Newbie from the Salish Sea

[IRENE]

Greetings All,

We have been cruising from Port Angeles, WA for about a year. Prior to that, it was several years in the Great Lakes, mostly the North Channel. Many moons ago I ran boats in South Florida.

Our current boat is a 27 Skagit Orca XLC. Since we need to be at work on most Monday's, one of our current mission requirements is speed. IRENE gives us a safe ride, the comforts of home, and in most cases 3 NMPG from her Volvo Penta D4-260. We take many weekend trips, mostly to the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Our annual vacation trip last year was Desolation Sound and the Discovery Passage - this year we plan to visit the Broughtons. IRENE lives on a trailer near our home when she is not being used.

Why Trawler Forum? We joined because boating is our hobby and this forum is a wealth of knowledgable folks (I have been lurking) with apparently similar boating interests. Some of the other forums were too broad for our tastes, or brand specific. In the next few years, IRENE will move on and we will find a suitable pilothouse passagemaker to call home. We plan to retire shortly thereafter and be at-large...until too old to remain that way.

Thank you for the information and inspiration you have already shared. We appreciate the opportunity to participate here.

Jeff in Port Angeles, WA

 

[MurrayM]

Welcome aboard from up the coast a bit

Skagit Orca's are really nice boats

 

[porman]

Welcome from another Salish Sea cruiser. We're also going to the Broughtons for the first time this summer. Lots of planning to do.

 

[FlyWright]

Welcome aboard, Jeff! Glad you found us...we've been waiting for you.

Looks like you've got the perfect-for-you boat for this stage in your life. That's pretty much what I'll be looking for as I downsize in year to come to focus more on RVs and seeing the beautiful US of A. Won't want a boat sitting in water while I'm out cruising the highways in my land yacht.

Got some pics of the interior layout of your Skagit?

 

[MurrayM]

Got some pics of the interior layout of your Skagit?

Sounds like we might have some sort of trade deal warming up here?

Skagit Orca

 

[Tangler]

Hello and welcome from Vancouver ...we will be staying in home waters this year due to the Canadian dollar sucking so badly...but its a great deal for USA cruisers !

 

[IRENE]

Got some pics of the interior layout of your Skagit?

I don't have any of ours proper, but below is a very good shot of a like boat I grabbed from the internet. It was taken from the companionway to the v-berth looking aft.

Note the head compartment (wet) aft of the dinette; the long galley to starboard aft of the helm seat with space below; aft helm station on the back of the bulkhead to starboard; and finish including headliner and teak trim. Below the dinette on ours is a refrigerator, hot water heater, water pump, holding tank, red-dot heater, some storage, and head plumbing.

 

[GFC]

Welcome to TF. I was aboard a twin to your vote a couple of years ago. It also had the diesel and the owner said he could cruise all day and it got such good mileage that he had to siphon out some diesel to keep the tank from overflowing.


I'm not sure I believed that part but the rest of what he had to say about the boat was spot on.

 

[RCook]

Welcome Jeff,

From a forum member with a fairly similar boat - a Bounty 257 with KAD44 diesel sterndrive. Looks like a lot of similarity in the layout too. We do BC and SE Alaska summers in ours (mostly AK the last several years). Pretty cool to have such a degree of creature comfort in a trailerable boat that can happily go slow, or 18 knots if we wish.

 

[sunchaser]

Hello and welcome from Vancouver ...we will be staying in home waters this year due to the Canadian dollar sucking so badly...but its a great deal for USA cruisers !

Go to Anacortes to fuel up and you'll still be ahead. Beer, wine and whisky still cheaper in the US. Housing, same deal. But the cinnamon buns in Sidney or Pender Harbor are a different story.

 

[koliver]

Curiously, gas is now about even. Saltspring Island Coop price for regular is $114.9C. Indio Chevron is $305.0 US. If I buy $US gas today it will cost me $115.9C per l.
Diesel is still about 12% cheaper in US.

 

[IRENE]

Welcome Jeff,

From a forum member with a fairly similar boat - a Bounty 257 with KAD44 diesel sterndrive. Looks like a lot of similarity in the layout too. We do BC and SE Alaska summers in ours (mostly AK the last several years). Pretty cool to have such a degree of creature comfort in a trailerable boat that can happily go slow, or 18 knots if we wish.

That is a nice boat!

 

[sunchaser]

Curiously, gas is now about even. Saltspring Island Coop price for regular is $114.9C. Indio Chevron is $305.0 US. If I buy $US gas today it will cost me $115.9C per l.
Diesel is still about 12% cheaper in US.

I just filled up the Suburban (on land). $1.97 per gallon or about 70 cents C per liter.

 

[koliver]

Too bad it would cost e a full tank of gas to get to where you are. I was in LA a week ago, same there as here in Indio.

 

[WD40]

Great story, and loved to hear why you joined Trawler Forum versus something else.
I got the same impression from lurking here as well before joining up.

Looking forward to crossing paths on one of our future voyages.

 

[Bob Cofer]

Jeff,

If you ever make a stop in Bellingham get in touch. I will PM you our contact info.

Bob & Jill

 

[BandB]

Why Trawler Forum? We joined because boating is our hobby and this forum is a wealth of knowledgable folks (I have been lurking) with apparently similar boating interests. Some of the other forums were too broad for our tastes, or brand specific. In the next few years, IRENE will move on and we will find a suitable pilothouse passagemaker to call home. We plan to retire shortly thereafter and be at-large...until too old to remain that way.

We joined here because the people here are boaters and like to talk about boating. They are actual boat owners talking about cruising.

It's the same reason at marinas, regardless of what boat we're in, we're more likely to make friends with the older couple on the Grand Banks than the people on the megayacht.

I think of this in many ways as the Powerboat Cruisers Forum. On a forum that combines power and sail, some issues are common, but the two in general have very different interests and perspectives on boating and the world and when combined seem to often not respect those who have the other from them.