Anacortes marinas

[Lesliemcj1]

Hi, this is Leslie & Jerry Mc from CO. We just bought a new R25 & we were wondering what different opinions there are regarding the Cap Sante Marina versus Anacortes Marina. Thank you.

 

[Karll]

Another thought close to both of those marinas is Twin Bridges. It might cost a bit more but it’s dry storage, they have free ice, a pump out station and your boat is kept in heated storage. They have mechanics that can work on your boat on site.

 

[Toki]

I've kept my sailboat at Cap Sante for many years. Excellent marina, great people, great facilities.

My R27 was at Anacortes Marina last year. Also a fine marina, they just rebuilt a couple of their docks. I prefer Cap Sante due to location and amenities. They're about the same price.

My R27 is now at Skyline Marina over on the other side of Anacortes. It's like a whole community over there separate from the downtown Anacortes area. Also great marina, but it's all condo, so you either have to buy a slip or sublet from an owner, but I believe both options are available.

In any case, for a <30' slip you should find immediate availability, but act fast because they fill by April.

 

[Brian98133]

If you're looking for moorage, then I would agree that Twin Bridges is worth a few extra bucks... especially with our winters.

I thought you might be talking about opinions about the best marina to visit, or for overnight? If that is the question, my fav is Cap Sante because not only is it a very nice marina with new(ish) docks, etc... but the amenities are boundless, and within easy walking distance.

Full disclosure on the Anacortes marina: We didn't stay there, but did motor over to see what it was like... and unless I'm missing something, there didn't seem to be much in the way of amenities. We spent some time at Cap Sante and used it as a home-base of sorts whilst motoring the islands. We had planned on staying a few nights at Anacortes, but after seeing it's (apparent) limited amenities, decided on staying on at Cap Sante.

Just my 2 cents 😀

 

[scross]

Congratulations on the new boat and welcome!
I see you are in Lone Tree. Spent 13 years in Centennial and Highlands Ranch before moving to Southern Oregon in 2010.
Are you planning on spending the entire summer season in Anacortes? Are you thinking about keeping the boat in the water full time? Are you getting a trailer?
Having the boat in the water full time when you are 1,400 miles away most of the year comes with maintenance issues. I’d recommend keeping the boat on the hard when not not using it whether if you have a trailer or not. Lots of tips on this site on what to do for getting it ready for the storage periods. Twin Bridges and other locations around Anacortes offer on the hard storage.
Remember that if you have your boat in Washington waters for more than 60 days a year you may have to pay all those really hefty Washington state taxes and such. If your primary use of the boat is in Washington you may be required to register it in Washington even though you live in Colorado. Washington state makes it complicated and expensive!
If you are only keeping the boat in the water for the summer season, there are lots of options besides Anacortes. It’s easy to park your car in the long term parking lot at the Anacortes ferry terminal, take the ferry to Friday Harbor and board your boat there. Or take the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney on Vancouver Island and start your trips from the Sidney Marina.
You’re getting a fast boat so you have a huge amount of flexibility as to where to base your boat at for exploring the San Juan and Gulf Islands.
If I was going to keep my out-of-state boat in the water all summer, I would keep it at a marina somewhere on Vancouver Island to avoid the Washington state taxes and fees.

https://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistrat ... rboat.html

PS: We were told by the Friday Harbor Harbormaster that Washington marinas are required to report out-of-state registered boats staying longer than 30 days to the State of Washington. Whether or not marinas actually do this is anyone’s guess...

 

[Toucan]

In 2018, we went to CSR in Des Moines for bottom paint touchup and launching. They are close to the Fluid Motion offices and factory for our R-27. They do a lot of work on Fluid Motion boats. The Des Moines Marina is nice with good facilities and the lowest fuel prices anywhere, but is next to the take-off path for SeaTac airport and a looonnnng way from a chandlery or hardware store by automobile. From Des Moines it took a half day to motor to Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. We stayed at Cap Sante while commissioning, provisioning and self-installing a watermaker and other upgrades. It has nice docks, bathrooms, laundry rooms and staff. They accepted mailed envelopes and UPS/FedEx packages for us, but we had to go to the P.O. to pick up parcels from USPS. The marina is very close to West Marine, Starbucks, Enterprise rental car and a grocery store. It is also very close to Sebo’s hardware store which has an incredible selection of stainless fasteners and marine plumbing supplies at lower prices than West Marine. I often walked there 3 or 4 times a day and its convenience saved a lot of time. For the lower-lettered docks, these stores may be closer to the seawall than your slip. The higher-lettered docks are a lot farther away. The marina charges $10/day to store trailers, so we stored our boat trailer for the summer at Mt. Vernon Self Storage for $67.50 a month. The Olympic Propeller shop is on the outskirts of town.

Barry and Lynne Thompson
TOUCAN