How long does it take to boat from Seattle to the Pacific and how long from Gig Harbor to Seattle. Thanks!?

Question

I am writing a novel and a character lives in Gig Harbor and owns a yacht.

Answer 1

From Gig Harbor to Seattle (via Colvos Passage, the obvious choice because it's the shortest distance and the current is always running from south to north) is 22 nautical miles. I'm using Bell Street Pier for "Seattle", as it's on the downtown waterfront, and lots of big yachts use the guest moorage there. Assuming a cruising speed of 20 knots for a typical motor yacht, that's a little over an hour. A sailing yacht (you didn't specify) with a hull-speed of six knots might make it in four hours, if the winds were favorable.

From Seattle to Cape Flattery/Tatoosh Island is 122 nautical miles, going the most direct (and least comfortable, and least scenic) route via Puget Sound and Admiralty Inlet. The aforementioned motor yacht might make it in six hours, but the combination of ocean swell and prevailing westerlies in the Strait of Juan de Fuca are probably going to slow even a large motor yacht down considerably between Point Wilson and Cape Flattery. A sailing yacht is going to fare even worse; you'd almost certainly want to sail to Port Townsend, spend the night there, and then motor from Port Townsend to Neah Bay the next day, then set out for open ocean from Neah on the third day. This all assumes good weather in the summer. In the winter you can expect 12' seas in the eastern Strait, and 30'swells in the west entrance, and much worse offshore; even the sturdiest yacht, power or sail, probably isn't going to make it. Even in the summer, 6' seas are common in the eastern Strait, and 10' in the west entrance is not uncommon.

Once you make that sharp left around Tatoosh Island, assuming you're going a coastal route until you get to the tradewinds (around San Diego, and advisable under power but necessary under sail; you can't get a sailboat "great circle" around the North Pacific high), you have to assume that you are doing an ocean passage-making, even if you can see land. The river bars along the Washington and Oregon coast are treacherous at best, and impassable at worst. Crescent City is sometimes a possibility, but I would never count on safe harbor until San Francisco.

Answer 2

Well there are a few conditions to consider...

How big is the boat?

What are the wave conditions?

How fast is the boat going?

Average Yacht is about 50 meters(if he is rich 70 LOL!)

If the waves are good, obviously, faster movement w/ less power, and worse waves, can still be conquered w/ the same speed, just with more power used.

An average power Yacht will probably go about 30knots.

SHORT ANSWER: Under these conditions it would take

73 min.

I hope this helps.