If the E-34 won't come to me....

Folks,
If the great Ericsons won't come to me here on the east coast, I have decided that maybe I should go to them. We are thinking of cashing out here in Maryland and moving to the San Juan islands or thereabouts. We are thinking about Anacortes or near there. Any folks here from that neck of the woods? If so I would love to hear about the sailing, or anything you have to pass on. Links or references to great places to live or just your thoughts.

Thanks!

Freeman

Welcome to the West Coast.

Hi Freeman,
The sailing is great in the Strait of Georgia just North of the San Juan Islands & if you come up to Canada you will find lots of your compatriots up here. Sailing 12 months of the year. The only ice is at the mouths of creeks where there is lots of fresh water & only for a few weeks some years. We live in Sechelt & keep our E-29 in Porpoise Bay north of the town & only had 1/4" of ice for about a week this winter & that was soon broken up, although we were not going sailing that week anyhow!
Yours truly, J.N.W.W.

How wide to draw the circle

Depending on how you draw your NW target circle....
The sailing is more limited here on the Columbia River, but the cash outlay to keep a boat here is also a lot less, too.
Cost of living is generally lower here, FWIW.
Admittedly, the sailing "up north" in Puget Sound is a lot more expansive. If there is any drawback to the NW at all, it's that the winds are often light in the summers.
We normally get an afternoon thermal that picks up to about 15 to 18, which is nice. Spring and fall feature a lot of light air...

Loren

Loren,
Coming from the ChesBay, light airs in summer will feel normal!

E-34 In the Heart of the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor

We've been sailing here for 29 years. We finally moved here about 10 years ago. There seems to be no end to the nooks and crannies to explore both in the U.S. and Canada. We seem to never grow tired of it. The sailing conditions are a mixed bag from calm seas and winds to reefed main, rail down! Good luck with your search.

Hi Freeman
I do not know much about the sailing yet but we did buy a second house for future retirement in Anacortes. We both really like the area. Most of the infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc. is new or rebuilt. My wife is not much into sailing, she wanted a place that was close enough to major cities to go for the big city life. We looked at the San Juans and after waiting 4 hours for a ferry to get back we decided on Anacortes since there is a couple of bridges for access. We may buy a slip in Skyline in the future if I am still into the larger boats. Currently we are living in Los Angeles with a minimum 45 drive to the marina to go sailing. Not many placed in Southern California to anchor out or explore. Don't get me started on the crowds in SoCal. I am really looking forward to exploring the area with all the small towns and anchorages. The real estate agent we found and did all the transactions through was wonderfull. She made looking and buying from 1800 miles away painless. She would look at properties as they came on the market for us and let us know if they would fit our needs. We did not even see the house we bought until the final inspection, I flew up and gave it the final OK, my wife did not see it for another 6 months. If you are at all considering Anacortes I am sure she would be glad to help, she has lived in the area her whole life so is a great resource. Let me know if you want her name and number.
Hope this helps,
Greg

hi freeman, I live in the south sound, light is common, but as others have mentioned you could sail for a zillion, yes a zillion, years and find something new to explore ect. Nic