Puget Sound Cruising to Blake Island on a 31' Camano

In May, we made our first solo cruising trip to Blake Island in Washington. This island is only accessible by water, and we used this as an excuse to get some cruising experience, try our hand at mooring, and to just get a feel for being out on the water.

Cruising around Blake Island

Here is a quick map of our trip for the day. We left around 10:30 am and arrived back around 4:30pm. For us, this was a long but gorgeous day to be on the water in Seattle.

Cruising to Blake Island from Shilshole Bay Marina

For those of you who have not been out on the water in Puget Sound, I want to say that it is 100% worth it, and you don't necessarily need a private boat, even though it is nice. Other options are a variety of ferries that leave Seattle and the surrounding area. These are a fantastic way to get out on the water if you don't have the appropriate certifications or access to take a private boat.

Shilshole Bay Marina is in Ballard close to the Ballard Locks. It's not too far from the chaos that is downtown Seattle but has a quiet local feel that will appeal to those who want to get away from tourist season in Seattle. The downside of this area is that it does not have a direct route on the public transit system.

From Shilshole Bay, we went south past West Point and Discovery Park, across Elliot Bay and its views of downtown Seattle, then south past Alki Beach. This also kept us just West of the shipping lane that runs down the center, which is definitely not somewhere you want to be when a cargo or large cruise ship wants to get through. It was a bright, sunny, clear day and we were able to see so much including Mount Rainier, the Olympic Mountains, and Blake Island.

Cruising Past Downtown Seattle

I hadn't had a chance to practice mooring so we went ahead and grabbed a mooring ball. Thankfully, it wasn't too busy but I will say this does require more strength than I anticipated. It took me a bit but I was successful! We didn't stay long because of the location and how choppy the water gets with all of the traffic around. From there we stayed East of the shipping lane as we cruised past Manchester and the Olympic Mountains. While motoring, we were able to grab a lost fender and get a few deflated balloons left floating out in the ocean. Definitely some time practicing crew overboard drills while doing a bit to clean up our waters, so a win-win for us.

Puget Sound Views!!!

We then cruised in to Blakely Harbor to enjoy a view and scope out the area before heading north past Bainbridge Island and crossing the shipping lane back to Shilshole Bay Marina. Boy was it busy upon return! It seemed that everyone had the same timeframe in mind that we did, and there were quite a few boats out and about, but we made it back safe and sound.