A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands has earned an outstanding reputation for the accuracy of its piloting instructions, the clarity of its writing, and the high quality of its information. This second edition includes color photos and nautical chart segments throughout, as well as:

• Approaches and anchorages for hundreds of bays, harbors, and inlets—many with annotated charts
• Weather, tides, currents, and commercial traffic patterns
• Local history and attractions
• 240 full-color photos
• 75 color chartlets
• Larger size and lay-flat binding for ease of use

With at-a-glance ratings of every harbor and anchorage, A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands is the definitive resource for Pacific Northwest cruising.

“Everything a yachtsman’s pilot ought to be: shipshape and workmanlike in its approach, unusually well written, very thoughtfully researched.”—Jonathan Raban, bestselling author, Waxwings: A Noveland Passage to Juneau

“All the necessary nuts and bolts about navigating local waters is found in A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound. . . . A welcome addition to the library of any Puget Sound sail- or powerboat owner.”—Seattle Times

“An elegant, beautiful book. . . . For even those few boaters who think they know all Puget Sound has to offer, this invaluable reference guide will introduce them to hundreds of new places yet to explore.”—48° North

“So complete that veteran cruisers will discover cruising grounds they didn’t know existed or didn’t consider navigable.”—SAIL

A must for navigating the West Coast of Vancouver Island, this guide explores the magnificent cruising grounds from Cape Scott to Sooke (including Barkley Sound) in easy day passages. Information is given on uncharted rocks and reefs, dangerous currents, favorite anchorages, popular gunkholes, local history and folklore, geology, and flora and fauna. Remote scenic areas of one of British Columbia’s last wilderness cruising territories come vividly to life in the superb aerial photography of George McNutt and in a number of photos by author Don Watmough.

Just off the Inside Passage’s beaten path are countless channels, bays and lagoons that beg exploration. Some are easy, some can be entered only during a few minutes at high water slack. Waggoner correspondents Jennifer and James Hamilton have researched many of these hidden jewels, and provided detailed navigation instructions. Plus history, sights to see, trails and logging roads to walk. Added chapters discuss anchoring techniques, water conservation, food & meal planning, even laundry.

Third in the series of coffee table cruising guides, this book covers the Sunshine Coast from Indian Arm in Burrard Inlet to Howe Sound and on to Pender Harbour, Princess Louisa Inlet, Sechelt Inlet and Desolation Sound. It cruises through the Discovery islands to Campbell River and prompts the mariner on to places beyond. Full color illustrations are complemented with informative and instructive text as well as historic notes, cautions and recommendations. It includes marine parks, anchorages, waterways and marinas.

This is the latest revised and new edition of the highly successful Docks and Destinations. Layout and format are designed to provide quick and easy reference to marinas and facilities for mariners in the Pacific Northwest. It covers Puget Sound, the popular San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound and places along the way between these destinations as well as up the Inside Passage to the southern tip of Alaska.

The pristine vistas and coves and anchorages with soaring rock walls make the Desolation Sound area and the Discovery Islands a favorite for cruisers in British Columbia.

Newly revised and updated in 2017, Volume 2 in the Dreamspeaker series features informative, hand-drawn shoreline plans of more than 100 selected marinas and small boat anchorages. Numerous color photographs show the area in all its splendor.

This colorful, illustrated guide—the third in the popular Dreamspeaker series—offers charts, tips and data that will enhance any boater’s enjoyment of one of North America’s most popular cruising areas: the Strait of Georgia’s captivating eastern shoreline, including metropolitan Vancouver and nearby Indian Arm and Howe Sound. Northwest from Gibsons lie the delights of the Sunshine Coast, an area blessed with many clear-blue-sky days. Volume 3 contains several hundred color photos and hand-drawn maps, plus detailed information on dozens of popular (and secret!) anchorages up and down the coast. Including Princess Louisa Inlet and Jedediah Island.

This guide encompasses the waters of Mayne Passage, where we travel west from Blind Channel via Johnstone and Broughton Strait and the friendly communities of Northern Vancouver Island, to Port Hardy. From Blunden Harbour on the coastal mainland, we cruise east through the captivating group of islands, islets and passages that make up the exquisite Broughton Archipelago. It’s as much an adventure just getting there, as it is exploring the region’s natural wilderness, hidden anchorages, uninhabited islands, white midden beaches and rich marine and wild life. For those interested in sailing, follow our route and you could be rewarded with good winds from the right direction. Although not numerous, with careful planning you will find accessible fuel/water stops and stores to provision, often with a good choice of produce. In the summer months resorts and marina’s in the “Village of Islands” welcome cruising boaters to join in the camaraderie at their scheduled or impromptu “happy hour” gatherings and “pot luck” suppers, and the more social cruisers combine a few days enjoying the choice of tranquil anchorages, with a night or two in a marina.

Exploring the North Coast of British Columbia takes seafaring explorers from the famous Nakwakto Rapids to the Alaska border. This ultimate pilothouse resource describes previously uncharted Spiller channel and Griffin Passage, the stunning scenery of Belize Inlet, Queens Sound, Burke and Dean Channels, Douglas channel, Gardner Canal, Principe Channel and the seldom-visited turquoise waters of Portland Canal. This revised second edition helps you plot a course for the beautiful South Moresby Island of the Queen Charlottes, known for its rare flora and fauna, and for its historical sites of native Haida culture.

Completely updated in 2017, this comprehensive pilothouse guide now includes the West Coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. All waypoints are updated and standardized to NAD 83.

“Nothing can replace local knowledge and Exploring the North Coast of British Columbia provides excellent local knowledge from a seasoned research and writing team. The Douglasses have personally researched several thousand anchor sites over the entire coast.”

Director, Hydrography, Pacific Region, Canadian Hydrographic Service

The Exploring the Pacific Coast, 2nd Edition contains recently researched information of all the places to tie up or anchor your boat from the Mexican border to Seattle. Over 500 of the best marinas and anchor sites are detailed with chart numbers, GPS waypoints, entrance and harbor diagrams, as well as specific information on marinas, complete with phone numbers and websites. The entrance bars of the northern coast are detailed with Proven Cruising Routes, numerous aerial photographs and key local knowledge. Covered in exacting detail are all the boating areas: San Diego to Santa Barbara, every anchor site in the outstanding Channel Islands, the greater SF Bay Area, the lower Columbia River, and the greater Puget Sound. Every gunkhole along the entire Pacific Coast offering temporary or overnight shelter is documented, including attractions in the San Juan Islands and lower British Columbia. Also included are excerpts from the Coast Pilot, first-hand accounts of Fine Edge research trips on Baidarka and significant contributions by well-known cruising experts Bob and Carolyn Mehaffy, Ann Kinner, Roderick Nash, Kevin Monahan and Michelle and Jerry Gaylord. With the local knowledge in this breakthrough guidebook, the entire Pacific Coast becomes “local boating”. Nearly every boater can now plan coastal day trips or a voyage up the coast to Alaska or down to Mexico.

“For anyone thinking of cruising anywhere along the Pacific Coast this guide is a must have.”

Bob Bitchin,
Publisher Latitudes & Attitudes

The latest book in the cruising guide series, Exploring the San Juan and Gulf Islands explores the most scenic and accessible cruising ground in the world–with well-sheltered waters, comfortable resorts, quaint villages and secure anchorages. The colorful San Juan and Gulf Islands, a seventy-mile chain that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, are renowned for wildlife viewing, sport fishing, picturesque beaches, and marvelous marine parks.

Covering a thousand square miles from Deception Pass to Victoria and Nanaimo, this guidebook gives you the local knowledge you need to explore and enjoy more than 300 intimate islets and islands in this beautiful marine paradise. The updated 3rd Edition includes more great anchoring spots, Proven Cruising Routes with GPS waypoints, tips for Charter cruisers, itineraries and information on the Cascadia Marine Trail.

This new 3rd Edition features entrance waypoints, as well as anchor-site waypoints! The South Coast of British Columbia is designed by experts to give small boat skippers the kind of accurate, up-to-date information they need to cruise the unmatched natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Its complete descriptions of anchorages are based on the authors’ personal experience of each location and on information from local skippers not available anywhere else. With 200 diagrams, over 200 photographs of promising features, 2000 GPS waypoints, and extensive quotes from Canadian Sailing Directions, nautical adventurers can get underway to hundreds of pristine coves and inlets from the balmy Gulf Islands to the unspoiled fishing grounds off the north end of Vancouver Island.

Nowhere does the tourist motto Super, National British Columbia! come more alive than on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. With five great sounds, sixteen major inlets, and an abundance of spectacular wildlife, the largest island on the west coast of North America is a cruising paradise. The Douglasses consider their voyages along this coast to be among their most satisfying adventures. In this guide they give small craft skippers the kind of local knowledge they need to circumnavigate the island and drop hook in an abundance of intimate coves.

The new Cruising to the Gulf Islands from Peter Vassilopoulos is a remake of the previous edition. It contains many new and additional photographs depicting popular coastal features. Many are aerial and show important waterways where mariners travel in the popular regions of the islands in the Strait of Georgia.

At last, actual routes-waypoint to waypoint, with a diagram of each waypoint-from Seattle to Ketchikan! A first-of-its-kind, this route guide covers the conventional ferry/cruise ship routes northbound, as well as the Outer Passage, and many remote inlets and passages preferred by small cruising boats. The results of several years of on-site testing, this guide, which sets the standard for all future route guides, is a boon for skippers wanting a quick, accurate reference. Waypoints are given for each step of a route with steering courses, distance-to-go, and other critical data for helmsmen and navigators.

Proven Cruising Routes is a major breakthrough in presenting clear and concise directions for navigating the intricate passages between Seattle and Alaska. Each step of the way complete steering information for the helmsman is instantly available with instructions for every turn, the location of every waypoint, magnetic and true courses to steer, distances to go and detail maps of every waypoint and route. Three years in the making, these two highly experienced GPS navigators have combined efforts to describe each and every waypoint to use when cruising between Seattle and southeast Alaska.

These are the routes they have used dozens of times in plying the waters of the Inside Passage and their unique and concise presentation of the technical information is as user-friendly as it is exact and unambiguous. In Proven Cruising Routes, their routes have been optimized for small craft travel and the presentation is designed to alert a helmsman when following or crossing shipping lanes, separation zones, precautionary zones and other known hazards within 400 yards of the route. Should the skipper wish to follow another route, junctions are identified for painless decision making. Proven Cruising Routes provides an instant reference for the skipper who needs to know-quickly and clearly-the course to steer, the distance to the next waypoint, or the presence of hazards in the vicinity. Proven Cruising Routes will be an invaluable companion for a skipper using GPS in any weather and visibility-giving both the novice and the old timer an added margin of safety in piloting these challenging waters.

The San Juan Islands are a special cruising destination for all who visit. Anne & Laurence Yeadon-Jones have expanded their beautifully illustrated cruising guides, of Southern British Columbia, to include the U.S. San Juan Islands. According to Anne “The allure of this enchanting galaxy of islands lies in the short distances between destinations, the ease of provisioning and the friendly island charm of the villages and towns en route. Well maintained marinas and resorts offer an array of boating conveniences and many of the all-weather havens provide ample, protected anchorage and often excellent fishing and crabbing – making ideal Dreamspeaker destination.”
This Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide to the San Juans also includes local county docks and the preserved wilderness of the San Juan Island’s State Parks and their wildlife. Visitors have access to many beautiful beaches, freshwater lakes and natural marshes, shaded forest hikes, breathtaking vistas and intriguing historic sites. Laurence’s detailed, hand-drawn charts illustrate safe approaches to anchorages and marinas and his beautiful color photographs portray the scenic splendor of these enchanting islands. Anne’s wonderfully descriptive text provides vital information and local knowledge about each destination – plus fun tips to enhance the cruising experience. A truly boater-friendly guide, it’s as much a pleasure to pore over while planning a trip at home, as it is plotting a course while underway.

Waggoner Cruising Guide -OUT of SPIRALS

2018 Waggoner Cruising Guide – $24.95 

The 2018 Waggoner Cruising Guide includes the most comprehensive and up-to-date information from Olympia, WA to Ketchikan, AK. The 2018 edition, expanded by 16 pages, includes many new features and improvements throughout.” Editor and Publisher, Mark Bunzel, said “Our readers have told us they really enjoy the cruising tips and suggestions included in the front section of the guidebook. They learn a lot and find their cruising experience to be more enjoyable.”

There are many new enhancements and upgrades to the guide’s format and content. Color tabs are used to distinguish each chapter, making it easier to navigate through the book. “More than half of the 225 reference maps have been revised, 16 new maps have been added ­­–– critical information for readers when they are approaching a marina or anchorage. We see this improvement as essential,” said Managing Editors, Leonard and Lorena Landon.

This year’s edition features a new theme “Early Explorers of the Pacific Northwest,” with short and fascinating stories of these early maritime explorers, found throughout the book.

The 2018 cover features a beautiful Ranger Tug 31, with captain and owner Sue Peterson, single-handing her return trip down the Inside Passage after spending several weeks in Southeast Alaska.

The 2018 Waggoner Cruising Guide is available in many Puget Sound stores and other retail outlets in the US and British Columbia. You can also find the Waggoner Cruising Guide, and other great publications,  here on our website, and in the Waggoner Bookstore located at 902 8^th St, Anacortes, WA 98221. And check out our multi-packs with the 2018 Port and Passes and Waggoner’s Tables.

The Waggoner Cruising Guide is updated annually, including current information for marinas and anchorages. The Waggoner Cruising Guide is referred to as “the Bible for Northwest Cruising.

The Waggoner Cruising Guide covers the cruising waters from Olympia, Washington, in south Puget Sound, to Prince Rupert, B.C., and the route from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska. This routing includes information on clearing customs, crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan and its marinas.

Some popular cruising areas covered:

• Puget Sound (includes Hood Canal)
• San Juan Islands
• Canadian Gulf Islands (includes Victoria)
• Vancouver and Howe Sound
• Princess Louisa Inlet
• Desolation Sound
• Johnstone Strait and adjacent waterways
• Queen Charlotte Strait and adjacent waterways
• West Coast of Vancouver Island (Completely Updated for 2013)
• Central and Northern B.C. Coast (Wells Passage to Prince Rupert)
• Haida Gwaii
• Crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan, AK

The annual companion book for the Canadian Hydrographic’s Current Atlas makes it easy to use – just look up the month, day and the hour, and you will be given the appropriate page in the Atlas. The Tables list every hour of every day and are corrected for Daylight Savings Time. Waggoner Tables and Canadian Hydrographic’s Current Atlas (can be purchased here) help you to understand the details of the currents around the San Juan and Gulf Islands and up the Strait of Georgia as far as Campbell River. With these two books you can judge what the currents will be for your cruise and adjust accordingly.

2018 Waggoner Table

The annual companion book for the Canadian Hydrographic’s Current Atlas makes it easy to use – just look up the month, day and the hour, and you will be given the appropriate page in the Atlas. The Tables list every hour of every day and are corrected for Daylight Savings Time. Waggoner Tables and Canadian Hydrographic’s Current Atlas (can be purchased here) help you to understand the details of the currents around the San Juan and Gulf Islands and up the Strait of Georgia as far as Campbell River. With these two books you can judge what the currents will be for your cruise and adjust accordingly.

The Waggoner covers the cruising waters from Olympia, Washington, in south Puget Sound, to Prince Rupert, B.C., and the route from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska. This routing includes information on clearing customs, crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan and its marinas.

Some popular cruising areas covered:

• Puget Sound (includes Hood Canal)
• San Juan Islands
• Canadian Gulf Islands (includes Victoria)
• Vancouver and Howe Sound
• Princess Louisa Inlet
• Desolation Sound
• Johnstone Strait and adjacent waterways
• Queen Charlotte Strait and adjacent waterways
• West Coast of Vancouver Island (Completely Updated for 2013)
• Central and Northern B.C. Coast (Wells Passage to Prince Rupert)
• Haida Gwaii
• Crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan, AK

The Waggoner covers the cruising waters from Olympia, Washington, in south Puget Sound, to Prince Rupert, B.C., and the route from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska. This routing includes information on clearing customs, crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan and its marinas.

Some popular cruising areas covered:

• Puget Sound (includes Hood Canal)
• San Juan Islands
• Canadian Gulf Islands (includes Victoria)
• Vancouver and Howe Sound
• Princess Louisa Inlet
• Desolation Sound
• Johnstone Strait and adjacent waterways
• Queen Charlotte Strait and adjacent waterways
• West Coast of Vancouver Island (Completely Updated for 2013)
• Central and Northern B.C. Coast (Wells Passage to Prince Rupert)
• Haida Gwaii
• Crossing Dixon Entrance and approaching Ketchikan, AK