Lessons in Washington

Washington packs an unreasonable amount of water into one state: the saltwater maze of Puget Sound, the open Pacific coast, the Columbia River's long reach, and a scatter of inland lakes. The San Juan Islands and the Olympic Peninsula shoreline alone hold enough anchorages and sheltered passages to fill years of cruising. Marinas run the full range (big urban facilities in Seattle and Bellingham, small island docks in towns like Friday Harbor), and the fleet they serve is just as varied, from trailer boats to cruising yachts and working charter operations.

Puget Sound itself is a deep estuary running from the Strait of Juan de Fuca down to Olympia, with fjord-like passages threading past cities and small waterfront towns. Port Townsend, Gig Harbor, and the Swinomish Channel are the kind of stops that anchor a good itinerary, each with well-appointed marinas behind them. North of the Sound, the San Juans are the marquee cruising ground: dozens of islands, state parks, and villages like Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor, wilderness and dock power within a mile of each other. Most charters into these waters run out of Anacortes, Bellingham, and Seattle.