Boat Trip in Pictures – Lake Union to Roche Harbor

We just got back from a trip where we boated from Lake Union (Seattle) to Roche Harbor. I wanted to take time to put a nice post together about how to do this trip on your own, but these pictures are so great that they deserve to be shared now and the detailed post will follow later!

Just to give you a little background information, I work for Seattle Boat Company, the Northwest Cobalt and Malibu dealership. We host an “Island Rendezvous” Event where we invite customers to meet us at our dealership on Lake Union, and we boat up to Roche Harbor together in a convoy. Since we are going up as a group, many customers this year decided to give it a try for the first time who would not otherwise be comfortable out in the salt water on their own. Our smallest boat in the convoy was a 24-foot open bow Cobalt, and the largest was our Cobalt A40 Yacht. We took a protected route up between Whidbey and Camano Island, then shot over to San Juan Island across the Rosaro Strait.

If you have any questions about this trip, please do not hesitate to reach out! I would love to share information with you on how to make this voyage on your own safely!! Feel free to email me: abbey@seattleboat.com

If you wish to join Seattle Boat Company on our 2018 Island Rendezvous, you can follow THIS LINK for more details and registration!

Photo Jul 28, 8 48 22 AM
A grey July morning to start our trip. A view of our convoy leaving the docks on Lake Union. Cobalt R7 Surf, Cobalt 323, and a Cobalt A40 leading the Convoy.
Photo Jul 28, 10 24 13 AM
Going down! Tied up safely in the small locks as pedestrians watch from the bridge above.
Photo Jul 28, 10 31 06 AM
Entering Shilshole Bay, just through the Ballard Locks. Ray’s Boathouse was immediately to our right, for reference.
Photo Jul 28, 10 38 59 AM
The Cobalt A40 (convoy leader) waiting for the rest of the group to lock through. We had bad luck and it took us 3 rotations of the locks to get 4 boats through!!
Photo Jul 28, 2 30 24 PM
Making the voyage up. Almost there!
Photo Jul 28, 8 55 25 PM
Sunset in the Harbor our 1st night
Photo Jul 29, 11 17 00 AM.jpg
Day 2 of the trip! Took the dinghy out first thing in the morning to tour around the harbor, admire the sights and check out the huge ships.
Photo Jul 29, 12 19 52 PM
Seriously, how beautiful is this place?! I love this view of Roche Harbor
Photo Jul 29, 12 10 45 PM
The kind of ships you see up in Roche Harbor – multi million dollar yachts everywhere you look!
Photo Jul 29, 8 43 26 PM.jpg
Very different look but equally beautiful at sunset
Photo Jul 29, 8 41 09 PM
A fun evening activity – the ‘colors’ ceremony where all the flags are lowered and national anthems are played. We floated out on the dinghy to watch close up.
Photo Jul 30, 9 02 10 AM
We were off early in the morning Sunday hoping to catch less wind and an agreeable tide through Deception Pass. Grabbed this shot of the convoy leaving, lead by our two Cobalt A40 yachts.
Photo Jul 30, 9 45 29 AM
In the distance to the left you can see some fog that we ended up boating into. Visibility was extremely limited, we could only see about two boats ahead in the convoy. I wish I was able to get a picture but I was concentrating on driving!
Photo Jul 30, 10 38 01 AM.jpg
Boating through Deception Pass. The tides rip extremely hard through this area which is why I only have one picture – I was focusing on driving but very much wish I had time to take more! This area is simply stunning and this one shot does not do it justice.
Photo Jul 30, 1 07 12 PM
Finally made it back to Seattle! Sundays are a busy day for the locks, so we were floating for a while waiting to get signaled in.
Photo Jul 30, 1 07 23 PM
Only part of the lineup behind us waiting for the locks!
Photo Jul 30, 1 45 04 PM
It was a big lock day for sure! The Cobalt A40 was in front of the crew; we were just behind in a Cobalt R30
Photo Jul 30, 1 46 38 PM
Another shot inside the Ballard Locks as they were about to start going up. Such a fun trip, but we were excited to be back after about 4 hours of boating!

All of these pictures are my own, taken with my Nikon D5300. Please feel free to share the post, but if you would like to share pictures individually please contact me. Email address above!

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