San Juan Sailing & Yachting

Boating with the Orcas

2011-10-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Photos taken by Alex, while out in the San Juan Islands last month. A highlight for many of our guests!

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

2011-10-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Roger & Marlene Van Dyken, the owners of San Juan Sailing, are currently in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. We have a new boat joining us in the fleet, and they are delivering it from Virginia to Florida (where it is getting shipped over to us on the west coast). As I was doing some research on the waterway, I came across the following video. It is an 80' boat going under a 65' bridge...I hold my breath every time I watch it!

Spring Charter

2011-06-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Our Spring went by so quickly! But, that didn't stop our lovely guests from taking advantage of the wonder that the San Juan Islands provided. Roger & Diane shared a little bit of their experience with us:

"We had a great time, thank you for the tremendous service you provide. The pre-sail checkout, daily check off list, contact numbers, marina information...The boat was well equipped, and in good shape..."

Thank you Roger & Diane for being our guests and for sharing your pictures with us!

Women's Weekend

2011-05-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Our Annual Women's Weekend to Friday Harbor was May 14-15 this year (with another option June 4-5!). The ladies had a wonderful time, thanks to food provided by Coho Restaurant and the Doctor's Office! Two full days of sailing, and an evening of full bellies! Thank you for a wonderful weekend, full of wind, laughter, and joy!

In Sailor Terms...

2011-04-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

New terms for old sailing terms. We enjoyed a good laugh, hope you do as well! Cheers to the 2011 Sailing Season!

Amidships: condition of being surrounded by boats.

Anchor: a device designed to bring up mud samples from the bottom at inopportune or unexpected times.

Anchor Light: a small light used to discharge the battery before daylight

Bare Boat: Clothing Optional.
Berth: a little addition to the crew.

Boat ownership:Standing fully-clothed under a cold shower, tearing up 100-dollar bills

Boom: sometimes the result of a surprise jibe

Bottom Paint: what you get when the cockpit seats are freshly painted

Chart: a type of map which tells you exactly where you are aground.
Clew: an indication from the skipper as to what he might do next

Course: The direction in which a skipper wishes to steer his boat and from which the wind is blowing. Also, the language that results by not being able to.
Cruising: Fixing your boat in exotic locations.
Crew: Heavy, stationary objects used on shipboard to hold down charts, anchor cushions in place and dampen sudden movements of the boom.
Current: Tidal flow that carries a boat away from its desire destination, or towards a hazard.
Dead Reckoning: a course leading directly to a reef.

Deviation: any departure from the Captain’s orders.

Dinghy: the sound of the ship’s bell.

Displacement: when you dock your boat and can’t find it later.

Estimated Position: a place you have marked on the chart where you are sure you are not.

First Mate: crew member necessary for skippers to practice shouting instructions to.

Flashlight : Tubular metal container used on shipboard for storing dead batteries prior to their disposal.

Freeboard: food and liquor supplied by the owner.

Gybe: A common way to get unruly guests off your boat.

Headway: what you are making if you can’t get the toilet to work.

Head up - Leaving the boat toilet seat up. When boat skipper is female, leaving the head up is a serious offense.

Jack Lines: `Hey baby, want to go sailing?'

Jibe: either you like it or you don’t and it gets you.

Keel: term used by 1st mate after too much heel by skipper.

Ketch: A sailboat with good wine in the cabin.

Landlubber: anyone on board who wishes he were not.

Latitude: the number of degrees off course allowed a guest.

Mast: religious ritual used before setting sail.

Mizzen: an object you can’t find.

Sailing: The fine art of getting wet and becoming ill, while going nowhere slowly at great expense.

Schooner: A sailboat with a fully stocked liquor cabinet in the cabin.

Sheet: cool, damp, salty night covering

Shroud: equipment used in connection with a wake.

Starboard : special board used by skippers for navigation (usually with "Port" on the opposite side.)

Swell : a wave that’s just great.

Square Rigger: a rigger over 30

Sloop: A sailboat with beer and/or wine in the cabin.

Tack: A maneuver the skipper uses when telling the crew what they did wrong without getting them mad.

Caribbean Course

2011-03-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

We kicked off the season with our first class of 2011. Since February is a little chilly around here, we sent our classes down to the British Virgin Islands, where we filled three boats with eager students.

We were a little worried about everyone's flights, as there were many closures throughout the US due to snow. Luckily, all the students and instructors made it safely to the sunshine!

Hope's first time sailing, and she is loving it!

One class exploring the baths in Virgin Gorda.

I spot a rainbow!

Yum!!

"The highlight of the trip for me was swimming with some dolphins that came into Diamond Cay on Jost Van Dyke on Saturday morning March 5th. The group of them were first spotted by our flotilla-mates on Vive la Liberte and they eventually made their way right up to our boat. Walt got some video footage, but then they just kept hanging around, so he and I decided to get into the water with them. They swam within a few feet of us and looked right at us in our masks and snorkels! The group included a mother and her calf. They were beautiful animals to see up close; an unforgettable experience!" - Brian (pictured above with Jenn)

Catch the Sailing Fever

2010-09-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing- absolutely nothing-
half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."

-Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Grahame's beloved 1908
classic, The Wind in the Willows.

Tim, Andy, Jeff and Nancy, jumped on the boat Just Fiddlin' with Captain Chris Rundlett for a week of learning, adventure, navigating, and sailing. Tim (student) showed up after receiving the week-long class as a gift from his fiance' for a (I wont tell which year) birthday gift. Tim and his fiance' are currently on a trek around the continent in their van. You can find their blog here (you will enjoy reading about the adventures!): http://everyday.bechelbronn.com/

We find many student get off the boat at the end of the week in an excited daze. I think Tim accurately exclaims in his blog the feeling that one gets from sailing:

"That evening we dropped our first anchor in Echo Bay on Sucia Island to a perfect sunset. The fever was lit!" (Tim, pictured below)

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

Chris (instructor) makes sure that each student achieves the goal they came here for--keeping dialogue with each student and challenging them each day to push their skills to the next level. You can see from the picture below he really had things in line (pun intended).

"Every day of this trip is busy with class, experiential learning, exploring islands, cooking, cleaning and sleeping." (Tim)

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

At the end of this intense week of learning, fun, and great winds, the crew took a hike to celebrate their new skills.

"We loaded some beers in the backpack and climbed about a thousand vertical feet over 1.3 miles up to the cliffs. The view was more than I expected! It was a classic panaroma of all the islands of the San Juan to the west and south of us. It was about 6pm when we reached the summit and I hadn’t brought my camera. The sunset was obviously going to be photo-worthy so Andy and I trekked it back down to the shore, across the water in the dinghy and grabbed the camera, snacks and more beer. Nancy, Jeff and Chris stayed and chatted while Andy and I hustled to make it back to the top just in time for sunset photos!"

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

Some photography dessert for you:
(All photos by Tim Bradshaw)

Free Willy?

2010-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

The Keiper Family returned from a week out in the San Juan Islands claiming to us, the staff, to have a "surprise picture." Even though we tried some coaxing, we weren't allowed to see this surprise until a bit later. After much anticipation, we finally received the e-mail from them with this beautiful breeching orca! As far as I know, the whale was not named by the Keipers, but it seems very reminiscent to me of a movie I saw once...

Other guests that have gone out during the month of June have come back with fun pictures of their own. Below you can see Juergen and Brittany enjoy a week with one of our fine (not to brag) instructors, Mike Anderson.

Yes, that is a real starfish on his head!

We are looking forward to seeing Juergen again this fall, in addition to both students, David and Craig (below). All three are returning to enjoy our Pacific Northwest Fall.

Here you can see all the Learn-n-Cruise students, accompanied by instructor, Leslie Senn. David commented, "We learned a lot and had a good time doing it. Our sail boat was first class and we thought highly of our instructor, Leslie."

Thank you David! We look forward to seeing you in a couple months for another adventure!

[Stay tuned for pictures from the ASA San Juan and Gulf Island Flotillas.]

Journey From Alaska

2010-06-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

"Ships are the nearest thing to dreams that hands have ever made."
-Robert N. Rose

Recently two of San Juan Sailing's vessels, First Kiss and Misty Blue Yonder, took sailors on adventures up north. Misty Blue Yonder and her crew journeyed on a circumnavigation route around Vancouver Island. Meanwhile, First Kiss ascended to Alaska before returning to Bellingham Bay.

The company that elected to enjoy these expeditions was Peak Teams. You can find more information about what they do here: http://www.peakteams.com/

In addition to the inspiring photos taken by Peak Teams, two of the skippers took some breath-taking pictures themselves. Tim Hoving and Mike Huston were aboard First Kiss on the adventure from Ketchican to Bellingham. You can see below a glimpse of their experience, in addition to their own narrative.

May 21st, 11:20 – Dropped anchor in cove just west of Deception Pt. as we needed to stall for about an hour and half to let the current settle in Wrangell Narrows. We had looked at the current tables for the narrows to judge when to enter but at the north end. What we discovered as we did more research this morning was that the current enters from both ends, so what we faced was a 4 kt current fighting us; thus the wait for the current to slack off some. At some lunch and rigged the dinghy for Peak Teams folks to take pictures from it as we passed through the narrows. Also Dan decides to try diving off spreader so he put on a wet suit and headed up on the boson’s car. He did the jump with a flip thrown in for good measure.

May 22nd, 15:45 – Reached as far into Tracy Arm as we can, the ice has gotten too thick. We can see the glacier but are still about two miles from it. The vistas on the way into to this place are breath taking – this is Princess Louisa times 100. It just goes on and on for miles. The pictures we got tellit best. Getting in required driving at slow speed and winding around bergs for the last half hour or more. Pulled up to an iceberg and chipped off some ice – I mixed some with a dram of Scotch and toasted Mother Nature; I’m very thankful for the chance to see this in such great weather –fabulous.

May 23rd, 22:20 – During dinner Rex and Dan told us about their time on shore waiting for the chopper. They landed the dinghy on shore and unloaded their gear before taking a walk around. Within a minute they came across a mother grizzly with four cubs. However they originally thought they were black bears so did not worry too much about them. They went back to their camp and worked on their cameras for a few minutes. Then they noticed the mother grizzly coming out of the brush straight at them. Rex grabbed the air horn we had given them and ran at her blasting it; fortunately she turned and disappeared. These were the same bears we spotted on the shore as we anchored.

What The Wind Brought In This Week

2010-05-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the ship that will cross the sea,
We plant the mast to carry the sails,
We plant the planks to withstand the gales-
The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee-
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.

-Abbey, Henry; 1842-1911

Lady Washington & Hawaiian Chieftain

http://www.historicalseaport.org/web/index.html

To our surprise and delight, the wind carried into Squalicum Harbor this week the beautiful Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain. They will be here from May 5-17, then heading down to Port Angeles. They will be performing Battle Sails and Adventure Sails during their time here. Head down to the Harbor and check them out, or view the website to get tickets and be a part of the action!

This week's Learn-N-Cruise blew back in Friday afternoon with it's 5 man crew. After experiencing great winds and full days, the students claimed to have a great week, excited about their favorite spots: Shaw and Cypress Island.

Here the students are, unloading food and belongings from their boat. With a rare 5 man class, we were surprised to see extra food being unloaded!

Labor Day Learn-n-Cruise

2009-09-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

After some high winds on Labor Day weekend, lighter 20 knot winds followed through the week, filling the sails of our week-long classes. Captain Leslie Senn and students enjoyed time in the San Juan Islands. They spotted some orca whales along the way, along with other wildlife. Student Greg Clark took wonderful photos of his experience (see below).