 8.  Directions and travel advise can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.  Please arrive at the charter base by 1300.  If all goes well I'll be assigning crews to boats around noon.  If you arrive early, find a comfortable spot to hang out and come check in with me.  Starting at 1000 the skippers will be doing an extensive boat orientation with the AYC folks that could take 3 hours.  We have 5 boats so some boats may not depart until late in the afternoon (the first anchorage is around the corner).  Please don't bug the charter staff about when you can board.  I am the only one that will know what boat you are on, so bug me.  If you're persistant, you may get assigned to a dinghy, temporarily.  




What to Expect:
We've got five monohulls of varying size.  Expect to see some local cruising boats join us for different parts of the cruise.   As those who have done a Share the Sail before know, we keep a pretty loose schedule.  This helps us to make last minute changes in plans so we don't miss anything kewl.  We do have a couple of fixed stops.  Monday, we are scheduled to be in Friday Harbor where West Marine will be throwing us a welcoming event.  Thursday we are headed to The Lopez Islander Resort to hang out at their tiki bar.  Friday we'll join our local pirate friends at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes for our huge annual Lats & Atts PNW Cruiser's Weekend event including the Eric Stone concert on Saturday evening.  Got some pirate gear that packs small?  Bring it.  


Travel Update:  if anyone is interested in ride sharing from the airport to the base and back, comment on the blog page titled Ride Sharing.


This email and more are posted on blog here:
sanjuansts.blogspot.com


If I think of anything else you'll be hearing from me again.  I am delivering a boat up the coast (currently waiting out a gail in Bodega) and should be hanging out in the San Juans for the week leading up to our grand event.   Email your questions to me.  It may take a day or two but I'll get back to you asaic.


Captain Woody
woody@seafaring.com


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Some notes culled from the AYC.com website:
The weather is generally mild all year long. June through September is mostly sunny with temperatures ranging from the mid 60's to the low 80's. Much of the cruising areas of the Pacific Northwest are in the "rain shadow" of high mountains that block many of the weather systems that come in off the Pacific Ocean. The result is that rainfall can be as little as 20 inches annually in some areas. There is even a variety of cactus that flourish on the Western slopes of certain islands. 


From May to October the winds are mostly moderate (6-18 knots). This varies by locality and time of day with the fresher breezes occurring among the island archipelagos. 


Depending on the time of year or your destinations, you will need suitable clothes for the season. Don't forget sunglasses and suntan lotion. Anacortes Yacht Charters provides berth linens and towels for all charters. 

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