Sailing in the Puget Sound is not great

[Siberian Sea]

What’s really nice about sailing in the Puget Sound is the fact that you can leave there and go away to someplace better.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Captain Puget

I was raised that we go boating - which includes sailing, lots of motor sailing, and motoring.... often in the same day😉

A day, a week, a month on the water, every moment well spent.

Big winds, small sails. Little or no wind, or wrong direction of wind, or adverse tidal current, raise the iron jib, or just drift and enjoy the float.

[AlanT]

I've lived in the Puget Sound area for 20 years and progressed from:
1/ a Cal 34' nice to sail but I am a destination sailor, not a sailing around in circles sailor, so it was too slow under sail and often against tide - when we needed to get somewhere.
2/ The Cal 34 Plus a Bayliner 2855 which was a nice combination to have. I could sail when there was wind but could take guests to destinations when visiting and not have to take all day getting through the Narrows. That was a great combination except that I decided I don't like going at planing speeds.
3/ Hylas 49 - not in the Sound though. 4 years mainly in Europe.
4/ Bayliner 4788 which was nice and commodious and made our annual pilgrimage North a pleasure till recently when more space was needed
5/ The current and probably last boat in my progression is a 72' Wendon. Plenty of room for everyone, cabins for all and we don't need marinas any more.

[cal40john]

You just need the right kind of boat and sails and enjoy light air sailing. My boat with an SA/D of 18 is around the bottom end to move in light airs. I've sailed/crewed/raced on friends' Olson 30, J27, J30, and others that have SA/D 25 and up and they move right along without a ripple on the water. Also the low surface area IOR boats like the San Juan 24 take almost no wind to move.

I've had many enjoyable sails while watching boats that I consider under rigged (at least for our area) sit or motor.

This made me remember crewing on a J27 waiting for the postponement flag to go down. No ripples on the water, only the main up, sailing up, down, around, and through the fleet.

[Mike OReilly]

Haven't sailed much on the west coast (one week), but the comments about light, variable winds are similar to the Great Lakes in the summer.

My observation is that those with firm schedules, or ambitious plans, or boat rules like "gotta make at least 4 knots or the engine comes on," are the ones that end up motoring a lot.

Those who are able/willing to ghost along at one or two knots will be sailing. But you gotta have the right sails. A set of light airs sails are a must.

Everyone worries and plans about heavy air sailing. Fewer seem to give light airs sailing much thought. I suspect most sailors would be better off investing in light airs sails vs storm sails.

[Imagineou812]

WeLL Fremont Sailor , perhaps you would be happier sailing back @ the place from which you came from ? Your "Transplant" whining certainly won't be missed here by the locals ! Transplants , they come , degrade the quality of living in the greater Puget Sound region and then complain about it !!! I don't recall any locals having laid out the welcome mat to listen to THIS kind of rhetoric !!!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Imagineou812

WeLL Fremont Sailor , perhaps you would be happier sailing back @ the place from which you came from ? Your "Transplant" whining certainly won't be missed here by the locals ! Transplants , they come , degrade the quality of living in the greater Puget Sound region and then complain about it !!! I don't recall any locals having laid out the welcome mat to listen to THIS kind of rhetoric !!!

NOTE: Most of us here don't feel like this bonehead.

[redhead]

Originally Posted by Imagineou812

WeLL Fremont Sailor , perhaps you would be happier sailing back @ the place from which you came from ? Your "Transplant" whining certainly won't be missed here by the locals ! Transplants , they come , degrade the quality of living in the greater Puget Sound region and then complain about it !!! I don't recall any locals having laid out the welcome mat to listen to THIS kind of rhetoric !!!

Well, we're transplants and thank goodness we never met this attitude.

We were welcomed by Washingtonians, indigenous people and transplants from all over. That's why we put out the welcome mat to people who come after us.
Sorry you feel that way, must be kind of lonely.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

NOTE: Most of us here don't feel like this bonehead.

Agreed. Thanks to you and others for noting so.

[JPA Cate]

Take a look at Wing's Log that wingssail posted.

Note the sails selected.

To Fremont sailor, Mike OReilly has it right. If you want to go balls out all the time, you might think the sailing wasn't "any good". However, there's a great deal to learn about helping a capable boat to sail in next to no wind, and learning that is a mind set that doesn't come if you turn on the engine whenever the boat speed gets "too low." The "too slow" is an attitude, and it helps to make it a game, a challenge, to get the boat to move. It is one of the reasons racing, with its rule to not use the engine for propulsion, is a good teacher, for sail selection, sail trim, and attentive helming.

Myself, I don't love playing the light air game. But there have been times, becalmed on passage, when it was kind of fun. Once you get the boat moving a little, again, you can even point her somewhere near where you want her to be! And, I'd rather listen to the silence, before the wake starts to ripple and you hear the bubbles, than listen to the engine. Plus, "an engine hour saved, is an engine hour earned."

So, for light airs, you need light sails that will fill from a zephyr. With light weight spinnakers, you use light spinnaker sheets, so the lines will lift with the breeze. If you want fun summer sailing in Puget sound, maybe you would want to maximize for the 5-10 knot range. It might affect what boat(s) you would have. But like the sailors of yore, you should be able to sail all winds effectively as they allow.

Ann

[Hoodsail]

Learned to sail in San Francisco, then lived/sailed in Santa Barbara, Seattle, and now finally Connecticut. Sailing on Long Island sound is flukey in the Summer, typically light southwesterlies, so you’re not alone in that regard. But have to say Spring & Fall things can pipe up, so patience is a virtue. Sailed this afternoon because it was sooo pretty...winds 5-10k, more of the former, but day was so clear and nice that I laid back against the cockpit lifelines, let her steer herself, and poked my head up periodically to insure there was no traffic....altho ghosting along at 2-3 k didn’t have to look to often...enjoy the sound!

[Dougtiff]

If you look at old photo's of boat's in the marina's in P.S., most are MOTOR, for a reason, found this out as i lived there for 18 year's.

[northbay]

You just need the right kind of boat and sails and enjoy light air sailing. My boat with an SA/D of 18 is around the bottom end to move in light airs. I've sailed/crewed/raced on friends' Olson 30, J27, J30, and others that have SA/D 25 and up and they move right along without a ripple on the water. Also the low surface area IOR boats like the San Juan 24 take almost no wind to move.

I've had many enjoyable sails while watching boats that I consider under rigged (at least for our area) sit or motor.

This made me remember crewing on a J27 waiting for the postponement flag to go down. No ripples on the water, only the main up, sailing up, down, around, and through the fleet.[/QUOTE]


Agreed, a performance oriented boat will do more sailing in Puget Sound, than the typical blue water cruiser. I think Bob Perry said,
"You can always make a fast boat go slow", when the winds are up. But not vice versa.

[Sand crab]

It was 20 mph today at Port Townsend. Sometimes you get lucky but I was short bound.��

[Alawaiorion]

Originally Posted by FremontSailor

I am somewhat new to sailing and have spent a year sailing in the central(seattle, bainbridge, whidbey island) Puget Sound(washington state) and I have found that the sailing is way too variable and light to be considered good. Specifically during the summer months. Fall and winter are a different story, as we do get good days with cold sun and strong winds in these seasons.

I have not made it yet up to the San Juans, so up there in the summer it might be different. Probably is as it will get winds from the Straight of Juan de Fuca.

I am curious what you all think? Am I wrong in my opinion that its just not great sailing?

I was raised in that area - and we still own a cabin in the San Juans and go there regularly - and sail - fall/spring great times - and we have a small Ranger that we can sail year round especially in the summer evenings - Living on our boat here in Hawaii (most of the year) yes 10 to 20 knot trades pretty much all the time - I don't consider the san juan islands better or worse - just different - mostly motor sailing...love all the different islands -