September is one of the best boating months here. It's when we always take our longer (2-3 week) cruises. While you can get rain, hail, fog, screaming wind, volcanic ash and attacks by rabid orcas and river otters all year round, September can have a few days of really nice weather. Most of the photos I put up in this thread were taken in September.
In addition to a better-than-average chance of decent weather (if you consider sunny days to be decent weather) the truly great thing is that just about everyone except retirees and a few people taking vacations is back to work or school. So anchorages and ports that were squirming with boaters like maggots on a dead deer are sometimes completely empty, or if they're not, are WAY more enjoyable than they were during the previous two months. So even if you are doing your touring by car and ferry you will find the places like Orcas Island, San Juan Island, and the harbor towns of Victoria, Sidney, Nanaimo, Ganges--- even Vancouver itself--- much more pleasant and relaxing.
And all this applies to the roads as well. Traffic in Seattle itself is a disaster 24/7/365, but once vacations are over and school has started, driving and the places you can drive to are much more enjoyable.
PS--- Just my opinon, but I think BC, including Vancouver Island, is WAY more interesting and scenic and just plain neat to be in than Seattle and western Washington.* I didn't move to Seattle because of Seattle, I moved here in spite of Seattle.* Besides the job I have, the main draw to living here for me is it's proximitiy to BC.* So if I had 9 or !0 days starting in Seattle, I'd go see the San Juans and then go to Vancouver Island, muck about over there for a few days, drive to Nanaimo, take the ferry to Departure Bay outside of Vancouver, and then depending on what mood I was in drive up the Sunshine Coast or if I wanted to do the river-mountains-forest-sagebrush thing I'd drive Highway 1 up the Fraser and Thompson Rivers and on up into he Cariboo country or come back down via the Okanagan country in eastern Washington.* That's a lot of driving but my wife and I like to drive, so that's an attraction for us, not a detriment.* But if you would rather spend more time in fewer locations I'd still get out of Washington asap and get into the San Juan and Gulf Islands, explore around on Vancouver Island., and come back Vancouver itself which is a wonderful city to visit.* By comparison, Seattle is a wide spot in the road in the Dust Bowl.
-- Edited by Marin on Sunday 16th of January 2011 01:08:36 PM