201 Simmons St. NW
Olympia
Cruising to Desolation Sound and Beyond: Jim and Dee Larsen
It was probably 10 years ago that Dee Ann and I were sitting on the beach at Fort Worden State Park. We watched with envy and admiration as several sailboats cruised out of Port Townsend and disappeared north into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We looked at each other and both agreed that someday that would be us. And the first few times we crossed the strait, it felt like stepping off the planet into a great adventure. The strait was one of those intimidating barriers that we wanted to learn how to tame so that we could expand our cruising horizons.
I have been a dinghy sailor and a windsurfer most of my life, and in recent years we have taken to cruising. Dee has learned to sail, and it is now our favorite way to spend time together. We came to this point through many incremental steps. We stepped through several boats, starting at 16 feet and ending at 36. When we started cruising, we went from dock to dock. Then we learned how to catch a buoy, which meant we could now go to more than two places! Once we gained confidence in our ability to set an anchor, we had no limits on where we could go or how long we could stay out.
We have taken similar incremental steps as we explored further and further from Olympia. First we cruised the South Sound. Then we got real adventurous and went under the Narrows Bridge to explore the central sound. And then one day we found ourselves back in Port Townsend, sitting on the deck at Siren’s Bar and looking out at our boat anchored in the bay, knowing that we were about to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The progression continued from cruising the San Juan Islands, to the Gulf Islands of Canada, to cruising the Straits of Georgia, Desolation Sound, and the Discovery Islands. Our latest achievement in 2022 was mastering the tidal rapids of the inside passage and cruising north to the Broughton Islands and Queen Charlotte Strait.
In our presentation to the club, we want to show you some of the highlights from the trip and discuss some of the different skill sets we had to master over the years to feel safe and confident in our adventure cruising. I will show you our favorite routes to the San Juan Islands, to Desolation Sound, and our route to the Broughton Islands. We can discuss how we prepared the boat and the galley for a 12-week trip. And I will discuss the three books every cruiser should have on board in the Salish Sea.
There are many seasoned sailors in the club who made this trip before we did, and we learned to call on them for their experience and advice. Our experiences cruising with the South Sound Sailing Society and the friends we made here definitely contributed to the success of this recent journey.
Meeting Details
The meeting will be in-person at the Olympia Yacht Club located at 201 Simmons St. NW. We will have a Zoom option only if the COVID-19 infection rate increases
Doors will open at 6:30 pm and the meeting will begin at 7:00 pm. The meeting is open to both members and non-members, so invite your crew, dock mates, neighbors, and others who are interested in sailing.
Non-OYC members may park in the parking lot on the corner of Simmons and 4th Ave, which is to the west of the Oyster House.
Jim Larsen
SSSS Cruising Chair
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