Planning on taking a two-week trip to the San Juan Islands in late August. I know the winds can be fickle and the fog present that time of year, so looking for advice on finding/avoiding each. Tentative itinerary currently looks like:
Whew! Pretty aggressive sail plan for two weeks covering a lot of territory. Good luck.
As far as finding/avoiding winds, water state is a good indicator as to where the wind is and strength. Mornings usually pretty quiet, then afternoons bring onshore breezes that can become quite strong. VHF weather 4 is a pretty good source of weather state.
Fogust? Again the forecasters. If there is a white cloud down to the water with visibility near zero, fog is present, usually in the morning
. Sun usually burns it off, or the wind blows it away, in the afternoon.
We have a good GPS (Garmin 178C) for navigation purposes, so fog is the least of my worries. Wind can become quite strong through various narrow waterways, such as East Sound, Orcas Island and Penn Cove on Whidbey Island, Saratoga Passage, Port Gardner (Everett).
Also, pay attention to the tide state. Currents can run quite strong in the north/south channels, such as San Juan Channel, President Channel, Spieden Channel, Bellingham Channel, Rosario Strait. East/West channels less so. Try hard to plan your passage with a following current. You will reach your destination much faster. Generally, if you are north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the flood currents flow north, ebb currents south. Vice versa south of the Strait.
Hope this helps.