We set off for La Conner yesterday just after noon. Heading from our slip into Lake Washington I decided to keep us at a very gentle 7 knots all the way until the Montlake Cut where we’d, essentially, have to remain at a no-wake speed (which for us is 5-6 knots) until we reached the locks. Going slow gave us time to prepare our cabin for our first multi-night cruise into the San Juan Islands.

We reached the locks on schedule and had only a slight delay until the small lock cleared. This gave us a chance to engage Skyhook which uses GPS and the two independently controlled I/O drives to keep the LAIKA in place. Since our boat was named after our dog, Laika, I like to call this feature “Sit, Stay.” It’s a virtual anchor and it works beautifully, with an accuracy of about 9 feet in any direction (which also means it shouldn’t be engaged closed to a stationary object, like a dock).

Once we turned North past Shilshoe Marina we kicked the engines into high gear and reached plane pretty quickly. For us that means we’re running about 3800 rpm and burning 24 gph. But, we’re moving fast – approximately 25 knots. Small, high frequency waves pass gently under our hull.

We changed our VHF radio from 16 to the weather channel to get a forcast of wind and wave activity. Reports suggested no small craft advisories. Our route to La Conner took us past Everett into Possession Sound, left past Gedney Island and around the West side of Camino (the only way), then unto Skagit Bay. You can view our approximate course through Google Earth with this file.

Most of the way we met relatively smooth water and the LAIKA skimmed beautifully toward our destination. For the first time, we activated the Garmin 740s’ ability to send turn-by-turn navigation sentences (directions) to our boat’s Axius and Vessel View system – essentially delivering an auto-pilot capability. While we had utilized an auto-heading feature many times, this was the first time we’d have the chartplotter’s course directing the boat.

For safety reasons the Axius will request acknowledgement before any new turn is executed when a waypoint is reached. The first time we said “ok” we were surprised by a semi-aggressive, Miami-Vice-like turn that had us going “hold on!” After all, we were traveling at 25 knots. We discovered two things. The first is that the Axius will break down sharp turns into a series of smaller turns. After a few of these we became quite comfortable with how it was executing its turns. The second thing we learned was that it was important to very accurately chart our course and avoid dramatic directional changes.

We arrived at the Western head of the Swinomish Channel and started paying extra attention to our position and the charts. According to our boating insurance agent, this area is known as the million dollar mile because of its very shallow and narrow area and two long reefs that jut out from the shore all the way to the markers sitting almost 2nm into the Bay. Boating in a hurry will take shortcuts and, invariably, end up requiring Vessel Assist after a grounding. We were determined not be a statistic!

We arrived into the marina at La Conner around 3:30pm and were met by eager dock attendants that helped us tie up. They gave us a “goodie” bag that had useful information including local current and tide information, and a map of the town. By the time we left the boat it was almost 5pm and stores were beginning to close. We did, though, find a few that were opened. I assumed my normal “bench” position while the rest of the crew shopped. Note: I suspect that within about 24-48 hours I’ll start using “boating” lingo in these posts and refer to my spouse as the “Admiral.”

For dinner we went to Nell Thorn and had a fabulous meal. Highly recommended. Pleasant, attentive staff and delicious, well prepared food. Fresh Link Cod and locally grown vegetables accompanied by a Prosecco and, later, Port.

Our first night aboard for this trip (and our second night ever on the LAIKA) was uneventful and more pleasant than the first time. We were more comfortable with our boat and had brought from home an unused memory-foam mattress that made the master bed even more comfortable. We all slept well.

Day two will take us to Roche Harbor through the North end of Swinomish Channel. Here’s our planned route as seen with Google Earth.