“Book a Cruise Aboard the S/V Finnessa for the Adventure of a Lifetime”
Choose Island Passages Sailing for your San Juan Islands Cruise vacation. We offer all-inclusive charters based out of Anacortes, Washington. All of our charters are sole bookings meaning you have the yacht with crew to yourselves. We sail with parties of two to six guests. Local northwest produce and seafood allow us to craft fresh meals based on your personal food preferences with special dietary needs gladly accommodated. Your San Juan Islands cruise is based on what you want to see and do on your vacation. Your charter booking can be as short as two days. However, there is so much to see and do that even a seven day charter will have you coming back again for more. The charters begin at noon on your first day and end at noon on your last day with each day being a full 24 hours.
We think Cypress Island’s Eagle Harbor is a great first stop on your San Juan Islands cruise. To reach it, we head north from Anacortes to Samish Bay where we shake out the sails and teach you the basics of tacking. You are welcome to participate as much or as little as you like in the actual sailing. You may also take American Sailing Association lessons leading to bareboat charter certification at no additional charge other than books, testing and ASA membership. Once into Eagle Harbor, you can be ferried ashore for a hike in the forest, kayak in one of our solo boats, or just relax and enjoy the beauty of the bay with Mt. Baker to the east. Keep your eyes peeled for eagles, osprey, Minke whales, seals and other wild life. Hors d’oeuvres are served in the cockpit to take the edge off your hunger before a great evening meal.
On our second day, we sail across Rosario Strait where oil tankers from Alaska head north to the Cherry Point refinery which is just south of Birch Bay on the mainland. Cherry Point is the largest refinery in Washington State. Once across, we can head into the heart of the San Juan Islands, perhaps visiting Orcas Island’s Eastsound, Westsound or Deer Harbor, making a lunch stop at Blind Bay on Shaw Island. We may make a stop at Roche Harbor on San Juan Island on day three to visit the historic McMillan family mausoleum and the lime kilns. The night could be spent at Garrison Bay where a trip ashore is rich with history at English Camp established in 1872 during the famous Pig War which led to the San Juans becoming part of the US. From here, we head down San Juan Island to prime Orca whale territory past Lime Kiln Point to the southern end of the San Juan Archipelago.
A sail over to Aleck Bay on Lopez Island for the night with the next day exploring the passages between Decatur and Lopez Islands leads to spending the following night at Spencer Spit. We may decide instead to visit Friday Harbor for the art galleries/souvenir shopping and settle for the night at Parks Bay just across San Juan Channel. In the morning, we can sail along the south end of Shaw Island and up to Rosario Resort for the night. Here, we visit ashore to hear the famous Moran pipe organ recital and slide show explaining the development of this historic place. Rosario has a spa and swimming pools available for our use.
Perhaps instead of going south, we will decide to go north to Stuart Island’s Prevost Harbor, sailing past Turn Point Lighthouse. Prevost Harbor has great walking with country roads to the historic school and Turn Point Lighthouse. The Orca whales are often sighted in this area. Canada is only 5 miles away at this point. The next day, we can continue our northern route past Patos Island with its lighthouse which is the northernmost one in the United States. If we are lucky, we can grab a mooring for a shore visit with great tide pools to explore or a forest walk with distant vistas of Vancouver 30 miles away.
Sucia Island is our next destination with Echo Bay the primary anchorage. Kayak through the narrow passages while exploring up close the sculpted sandstone outcroppings for which Sucia is famous. Ashore, there are miles of trails from all the anchorages crisscrossing the island, taking you from the quarry on the south past China Garden on the west central part of the island all the way to the northeast and ending at Ewing Cove.
Across from Sucia is Matia Island which has, like Patos Island, limited accessibility. If lucky enough, we can go ashore where we will walk through the forest looking for remnants of the hermit who lived here in the early 1900’s. The lovely Matia is a bird sanctuary except for the trail through the western end. We leave the northern San Juan’s behind as we head southeast once again crossing Rosario Strait on our way back to Anacortes and, sadly, the end of your week with us.
There are many routes through the San Juans leading to new places each day. You will want to come back again and again to explore all corners of this great archipelago.
