Recommendations to store truck and trailer for San Juan cruising

Andrew_tug

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
20
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
I have a Ranger Tug R25SC - I want to spend a few weeks cruising in the San Juan islands this summer, and am looking for a recommendation for launching and storing the truck and trailer. Anacortes seems reasonable, but open to suggestions.

Thank you,
Andrew
 
We have launched and parked truck and trailer at Cap Sante Marina over a dozen and have always had a worry free experience. The sling launch team at Cap Sante have always given our boat great care in launch and taken the time on reloading to get the boat centered perfectly back on the trailer. The launch does use some thick straps which don't always pass through the cutouts on the factory set up trailer bunks. For this reason, we removed the carpet just inside the stern cutout and removed carpet plus about 1/2 inch of the wood bunk from the forward cutout to provide extra room passing the strap through. The front bunk doesn't really carry much weight so the small amount of material removed is not an issue. The guys at the launch really appreciated the extra space on the bunk cutouts. I noticed on their web site for the launch, they call out a required 1.5 inch cutout depth.

Parking is just across the street and we have always been able to get into this lot. They do have another lot a bit further away if the close one is full.

Cost is higher than an in-water boat launch but I love not having the trailer brakes in the water two times each trip. Round trip launch has gone up a bit, now $87 for our R27 (a bit lower for a 25'). I think parking is about $10/day. There may be some lower cost options in Anacortes but we keep going back to Cap Sante Marina for a quick and easy launch. Mid-week we rarely have to wait longer than 15 minutes.
 
I call Cap Santa and they said that they only do short term parking (I asked about 2 months). Are you parking at a different facility?
 
We launched and stored our truck and trailer from Edmonds last summer for a tour of the San Juan’s. On site parking was convenient- I think $10/day.
Miss Kendy
28 Cutwater
 
Thank you for the great suggestions - I will call around to Cap Santa and some places in Edmonds - thank you
 
We launch at Cap Sante Marina. I will not dunk my trailer in salt water. Crane launch is cheaper than boat yards charge for travel lift launches. We have used Mt. Vernon Self Storage for extended parking while cruising in B.C and SE Alaska. Only downside is the bus to and from Anacortes drives right past but will not stop anywhere close to the facility. So we use an Uber or rent a car from Enterprise which is across the street from West Marine. Great place to launch and commission with grocery store across the street and the neighboring hardware store with an outstanding selection of stainless steel fasteners.

Barry Thompson
M/V Toucan, R-27 Classic
 
Interesting…we have not had that experience. We have used Cap Sante many times with our trailer parked there for up to 2 months with no issues. It’s a great spot to provision too. They do request we disconnect and leave our trailer in the lot just down and across the street (near and behind the Safeway) with our truck parked on more behind and to the north of the marina office. We have also used LaConner once and it was fine too. Only disadvantage is the lengthy 5 mph zone to get up to Anacortes and go cruising. We prefer Cap Sante for that reason and they have always been so accommodating to us.
 
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