Seattle to portland in July singlehanded.

[northoceanbeach]

Have GPS. No backup. Can get.

Charts easy.

Benson book. Will look into.

The wind pilot website has a picture of a naked chick on their website.

What about a well equipped ranger makes it unsuitable for this?

[northoceanbeach]

Originally Posted by davefromoregon

How long do you expect this trip to take?

2 weeks

[pdxsailordiver]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

I am much wanting to sail to Portland Oregon from puget sound this summer.

I'm going to singlehand it. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the distance between ports. It seems like I'm going to have to pretty much go

Port townsend

Port Angeles

Neah bay

Maybe grays harbor

Astoria

I have a 23 foot sailboat. I dont have any self steering but need advice on what kind to get before I go.

That's my biggest concern is not knowing much about self steering systems. I'm thinking a raymarine st1000. I only have one marine battery and a small solar panel. For that short of a trip will I also have to get a second battery? I'm open to a small windvane.

I'm mostly just worried about the distance I will have to go without being able to stop maybe and how strong the winds are in summer. Also it will be my first overnight.

I'm looking for advice from people that have done this before.

Get a trailer I-5 at 55mph is great. I have done it both offshore and I-5 with my Santana 28.
This trip can be any where from calm to terrifying . I have been up and down that coast 30 or more times.Crossed the Columbia bar 18 times in a five day span once just day sailing.

WhaleSlapping2 - YouTube

I shot this video 2 Summers ago. We could have paddled up to the Whale with a Coleman canoe. Then again I have had water over the top of the dodger on my 42' Cascade.
Not sure I would want to take a Ranger 23 on this trip and the smallest I have done it on are a Cal 2-27 and a Santana 28.
Have you sailed the straits of Juan De Fuca or to Victoria?
West wind and beating down the straits with an out going tide can be one heck of a ride.
You can stop in La push,WA, just don't go in if the wind is from the SW.
In July the winds should be N/NW and time your Columbia river bar crossing and watch for NW swell with west wind waves at the bar.
Do you have a life raft or a survival suit and a epirb?
Maybe crew for somebody first.

[jared1048]

We just did this over the long weekend but the opposite direction. We were lucky to have a southerly wind so could sail downwind 90% of the trip to Neah Bay. We were on a 41ft boat with 8 people.

No f'n way I'd do that on a 23ft boat solo. It took us 24 hours to get from the Columbia bar to neah bay. I plan on doing this trip in my 31'ft boat with 4-6 people. Over the weekend we were all sick within the first 2 hours the seas were so lumpy. We needed everyone to keep sailing smart. If you get sick out there by yourself no one is going to take over the helm. Being sea sick is probably the worst feeling I've ever had and it never seems to go away. Once your feeling this sick your very liable to start making mistakes and those waters are not very forgiving. We had to turn to physically miss no less than a dozen crap pots.

My advice would be to truck it down. There is no shame in that. Yes, we can point to people who have sailed this solo and in small boats but lets not take the exception and make it out like the rule. We have a lot of modern conveniences that they didn't have in the past. Why not use them and live a long life.

Jared

[northoceanbeach]

I hate crap pots. That's one reason I didn't like the gulf islands. You couldn't sail anywhere because it was like a crab pot minefield. I don't know how they're alowed to just throw those all over the entrances to busy ports like Ganges.

[jared1048]

I've sailed through the gulf islands up to desolation sound and I can tell you they are even worse on the coast. I couldn't believe how many they had out there. It amazes me that they can set them between red and green channel markers! that's not right.

[goat]

Anybody use these? I always thought crap pot floats should be required to have lights or at the minimum, reflectors. It's the worst part of sailing the gulf islands at night.

Rope cutter test quicKutter shaft line cutter marine, shaft rope cutter marine. - YouTube

[s/v Beth]

North Ocean- there is a common thread through all that have made this passage-Don't do it alone until you have lots of experience and doing it with a 23 foot boat (and crew) is a serious undertaking. I can do Neah bay-Columbia bank in 4 days against the wind, 2.5 days when winds are favorable. You should add double to that in your boat. And don't count on Gray's harbor. If conditions are good and the sun is up - its a great place to stop, if it is night and the swells are 10 feet with 25 knots of wind- you are going to have to keep going. But the good news is once your in 100 fathoms of water there are no crab pots.
I cut my teeth in the Gulf of Mexico/SW Florida. Great place to learn to do overnights. But it you insist on doing your first ocean voyaging here, when you have a small boat and limited experience- I have seen such people leave and never come back on the water ever. Is that really what you want for your future?
And as for our Hawaiian friend calling us sissy's. You sail a Ranger 23 over to the mainland (from Hawaii) and up the coast, and I will treat you to a kings welcome. Bands, BBQ everything. You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? If so, you are a much better sailor than me and the welcome will be money well spent.

[CarinaPDX]

I'll chip in on that BBQ. Then again, it is a bit unfair as Peter has a significant resume. What the OP is asking about appears to be the first solo ocean passage, and probably the first ocean passage period - quite a different matter.

Greg

[northoceanbeach]

I have sailed on the ocean in Hawaii only.

[Gazelle Family]

[japarker11]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

I have sailed on the ocean in Hawaii only.

NOB,
First off, if the rules were a 23' LOA boat, your Mull Ranger 23 would be on my short list for this work. Principal asset being its speed. Principal liability is its speed. Having had an R26 for nearly 20 years and a Cal 2-27 for 10 years, I am familiar with Jensen Marine's robust builds...and their weaknesses. I have seen young, motivated and experienced R23 singlehanders do some pretty challenging routes. Years ago there was one sailed out of PT that would rule the Straits. If the decks are solid, chain plates and bulkheads in good shape, it could fare much better than you. On this offshore route, there isn't a 23' LOA sailboat that posses a capable auxiliary necessary to cross anything but the most benign available bar crossings at any of the bailout harbors.

Now, the skipper. Most of my cruising time has been in the San Juans. On average, I would singlehand out in the Straits once a year. If you want a taste of the outside? Sail PT to Victoria three times in a month regardless of the storm flags flying. Some will be a mill pond, others you will kiss the pavers in front of the Empress. Now project this variability over a two week period. Unlike a Pacific crossing with auto steer, auto-steer this close to a lee shore with freighter traffic, I don't know how you would catch sleep? As for battery life, I have two Group 24 batteries on the Cal. Running the TP1000, Chartplotter, VHF and running lights, I get four hours before the AP loses heading.

As for me, after 45 years of sailing, just did my first Portland to Puget run in April. Strange new boat, strange waters and strange crew (not really). Tried to cover all the bases: Experienced crew on this course, medical officer, radio officer(lectro geek type), rental life raft, new AIS, etc. Everything worked.....except the wind. Astoria to Bellingham non-stop in 40 hours, snagging only one crab pot 8 miles from Bellingham. We were dodging crab pots in 300 feet of water outside?

At a minimum, NOB, hope you find another hand for the tiller and catch a ride either way to get a feel for the conditions. And, then, once in Astoria, you have the river. We actually took more water on deck between Longview and Astoria.

Good Luck with this ambitious undertaking,
John

[Capt Phil]

All excellent and wise advice from Newt and japarker11... I wish you a fair passage whether on the Pacific or I-5 (if it is still open!). It is certainly doable but the advice you have asked for and received here does smack of much planning and caution. The biggest reason is the lack of places to hide out if things go badly. Good Luck... Phil

[Sand crab]

I've never sailed there but your entire route is in an area called the Graveyard of the Pacific. Google it and the Columbia River Bar for some great pics and info.

Here's just a little bit.

"It’s been dubbed as one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world. Right here a fast-flowing narrow and shallow column of the Columbia River collides with the swells of the Pacific creating constantly shifting sandbars and up to 40-foot waves. Add to that one of the windiest and foggiest spots on the West (a mere 2500 hours of fog/year and up to 120 mph winds) and you’ve got yourself the mini-version of the perfect storm. It’s a mariner’s terror and in its time it’s claimed over 2,000 ships and 700 lives. In the late 1880′s a 20-year jetty-building project helped to stabilize the entrance to a single channel, but the crossing is still unpredictable and requires both constant maintenance and the aid of a highly specialized “Columbia River Bar Pilot” to complete."

To quote Roy Scheider' " We're gonna to need a bigger boat".

Good Luck.

[Capt Phil]

Good point, Sand crab... you point out the main reason I used to give the bar about 50 miles leeway on deliveries north or south. Had to cross it a half a dozen times in or out and was always a bit nervous regardless of the weather or sea conditions.
I've watched the USCG training films when the sea is really running and those guys really have a brass set! Perhaps the OP should view them on u-tube before he attempts his trip. Cheers, Phil