Re San Juans, the only experience I have so far is a three night trip with a friend on his Ranger 20 some years ago. We launched at Washington Park boat launch, west end of Anacortes area. Went north along the east side of Cypress Island, to public moorings in a small bay inside the north end of Cypress Head. IIRC they are free moorings, but first come first serve and there's only three there I think. However there are various other anchorages around the island. We went shortly after Labor day, and during the week, so the summer crowds and early fall weekenders were not there. This is an important strategy in most of the islands from what I've heard about summer crowds. We used that mooring two nights. There are some nice hiking trails on Cypress island and except for one small area around Secret Harbor no roads, houses, etc. A couple lakes can be hiked to, I swam in one, some nice overlooks on the trails too. My friend camped ashore at the Cypress Head campground (boat in only), that's one reason we moored there, he has some claustrophobia so did not sleep well in his boat. Sailed around the island one afternoon, saw Orcas in Rosario Strait around the west side. Went pretty close around Strawberry Island (just off Strawberry Bay, SE quadrant). Third night was at James Island (marine state park) where there's also some moorings in the cove on the east side, and a dock in the cove on the west side, and camping ashore. A small island, but pretty, nice to walk around, the cove on the west side has some dramatic cliffs both ends of the beach. Also a kayak water trail camp area accessed from the west cove beach. Then back to Washington boat launch fourth day. Had great weather, mild, sunny, fog one morning until noon or so but we went hiking on the island then anyhow. Not a lot of great sailing wind but enough to make it worthwhile. Had to motor back on the final morning though as it was gorgeous but glassy. South facing bays are exposed to wake from heavy ferry traffic passing south of the island...not preferable anchorages. Saw some interesting other boaters...at James Island, two guys each with a Hobie Adventure Island tandem, pedal drive and sails as usual but they also both had 2.5 hp Suzuki outboards! On one of the other moorings inside north Cypress Head was a Great Pelican (https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/great-pelican). It never went anywhere the whole time we were there. We saw a burly, bewhiskered guy with a sailor's cap (just what I'd imagine a Great Pelican owner to look like :-) from time to time lounging in the cockpit or standing in companionway leaning on cabin roof, apparently just taking in the scenery. Zero other activity. IIRC he didn't have a dinghy with either. Our best guess was that he was just spending some lovely early fall days doing nothing but relaxing and blissing out on his boat. I've also been up around Cortes Island in the Canadian gulf islands several times. Kayaking, not sailing, so far. But I did get some good beta from the camp ground host at the Smelt Bay provincial campground there (he's been there for decades, local born & raised). Turns out he has a pocket cruiser himself for days off. As is well known, the high summer season in San Juans as well as southern gulf islands is both crowded (in the well known/popular areas at least), and often poor sailing due to light or no winds. He told me the shoulder seasons are much better. No crowds, to start with. It's cooler and some showers more likely in May but better sailing weather. Likewise better sailing in September, often stays mild & mostly dry well after Labor day, and can be good into early October some years. cheers, John On 1/19/23 14:03, Gerald Wyatt wrote:
Hi there,
I was hoping that someone would be willing to share their itinerary and favorite spots for a sailing adventure in the San Juan Islands. I know many of you have made that trip. It would help me a lot in planning my first trip.
I emailed a while back about a damaged M23 mast and wanted to provide an update.
The adventure to resolve the insurance claim took about 2 months. When you create a boat policy, you establish an agreed value. Unfortunately, the agreed value doesn't mean much when it comes to whether or not the insurance company will perform repairs on your boat.
I have Progressive insurance. The insurance company first performs their own evaluation of your boat's worth. In my case, they found one "comparable" boat, a San Juan 23. They used the value of that boat to assign a value of $5,500 to my M23. Quite frankly, I found this to be offensive. I worked hard to find my own documents to establish a higher worth. I used the survey I had performed on the boat just prior to when I bought it, numbers from the sale of an actual M23, and the opinion of a yacht salesman. These documents established a value of $12K to $15K.
They then determine the repair cost. They determined the mast replacement would be between $10K and $12K if I took it to a boat yard. Because the repair cost was substantially higher than then the "value" of the boat, they deemed the boat to be a total loss. I once again fought to find a lower repair cost. I used Gary's advice and contacted Buzz at Ballenger Spars. We determined that if I transported the mast myself by towing the boat to his shop, the cost of repair would be about $5500. He sent me a quote and I forwarded it on to the insurance company. I thought this was a big win! I had provided a higher value and lower repair cost. None of this was considered by the insurance company. They still deemed the boat a total loss.
This is where the agreed value comes into play. They give you a choice of handing your boat over and getting the full agreed value or keeping the boat and getting the agreed value less the salvage value. My understanding was that if I kept the boat, I would be forced to get a salvage title. This would result in no longer being able to get collision and comprehensive coverage and also, not being able to sell the boat for any kind of reasonable amount.
I was about to cancel the claim completely and pay for the repairs myself when the insurance company found that in Washington State, if the "value" of the boat is determined to be less than $10K, they state doesn't issue a salvage title.
After lots of verification and phone calls, we decided to take the payment and keep the boat. Since no salvage title is required, we can use the money to get the boat fixed, have it surveyed and deemed seaworthy and then the boat can be re-insured.
So....I'll be able to repair the mast and come away with a PROFIT! I just don't get it....Maybe I'll buy a new outboard.
Thanks to all those that provided support and suggestions. It turns out that Buzz at Ballenger Spars is the guy all the boat yards in the Pacific Northwest use to have their masts built. I contacted two other boat yards in addition to Buzz. He told me that both of them reached out to him.
There you go....Buzz is the guy on the west coast. The M23 mast is quite large. Substantially larger than the M17 mast. I couldn't see any kind of easy way to do this job myself.
Gerry
On Sun, Jan 1, 2023 at 7:00 AM Jim Sadler <jimsadler@jascopacific.com> wrote:
Have any of you skippers used hf ham radio on M15? I have 20 w G90 and would like to work 10 m at sea. What have you rigged for antenna?
Capt Jim K6OFE (73) SV Pelican
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