The Pacific Northwest: Deception Pass to Desolation Sound

Destination Guide · Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest cruising ground is unusual in North American sailing in that it is genuinely, continuously protected water from one end to the other. The Inside Passage from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska is one of the great sailing routes on the continent, and the southern section of it — from Olympia, Washington to Desolation Sound in British Columbia — is the most accessible and most heavily cruised stretch. It is not tropical, not warm, and emphatically not forgiving of navigational overconfidence. But the scope of what is available to a reasonably competent sailor who makes the Pacific Northwest a summer destination is unlike anything on the East Coast.

The range is roughly 320 miles from Olympia to the Desolation Sound anchorages, not counting the detours into bays, inlets, and island clusters that constitute most of the reason to be here. The working route goes north through Puget Sound, through the San Juan Islands (or east of them via Deception Pass), across the US-Canada border, through the Gulf Islands, past Victoria, and up the east coast of Vancouver Island to Desolation Sound and beyond.

The Ferry Traffic Problem

Washington State Ferries operate throughout Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands on a schedule that is relentless and predictable — and that makes them manageable, once you have internalized the routes. The problem is their wake and their speed. A fully-loaded auto ferry making 18 knots produces a wake that, in confined channels, is a 3-foot standing wave. A small sailboat caught in a ferry wake at anchor or in a crossing is not in danger, but the boat and everything loose in it will know about it.

Stay well clear of ferry lanes, particularly in the San Juans. The active routes through San Juan Channel, Spieden Channel, and near Friday Harbor are continuous during operating hours. Monitor ferry schedules through the Washington State Ferries website, watch for ferry traffic on your chartplotter's AIS layer, and give a ferry underway the same berth you would give a commercial ship. They are maneuvered by professionals who have done this passage ten times today, but that is not the same as saying they are watching for you.

The San Juan Islands

The San Juans are the crown of Washington State sailing — an archipelago of 172 named islands (and many more unnamed rocks and reefs) spread between the mainland and Vancouver Island, with a combination of protected anchorages, working fishing ports, and scenery that does not get old. The currents run hard in the passes, orcas are a regular sighting, and the air smells of Douglas fir.

Roche Harbor on San Juan Island's northwest end is the organizational hub: a full-service resort marina with fuel, provisions, a restaurant, and the customs dock for boats returning from Canada. The Saturday evening flag ceremony at Roche Harbor — a resort tradition involving the lowering of the US, Canadian, and British flags at sunset to the accompaniment of recorded music — is either charming or slightly peculiar depending on your disposition, but it has been happening since the resort's early days and the cruising community regards it as part of the fabric of the place.

Stuart Island, reachable from Roche Harbor in a short sail, has two anchorages — Prevost Harbor and Reid Harbor — separated by a hiking trail across the island. Stuart has no permanent residents, a one-room schoolhouse that serves the children of the few seasonal inhabitants, and the kind of quietness that makes it a regular destination for boats that want to get away from the marina.

Sucia Island, in the northern San Juans east of Orcas Island, is a Washington State Marine Park with multiple anchorages and significant protection from multiple weather directions. The sandstone formations on the island's north shore are unlike anything else in the San Juans, sculpted by erosion into shapes that are worth walking over to see. Fossil Bay, the main anchorage, can hold dozens of boats; on summer weekends it often does.

Crossing Into Canada

US-flagged boats entering Canadian waters must clear customs upon arrival. The two most-used formal check-in points for boats coming from the San Juans are Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island and the marinas in Sidney, BC, both of which have CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) facilities. The process is straightforward — you tie up, call the CBSA number listed on a sign at the dock, provide crew information, answer a few questions, and receive a clearance number. Keep the number; you will need it if asked.

The CBSA ArriveCAN app has simplified the process for some boats, but reception in the islands is not reliable, and calling ahead by phone remains the dependable option. Dogs and firearms require specific documentation and declaration — if you have either, research the requirements before the crossing. Firearms aboard a recreational vessel in Canada are legal but regulated; the rules are specific and worth reading.

Desolation Sound

Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park is at the top of most Pacific Northwest cruisers' lists, and the name is a navigational joke — it is one of the most beautiful anchorage systems in North America. The park covers the maze of inlets, bays, and islands at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia where BC's coastal mountains meet the sea. The surface water, warmed by the enclosed bays and the summer sun, reaches 75–80°F in the height of summer — warm enough for serious swimming, which is remarkable for a body of water in the Pacific Northwest.

The anchorages — Prideaux Haven, Tenedos Bay, Roscoe Bay, Laura Cove — are deep in places, requiring long scope or stern-tying to the shore (the BC coast tie-up technique, with a line ashore to a tree or rock, is the standard in these narrow inlets). Prawn traps set in the deep water off the anchorages produce prawns that are pulled in the morning and eaten that evening, which is the right way to do it. There are no roads in. There is no cell service except from boat-mounted antennas. Supply runs require a day-trip by water.

Weather North of Victoria

The weather character changes noticeably as you move north of Victoria and into the Strait of Georgia. The Pacific fog that produces classic Puget Sound June mornings — dense, gray, burning off by 10 or 11 am — gives way to the BC coastal fog pattern, which burns off less reliably and can persist through the afternoon in certain conditions. By the time you reach Campbell River and the northern end of the Strait of Georgia, the daily pattern is less predictable and the forecasts are more local. The Environment Canada weather forecasts on VHF Wx Ch 21B are the standard tool from the border north.

Provisioning for the North End Run

Sidney, BC is the standard provisioning stop for boats entering Canada from the south — a solid grocery store, a chandlery, fuel, and the customs facilities. For boats pushing north toward Desolation Sound and beyond, Sidney is where you load up for the first serious stretch. Campbell River, at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia, is the last major provisioning stop before the trip north through Discovery Passage toward the Broughtons or Southeast Alaska. Port McNeill, on the north end of Vancouver Island, is the last fuel and provisioning stop before the Queen Charlotte Strait crossing, which is the gateway to the more serious wilderness cruising to the north and ultimately Southeast Alaska.

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