As a devoted summer camp kid growing up in Minnesota, I can easily recall every sensory input—scents, sounds, and sights—that instinctively readied me for my annual journey to the northwoods and border lakes. Decades later on the shores of Puget Sound, it’s a different seasonal northward call, but it’s similarly powerful.
June is a month of action for some sizable and ambitious contingents of the Pacific Northwest boating community. Whereas those taking the “Big Left Turn” south often circle August as go-time; if you’re headed north, especially far north, you’ve got to be underway in June or you’re likely to miss this year’s reasonable window for a round-trip to Southeast Alaska via the Inside Passage. For those who prize flexibility and want to see as much as possible along the way, June might even feel on the late side—but it’s the most common departure month for northbound Salish Sea sailors by a fairly wide margin. The combination of daylight hours, increasingly warm and dry weather, and the time to get north, explore while you’re there, and return safely home validates the conventional wisdom.
Of course, cruising north isn’t the only way mariners will traverse these wondrous waterways this month. After its first off-year of the new every-other-year schedule, Race to Alaska (R2AK) is making its triumphant return to the Inside Passage, starting June 14. If registrations are any indication, the draw to this year’s R2AK will be strong. I know I’m feeling it—there’s a community-wide electricity with so many more sailors and boats undertaking this massive engineless adventure to parts north than ever before.
The dream of Alaska is alluring, whether you’re racing there or cruising. However, I frequently encounter friends and cruisers who talk about what they’re doing now that they’ve decided Alaska is not going to work this year. And as you know, that’s hardly a compromise. Whether your bearings point you in the direction of the San Juan and Gulf islands for a few sublime summer weeks, or perhaps Desolation Sound or the Octopus Islands; the Broughton Archipelago or a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island; on a transit to Haida Gwaii or meandering through the infinite coves and fjords of the Central and North Coast of British Columbia—none of it is Alaska, but every single possibility makes a PNW boat-nut swoon.
With springtime weather fluctuations on the wane and the solstice on the horizon, if there was ever a time to go north, this is it. And in this month’s potpourri of editorial content, you’ll find a number of nods to northbounders: hikes to hit in the San Juans if you’re passing through (page 24), some thoughtful digital resources (tidal tools on page 22 and advice about a digital spares kit on page 32), as well as some worthy food for thought about the risks and occasional rewards of schedules and deadlines for cruisers (page 28).
Here at 48° North, we make a concerted effort to honor the unsung and unambiguously great cruising found in south Puget Sound, but there’s no mistaking it—the cruising “headliners” tend to be north of my editor’s desk in the Central Sound. This June, when so many compasses will be pointed at 0°, I too sense the northward pull. And until I’m able to cast off docklines a little later this season, I hope you’ll join me in cheering on all of our friends, neighbors, and fellow community members who, one way or another, are chasing big dreams in the water-wilderness that lies to the north. Cheers to your safe and happy passages!
Joe Cline
Joe Cline has been the Managing Editor of 48° North since 2014. From his career to his volunteer leadership in the marine industry, from racing sailboats large and small to his discovery of Pacific Northwest cruising —Joe is as sail-smitten as they come. Joe and his wife, Kaylin, have welcomed a couple of beautiful kiddos in the last few years, and he is enjoying fatherhood while still finding time to make a little music and even occasionally go sailing.
