Bruce B Wifey D
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2016
- Messages
- 94
We expect to have [roughly] four weeks to cruise the PNW beginning [roughly] early April 2017. We live on the east coast and neither of us has ever been to the PNW, so needless to say, we are thrilled. My question to all you PNW-ers is this: what would be your ultimate cruise itinerary and must-see stops? Here are the underlying factors:
I'm curious about the northern/southern-most limits we should contemplate, how much time we might carve out for specific cruising areas, specific harbors you love, favorite marina and provisioning stops, best restaurants,
We’d love your input.
Go!
- The boat is an AT 395 FB. It is brand new and we will be taking delivery at the factory in LaConner, so we need to be mindful that there will be some shakedown going on. The cruise will begin and terminate in LaConner.
- We will be travelling with our two Scottish terriers who insist on doing their business ashore, so we need to overnight in places that have shoreline access where dogs are welcome.
- We love quiet, beautiful remote little anchorages and stunning natural views, and we find small towns to be excellent cruising destinations, but we also enjoy checking out the occasional city that is fun and convenient to visit by boat.
- We love good food! We enjoy cooking on the boat as well as finding special little eating spots at our destinations, and we really like figuring out the local food scene. We are not afraid to admit that sometimes we enjoy special destinations mainly for the food we can get there!
- We are not afraid of covering ground, but we don’t want to find that we have spent all our time underway and not enough time exploring ashore and sitting still to soak up the atmosphere.
- We’re both experienced boaters with extensive [east coast] cruising backgrounds and numerous ocean passages, although our experience is all sailing. The power boat thing is new to us.
- We assume that Alaska is not an option in April with only four weeks to explore, and also because this is a shakedown cruise. However, depending on how this first cruise goes, we are contemplating leaving the boat in the PNW after our cruise so we can go back and head to Alaska in July-August (or whenever you guys tell us we should do it!). Feel free to comment on the Alaska option, but we’d most like to focus on the non-Alaska waters for now.
- I have been absorbing the Waggoner guide and getting familiar with the territory through the Navionics and Nobeltec Time Zero apps, but would welcome recommendations for additional resources.
I'm curious about the northern/southern-most limits we should contemplate, how much time we might carve out for specific cruising areas, specific harbors you love, favorite marina and provisioning stops, best restaurants,
We’d love your input.
Go!