When it comes to the weather, there are a few things any PNW dweller can count on: Expect rain anytime from October to June, and expect it to be bone dry for much of July through September.
Of course, there are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to weather forecasting. Even so, when I saw those little blue raindrops coming up in my favorite weather app, I was a little dubious: It’s summer, in the PNW. Just two weeks ago, we were roasting on the boat! It never rains here in July!!
Nevertheless, we woke up to the sound of raindrops on the deck above today, Monday, July 29. In our defense, we have every reason to be a little surprised. Historically, today is the most dependably dry day of the year in Seattle. We are in the San Juan Islands right now, of course, but usually we can count on it being dry this time of year, too.
It’s supposed to rain off-and-on most of the day. I may have to pull out some of my foul weather gear if I want to get a kayak or hike today.
That’s OK. The West needs moisture badly. While on the boat, we are far away from the many wildfires burning in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, we’ve been reading the headlines and have had some pretty hazy skies from time to time out here.
So we are taking advantage of the cooler, wetter weather to warm up the galley with some cooking and baking. The weather report promises this moisture will leave our area by Wednesday morning.
I sure hope it does, if only because I took all of my cool-weather sailing gear off the boat for the summer!
A view of Mt. Rainier from Penrose Point State Park, located in south Puget Sound.
We kicked off our Summer 2024 cruise with a July Fourth jaunt with the kids to Jarrell Cove. Now C and I are moseying our way up the entire length of Puget Sound.
That’s right, we are sailing from our home marina in Olympia, bound for Port Townsend. We’ll get there in a week or two … or three.
Then we’ll hop across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to tour the San Juans with the kids and some visiting family before pointing the bow south for Olympia again.
I’m looking forward to being in boat mode for the next six or so weeks. We often spend the fall and spring going between the boat and house, and while I’m glad we have the flexibility to be on the boat so much during the school year, the constant adjusting to two very different ways of living can be challenging for me.
So now that we are here, I can settle into the rhythms of boat life:
Waking up with the sunrise and going to bed with the sunset.
Planning my day based on the weather, the tides and the currents, instead of around appointments, school schedules and commutes.
Having less living space, which makes getting outside and moving around even more attractive than it already is.
Handwashing our dishes.
Getting my workouts on shore, on the kayak or on the foredeck, instead of the gym.
Having fewer clothes and no ready access to laundry facilities.
Being a lot more mindful about how much water we use and whether we need to use the Wi-Fi after we get done working, because it’s a bit of an energy hog.
There are about 2 miles of hiking trails at Penrose Point State Park.
Last summer, we did a five-week cruise into British Columbia, a goal of ours since before the pandemic. We ventured as far north as Desolation Sound, and spent a few days in the magical Princess Louisa Inlet. It was an unforgettable journey. We want to head that way again, and go further north. But doing that journey on a 39-foot sailboat with a tight time window was a bit grueling for me, especially because the wind never was going the right way for us. That meant many long days of motoring. That’s the way it goes, though, when you are still working, have kids and have other obligations that don’t allow us to just wait and go when the wind is right.
This summer we won’t go as far, and I’m excited to take a slower pace that might allow us to sail more. (That’s a maybe, the constant high pressure system that usually parks itself over the Pacific Northwest during the summer doesn’t create a lot of wind.)
And I’m excited to explore the Sound, from tip to tip (twice!) in a single summer.
S/V Polaris on a mooring ball in south Puget Sound
I’ve been sailing the American portion of the Salish Sea for 8 years now, and I’m not sure I will ever get sick of it. No matter where we go, there’s a good anchorage nearby with access to nearly everything a cruiser could want: You want seclusion, gorgeous landscapes, great hikes and tranquil waters? You got it. You need groceries, a good meal and a fun place to grab a drink? You got that, too.
Plus the chance to see orcas, whales, seals, sea lions, and a variety of birds along the way.
There are tradeoffs for all this, of course. The water is rarely, if never, warm enough to swim in (at least for me). And like I mentioned earlier, there often isn’t a lot of wind.
But last week, we enjoyed a gorgeous downwind sail to McMicken Island. And a recent record-breaking heat wave prompted C to don his snorkel and fins to jump in the water and view the critters along the beach at Penrose Point State Park.
So maybe, we really can have it all here in Puget Sound.
