Preparing for multi-day sailing trips
The San Juan Islands are breathtaking. This was my third trip and this time, I was sailing out of Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle instead of chartering the boat from Anacortes or Bellingham which are closer to the San Juan Islands. Out of the 12 day trip, I planned for 7 days in the San Juans and the remaining days getting to San Juans and back. I chartered Vela Volta from the club, a Bavaria Match 35, a 35 foot performance cruiser which was a pleasure to sail.
Planning prior to the charter
I start planning for my sailing trip/ charter at least 3 weeks prior and consider the following:
Reserve the boat for a day sail so that we can get comfortable with the boat and practice docking. Docking at new marinas or anchoring in a new spot are the most stressful parts of any trip, especially when the boat is new, conditions are rough, you are not an expert, or all of the above. By this time, my crew and I have set responsibilities and we follow the same routine, therefore, getting familiar with the boat is important so that the only variables remain are marina layouts and weather conditions. Even though I might skipper the boat, I like to ensure that all crew members can operate the engine and instruments and that they are familiar with a few key things - like where the fire extinguishers and flares are, where the boat manual is, the engine check etc. Check out my other posts to learn more on this.
Build a few tentative sail plans. Initially, these plan did not consider wind/ weather conditions and I focused more on what I wanted the trip to look like - how many days we would anchor v.s dock at marinas, which marinas and anchorages we wanted to explore, a few route options with potential distances between them (I had 4 options that i refined over time), identifying potential pump-out and fuel stops, and where we might re-provision. I poured over the local cruising guides to pick some spots and get familiar with them; I also watched videos online on YouTube and particularly liked the ones by PacificNWBoater on the WA State Parks in the San Juan Islands. I then discussed the tentative plans with my crew and asked them to review the options and spots i had shortlisted to narrow them down further. While I do the heavy lifting of the research, I try to involve my crew in the decision making process and get them excited.
Study the tides and currents. Once we narrowed down where we wanted to sail (while still keeping buffer from some extra spots), I spent time studying the tides and currents to plan the trip. I use Ports and Passes for currents and tides information and also the Canadian Currents Guide. I looked at the wind forecast but have found that the forecasts change on a day to day basis so I planned more based on currents and tides - and used wind forecasts 24 hours prior to setting sail each day. Knowing the tides heights is particularly important when anchoring to determine how much rode to let out and knowing the currents is critical when going through passes. On this particular trip for example, I planned to cross Deception Pass where the currents can run as high as 8 knots so it was extremely important to know the time of Slack (when currents are at or near 0 knots) which makes for more comfortable and confident crossings.
Finalize the sail plan. When finalizing a sail plan, I typically target less than 24 nautical miles of sailing in a day and use 4 knots as my tentative speed over ground. While I’ve sailed consistently at 6 knots or more several times, I found that on those days, we’ve spent more time sailing and always delayed getting to our destination in favor of more sailing so it ended up taking longer. In other cases, even though winds may be favorable, especially when travelling upwind, we’ve had to tack several times and ended up sailing a longer distance. And in other unfortunate cases, the winds were less favorable and we had to motor. While most sailboats can motor at 5 knots, I found that there is time spent between furling the jibs and lowering the main and vice versa which make it take longer. So for my planning, I use a conservative 4 knots speed and found this estimate to work well during my trips. A resource I found particularly helpful to get estimates on distances between popular destinations is https://nwcruising.net/ . I start with using these distances and with conservative speed of 4 knots along with the currents (speed and direction) to plan for sailing each day of the trip but I always use my charts and confirm the routes and distances I want to take when finalizing the sail plan.
Identify Plan B. Margaret Pommell, one of the awesome instructors at Seattle Sailing Club and a very inspiring sailor helped me understand the importance of having a plan B in the sail plan for each day to manage any unexpected delays, changes in weather conditions, lack of anchorages during busy times etc. So I always identify a few backup options for overnight stays and places where we could shelter along the route, if we encounter foul weather - this came in handy when I planned for anchoring at Patos Island on one trip and when I got there, it all the mooring buoys were taken and there were more boats anchored to make me consider my plan b option - Sucia Island. On the same trip, we ran into foul weather and fog on the last day coming down from Port Ludlow to Seattle and tucked into Apple Cove near Kingston briefly while we waited for the weather to clear up before continuing sailing to Seattle.
Make reservations at marinas and understand where the preferred anchoring spots are. During busy times and at popular marinas (e.g. holiday weekends at Roche Harbor), it can get difficult to secure slips at marinas at the last minute. Once I’ve outlined my sail plan, I try to make reservations at the marinas if I plan to dock. This ensures that I get the required shore power to recharge batteries/ refrigerate food etc and also plan refueling and pumpouts (though the latter two don’t require reservations). Prior to my trip or on the day of, I study the marina maps, look at photos and videos to familiarize myself with the marina and layout - this puts me a lot at ease and helps the crew get ready. I also read my cruising guides and try to talk to the harbormaster ahead of the trip to understand if there are tricky entrances or dangers we need to watch out for. Sometimes marinas can give the slip assignment well in advance but in other cases I need to radio as I’m approaching the marina. Several marinas now also use Dockwa for reservations which I found very handy. The more preparation I can do upfront, the better. In the same spirit, I try to look at satellite images of the spots where I plan to anchor and read the cruising guide to know in advance how many mooring buoys are there, where the depths are shallow, where there is exposure, and the dangers to watch out for. I also try to watch videos on YouTube for each anchorage spot, just so I can get familiar with the entrances and layouts ahead of time, especially when visiting a place for the first time. While mooring buoys are preferred, they are limited in number and if we want to snag a mooring buoy at a specific location, we typically try to arrive early in the afternoon (between 11 am - 1 pm), though we’ve had mixed luck at all times.
Meal planning. Food and drinks play a major role in the success of a sailing trip. When not sailing, you are most definitely relaxing with a drink and a hearty meal. With my crew’s help and inputs, I put together a meal plan to outline what we’d like to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. At first, we list out all the options and then iterate to plan what meals we eat each day. This is very helpful in planning for provisioning groceries, planning purchases (we also plan timing on purchases so dry items are purchased few days in advance and only perishables are left for last day or so), and preparing ahead of the trip. Check out my post on meal planning and provisioning for overnight trips to learn more.
Fishing/ crabbing. My husband likes to catch fresh crabs on our tips and we make sure that his crabbing licence is current and identify the days when we are allowed to go crabbing. It varies each year and by region so I highly recommend checking online. We also ensure that the tools and equipment we need for crabbing such as the crab pots, lines, buoys, cooking pans, cleaning tools etc. are ready to go.
Packing list. Nothing is more annoying than forgetting something essential such as a medicine or toothbrush or gloves and not having it when you need it on the trip. What’s more annoying is having to pay higher prices to purchase them at marinas or not being able to find what you need because the marina store is very small. We build our packing list along a few dimensions - we walk through what we would need in a day from the time we wake up to the time we sleep, we consider what we need in the head, galley, cabins, on shore, on boat and curate our list. We pay special attention to critical items such as medicines, gear (gloves, foul weather gear, waterproof shoes, sunglasses, hat etc.), and equipment (binoculars, chartbooks, first aid kit, safety harnesses, etc.). Having a packing list draft early helps reduce last minute stress and we try to keep the list updated with each trip. There are also online resources for packing lists but we’ve built ours with experience. Check out my post on packing list to learn more. If you see anything missing, please do let me know and i’ll be happy to add that.
Studying the boat manuals and pre-boarding the night prior to the charter start date. Since I don’t own my own boat, I typically charter and try a new boat each time. I always ask for the boat manual ahead of time and share it with my crew and ensure that we read it thoroughly. I’ve found it valuable to know details like optimal RPM for the engine, gotchas with the boat, where thing are stored, the amenities and electronics on the boat, and the specs. In addition, I try to pre-board the night prior to the start of the charter so we can load all the stuff on the boat and get settled. It has taken us an average of 3-4 hours each trip to get set up before and after our charter. I also ensure that the dinghy and grill are setup and the boat is functioning as expected (i.e. stove is working, fuel tank is full, fresh water tank is full, holding tank is empty etc.). I try to get set up the night prior so the next morning we can depart early in the morning and not be rushing early morning to load up and settle our things in the boat. There is an additional charge for the pre-board option in most cases, but it is well worth it.
There is a lot more that goes into preparing for a trip and I’ll continue documenting more. Check out the detailed posts as well if you are interested in learning more about each of these steps. As always, do write if you have any questions or comments and reach out with inputs / suggestions that have worked for you which I should include.
