A One Day Getaway to Whidby Island

A One Day Getaway to Whidby Island

There are a few islands in Puget Sound that are just an hour or so drive from Seattle and a ferry ride such at Bainbridge, Vashon, and Whidby islands. All of them are a great day trip. The Admiral and I both wanted to re-visit Whidby. We are nearing the time when we will be able to get away long enough to visit the San Juan's and there are two routes a vessel can take to get North of the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

As You can see the San Juan Islands are in the Far Northwest Corner of the U.S. The white line is the border with Canada. in the lower left hand corner (SE) of the picture is the North end of Whidby Island and Deception Pass. That is the eastern end of Strait of Juan De Fuca just South of the San Juans with Vancouver Island BC Canada to the West of the San Juans.

Whidby Island is the largest island in Puget Sound. Puget Sound ends at the North end of Whidby and at the Strait of Juan De Fuca, Some consider the San Juan's part of Puget Sound but they are not, they are part of the Salish Sea however. So as you can see from this Google map image there are two routes from the South Sound. On the West side of Whidby is Admiralty Inlet so Vessels choosing this route must cross the Strait of Juan De Fuca, which on many days can be a challenge due to wind, waves, and/or difficult weather. Or You can choose to navigate northward on the East Side of Whidby through Possession Sound and Saratoga Passage. If you choose this route then you have to go through Deception Pass which has it's own set of challenges.

Deception Pass with Whidby Island to the South and Fidalgo Island to the North. By using this pass you can avoid whatever conditions happen to be out in the Strait of Juan De Fuca whether your destination is North or South.  Shortly after emerging from the pass you are in the extreme Northeastern end of the Strait but it is a relatively short sail to get into the more protected waters of the San Juan's

So rather than take the Mulkilteo Ferry over to Whidby we drove about 2 hours to the North end of Whidby where you can take the Deception Pass Bridge onto the Island I knew about Deception Pass Marina on the East side of the pass where transiting boats overnight or hang out while waiting for a favorable tide to  navigate the pass. As you can tell from the pictures it was low tide when we arrived. It is ALWAYS good to check out a marina or anchorage at low tide, many hidden dangers are exposed and you can gain lots of local knowledge. I spoke with a person at the Marina and explained that we might be headed up here and inquired about waiting out the tide at the marina. She said Not For sailboats, the entrance  channel to the marina is to shallow. 

So she pointed me to a state park marina right next door that can accommodate sailboats or deeper draft vessels. 

Just watched as a sailboat raised their anchor and headed for the Pass.

There is one long dock and then there are some smaller floating docks that you can tie up to about 50 yards off, or you can just anchor. The park has rest rooms, and showers but no power on the docks.

So I checked my Tides app and as you can see is is just at the end of Ebb, A great time to navigate Deception Pass.

The Trawler on the left was the next vessel to depart and then we watched as several boats of all  sizes emerged out of Skagit Bay just to the East to transit the pass.

Looking West from the East side of the Pass That is Strawberry Island right/center

WE hiked down a paved lane in the state park to get a good look at the entrance from Skagit Bay, that is Skagit Island on the right and you can see there is not much water between the point and the island at low tide, this is why you Never cut corners when passing a point, they are almost always very shallow very far out. Often very large rocks are exposed and we saw a few along the shore here that would be completely covered by water at high tides just waiting for some vessel to take a short cut.

Then we drove over to the West side of the pass, you drive by Cranberry Lake to get to the beach.

That is Deception Island on the left, I see a sailboat that appears to be sailing between Deception Island and Fidalgo. I have read that it is best to navigate the South side of Deception Island so I am Keenly watching to see if he makes it through there. Looking at the charts there is plenty of depth there, perhaps it is a current issue?

There is a gull out there standing on a rock. You could see the rock when we drove over here but the tide is flooding so you can no longer see the rock, another reason you do not cut corners in any of these waters.

The view West with Deception Island on the right and the Southern end of the San Juan's in the background

Looking East, The pass narrows right at the bridge where you navigate Pass Island to the North. The Currents can easily run up to 8-9 knots or more. Only fast boats can chance navigating the pass with those currents, and you better know what your doing if so since there are lots of eddies spinning all along the pass and if you get turned broadside to the current by the swirling water then you have a big problem to solve. Since fast power boats are using lots of power to navigate the pass they are also throwing their own huge wakes so any boat transiting the opposite direction has that to deal with as well. 

The water at the entrance during flood tide is impossible to get a picture of but check out this video. See: https://youtu.be/TmvXoFai72s

For some reason this vessel elected to transit the pass after Flood tide had started, perhaps he was late getting to the pass and went for it anyway?  There are some places where you stay closer to shore to avoid the heavier current but this IS NOT the place to do that due to all the rocks and the eddies swirling about. He was to close to the shore as far as I was concerned and he was barely making any way (progress). Then he was driven broadside to the currant and he quickly lost control. He was able to reverse his engine and move away from shore, then he got his bow pointed properly and he was basically just going nowhere and moving slightly backwards. Finally he was able to overcome the current and moves ever so slowly forward. I do want to check this off the list but I will not enter this pass against the current at all. You have four chances everyday at slack tide so it is much better to just wait it out. Timing is everything here. Check out these YouTube videos:

1. https://youtu.be/BoDpSSKYrQ4

2. https://youtu.be/4B3sd0XRFBE

I am sure there are several more!!

The small power boat turned around when he saw the wake from the larger vessel coming at him. HE waited for the waters to calm and then navigated with the flood safely.

A great Hike on the West side of Whidby with awesome views.

Looking South, this is Admiralty Inlet, so if you choose this route the the Strait of Juan De Fuca is upo  here waiting on you

About a 4 hour crossing of the Straight in a sailboat, about 25 miles across so you want to have favorable conditions.

That is Protection Island
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_Island_National_Wildlife_Refuge

Just across Admiralty Inlet from Whidby is Port Townsend. It is a great place to overnight or hang out while waiting for favorable conditions for crossing the Straight of Juan De Fuca.

So this is what a 40' Sailboat looks like crossing the Straight of Juan De Fuca...Lots of WATER!

So after Deception Pass State Park and Ebys Landing we drove South to the Earth Sanctuary. All of these islands are Spiritual places and taking time to enjoy that side is another reason we like these day trips to PNW islands. So next is the Earth Sanctuary and Nature Reserve See: https://earthsanctuary.org/

We are at the center of the Labyrinth

There is a small creek running here so you can sit in this chair and enjoy the sounds of the forest.

Ong Namo Guru Dav Namo

Prayer Wheel

Glacial Eractic Boulder see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic

Departing Whidby at the Clinton Ferry, looking back at Whidby looks like several islands due to its many bays and ever changing shoreline. Whidby is so long ( 37 miles) that is has three separate micro climates. I have been told by a meteorologist that there are eleven different micro climates in the Sound.
Every island in the Pacific Northwest seems to have its own culture and unique personality. seems everyone has their favorite, not sure what ours is yet.