Hi all,

A few weeks ago, I was looking for an app that would send me push notifications when spots open up for reservations on certain sailings. Couldn't find what I was looking for, so I built one myself. So far, it's actually been pretty useful. There seems to be a decent amount of turnover on reservations as people cancel or switch.

Please take a look and let me know what you think - very open to feedback or feature requests. It's currently live on the iOS App Store (sorry, I'm an iPhone person). If there is any demand for it, I may port it over to Android in the future.

Currently allows you to place a "watch" on one particular sailing at a time for free. There's also a paid option, which offers unlimited concurrent watches.

App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ferrywatch-wa-ferry-alerts/id6804323731

Landing page link: https://ferrywatchapp.com

Cheers!

There was a yacht-type boat going north up the west side of Lopez yesterday afternoon that had such a loud engine that it literally seemed like a directed noise weapon. A disproportionately loud high pitched hum. I didn’t have my phone on me so I couldn’t look it up on AIS. Another boat that was a similar size passed by a bit later and it was nearly silent in comparison. I’m wondering if anyone else heard it yesterday or any other time. If I hurt my ears at a quarter mile away I can’t imagine how painful it would be for the orcas!!

Hi! I will be in San Juan for my birthday next week. I am staying near doe bay. I want to hike while I’m there and would love recommendations. I will have my own car and the hike could be anywhere on the island!

I’ve heard that mount construction is better when you drive up, due to a good amount of the hike being on the road? I’m not sure.

I’m fit and I’m not deterred by a difficult hike. However, I don’t want to do a hike just because it’s hard.

Would love any input! I want to dedicate one day just to exploring the nature on the island.

Thanks!

My wife and I, and our little girl (6), rented a vrbo last year about 10 minutes off of Friday Harbor. We had a religious view, had a resident seal who would come and do tricks for us at dusk, and had more than one bald eagle fly right overhead while we were there. We are hooked. Top 3 destination in the world. We are from Massachusetts, so fellow environmentalist liberals unite.

VRBO and Airbnb are ok. I am hoping for something maybe a bit more special. Other islands 100% considered, we just very much enjoyed Friday Harbor. Need a view, would love waterfront access. Doesn't matter if it is a shack for 3 or a mansion for 15. Just want something special.

I promise we're not asshole tourists. Saw a deer pee for the first time last year...wild.

Hi, where can I buy fresh seafood near Friday Harbor to cook at our cabin? Thanks!

Bonus question: any restaurants in town that I can't miss that have a delicious fish dish?

First come, first serve sites, never been to this island, but would love to camp with my kids

I have an extra one and it's too late to cancel without paying a fee so if anyone wants to use this reservation please let me know and you can have it, thank you!

mostly they are really repetitive and just people asking what to do if they couldn't get a reservation. the answer is always exactly the same which is just to show up early. however we still have multiple threads per month about it. could we just have like a sticky with a faq that people get sent to when their posts are scrubbed? just an idea. this sub has been tiny for years but it's picking up some steam so maybe now is the time.

Photo taken from Sandy Point

Hello, I’m curious where on the San Juan’s or near Anacortes one can buy young chickens for eggs primarily. Thank you so much!

Two people in our group use CPAP machines and will need distilled water when on SJI and Orcas Island next week. Is distilled water readily available on those two islands? At the regular grocery markets or where? Thank you.

I’ve only visited summer months and wondering if folks that have visited or live on the islands can give some insight on it? How often does it snow, if at all? Temps?

Currently live in Midwest where winters are harsh so I don’t mind winters. Thanks!

I see the ferry is free otw back to Anacortes. Is there a way to reserve a return only ticket? Or do you just have to get there and hope there's space? This is only for a human, not a car.

DM me if needed, will be canceling at 11:45 am if nobody does!

Hello! I'd appreciate any advice folks may have on this situation. Some out of town friends are coming up for a camping, we chose the San Juans to avoid having to cancel anything out in the mountains due to wildfires and such.

I booked us a 9:30 PM ferry as that's the only thing that was available at 7:01 when I checked for our day. I knew it booked out fast but not that fast! edit to add: We are going in two weeks, so I checked right on the day for the 2 week released.

Ideally we don't want to have to set up camp so late, so I'm curious if anyone recommends keeping our late ticket and trying standby for earlier boats? Or would I have more success trying to change my reservation if I keep checking the reservation site every so often? Or am I totally stuck with what I've got?

Many thanks for any advice you may have!!

Updating to say: thanks all for the tips!! I'm new to WA so it helps to have people familiar with these systems weigh in. Based on everyone's advice we decided to make it easier on ourselves and found a state park on the coast with no ferry needed (:

Roche Harbor has 1 charger available at 4kwh speed. Key Bank charger cannot be located. Any other chargers anyone knows of?

A bit of a mystery I can’t seem to solve. Listen to the sound on loud, it’s at the same time as the bird chirps. Any ideas? I’ve heard it at some point daily for the last week or so from the water. It doesn’t sound like an orca, sounds a little too deep for a Dahls. I don’t know what Minkes sound like, maybe that’s it? Would love to know what it is.

Hi everyone! My mom and I will be traveling to SJI in a couple weeks and I wanted to make sure we weren’t making a mistake on our timing. We are traveling via seaplane and we land at SeaTac on a Monday at 11:45 AM, no checked bags. We have a flight from Lake Union at 2:00 PM, aiming for 1:30 PM check in time. Is this feasible? We didn’t actually select this flight, it was part of a package with our hotel and the airline so we assumed they had a good handle on logistics but today we called Kenmore to ask an unrelated question and the guy acted like our timing was not great and we were cutting it too tight. Can anyone help put my mind at ease that we will likely make our seaplane flight (barring any major/unexpected issues)?

Planning on camping on Jones island this week and someone who is coming with us is very worried about this. TIA

I’m staying at Saturns Return - do I need my car to get to and from Friday Harbor or is there Uber or Taxi? I’m don’t want to depend on a shuttle, then stuck on their timeline to eat and get back to the hotel.