Winter on U.S. west coast

[Dan Kendryna]

Howdy! Looking for some advice. I was looking at sailing a 50ft gulfstar up from L.A. to Southeast Alaska. The plan is to go from L.A. to a higher latitude, such as Oregon or Washington and store it by mid December to come back and finish the journey early spring. Fairly new to this and looking for advice on which port would be the cheapest for winter storage. Would it be cheaper to leave in a slip or pull out? Any other considerations and advice are much appreciated.

[rbk]

What is you planned departure and timeline for this trip?

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum. I talked with someone about a year ago and there is a Marina around Warrenton Oregon that is super cheap if you pay by the year.

[Dan Kendryna]

Originally Posted by rbk

What is you planned departure and timeline for this trip?

Looking at starting from LA in October and leaving the west coast around December, about 2 months of sailing. I will have my young family aboard and plan on moving fairly slowly.

[Dan Kendryna]

Thank you! I would only want to leave the boat for about 3 months and then be back in early April to make it to my home port of Haines, AK. To be honest the appeal of the boat is to use it as a houseboat while the moorage fees here in AK have been quoted to me around $350 monthly for a boat that size, but i can't find anywhere down south for less than $750 a month. It seems rather steep.

[Celestialsailor]

My understanding that Warrenton was around $1600 a year

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Dan Kendryna

Looking at starting from LA in October and leaving the west coast around December, about 2 months of sailing. I will have my young family aboard and plan on moving fairly slowly.

Is this a first boat or first time making this trip? October with a young family heading north on the Oregon coast is a great way to sell your boat IMO.

[nhschneider]

Sorry, I haven’t researched slip or yard fees in that area for a while but many busy yards charge by the day whereas slips are usually charged by the month. For me, though, I wouldn’t be interested in cruising that area at any time of year except summer as it can get pretty gnarly. One time we sailed from Waikiki to Sitka in May and got hit by a 987mb low that was pretty frightening, especially with our three young children aboard.

$750 per month for slip fees sounds pretty reasonable to me for a 50’ boat. When we were cruising in Maine we were often quoted $150 per night.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[pdxsailordiver]

Astoria, Ilwaco and Warrenton would be close to the Columbia bar.
My boat is in St Helens , Or in a 50’ slip for$330 month.
Oregon and Washington coast in October- December not something I would even consider.

[redhead]

Hi and welcome. I can tell you that a slip in northern Washington is a bit more than you're thinking of. Bellingham and Blaine are both run by the Port Authority and they're quoting $10.55/ft + 9% "leaseholder tax". You might check out Anacortes or Port Townsend for yard storage, we checked them out a few years ago and the rates were competitive.

Good luck with your search, I'll be interested to hear what you find.

Oh I wanted to ask you about the timing. October is when the gales start and continue through March. You could be holed up for up to 3 days out of every 7. Coming from Alaska I'm sure you're aware.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by pdxsailordiver

Astoria, Ilwaco and Warrenton would be close to the Columbia bar.
My boat is in St Helens , Or in a 50’ slip for$330 month.
Oregon and Washington coast in October- December not something I would even consider.

I would not do that trip that late with family.

[fstbttms]

What kind of anti fouling paint are you using? Because if it is a hard paint, you can add the cost of a new bottom to storing the boat on the hard for any length of time.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Dan Kendryna

Looking at starting from LA in October and leaving the west coast around December, about 2 months of sailing. I will have my young family aboard and plan on moving fairly slowly.

I would seriously reconsider your plan to head north in October. It's bad weather then. In the summer months you will experience strong northerlies but they tend to be predictable and warmer (cool but not icy).

Winter gales are frequent during that time of year and ports of call with all-weather entrances are sparse. You run the risk of bad weather in the open ocean and no port which is safe to enter. It is not uncommon for a normal southerly to turn into a stronger system. You can depart when it looks OK only to find yourself in worse weather than what was forecast.

On top of strong winds and high seas you will see cold (COLD not cool) temperatures.

And sea sickness is a strong possibility.

If you are in a safe harbor you may be pinned there for days or weeks and the temptation to leave on a marginal forecast can become strong.

Given that outlook and the fact that you will have your young family aboard who I am thinking are not be experienced in ocean sailing and you acknowledge that you yourself are fairly new to this, it seems destined to turn out badly. Your motivation for getting the boat to Alaska is for lower cost housing, to me, is not a good reason to subject you and your family to a trip of this nature.

I would not do it.

[Volkeno]

Originally Posted by Dan Kendryna

Looking at starting from LA in October and leaving the west coast around December, about 2 months of sailing. I will have my young family aboard and plan on moving fairly slowly.

I would wait until spring. Both wind and current are moving south along the coast. Most boats are leaving Washington in September and October to go south before the storms start rolling in. I wouldn’t start north to Alaska before May as it will be chilly and raining going north from Seattle or Vancouver.
Along the coast almost every harbor is in a river bar that is very dependent on conditions.
If you were going to store the boat somewhere unattended I would probably want to be out of the water, but I think some cheaper in water places will be on Vancouver island north of Mill Bay. I had good rates in Cowichan Bay but my boat is significantly smaller. In the US check on Everett marina. They have been raising prices but they used to be one of the cheapest. Otherwise I would look around Bremerton for cheaper rates with less or no waiting list

[waterman46]

Of only looking for cheap living AK is the wrong place. I am from CA and on ship cruise up here. Prices of everything and weather, even in July, frankly suck.
If intent on living on boat in AK then save your life and buy one up here.