Photo of the Month
Bellingham Bay from a Larrabee State Park lookout. Photo: Sarah Hart
On the Horizon
- Nov 8, 2026 Anacortes Veterans Day Parade: A free parade through downtown Anacortes honoring veterans. · 1 p.m. @ 3rd St. and Commercial Ave., Anacortes
- Nov 11, 2026 Veterans Day Program: The Navy League's annual ceremony honoring veterans, with the high school's singers and band. · Oak Harbor High School, Oak Harbor
- Nov 13, 2026 People for Puffins: A free talk on the Salish Sea's endangered seabirds, in the Friends of the Salish Sea Speaker Series. Reserve a seat ahead. · 7 p.m. @ Northwest Educational Service District, 1601 R Ave., Anacortes
Add these events to your calendar, and every month's after them.
Got a project?
Tools, paint, fasteners, and friendly advice for every job, ashore or aboard. Locally owned, at 150 SE Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor. Open every day.
Have a Whale of a Time!
Whale and wildlife tours of the San Juan Islands from Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes, February to November.
Up before the tide?
Whidbey Coffee, pastries baked in-house, breakfast, & lunch at our café & drive-thru on SE Pioneer Way, near Smith Park. Open at 5:30 a.m.
Sail in for dinner
Fresh Northwest seafood on Fidalgo Bay, with guest moorage at the Port's Cap Sante Marina while you dine. Weekday happy hour until 6:30 p.m.
Bring us your catch
Smoking & processing for your fish & game, slow-smoked
over local alder in
Oak Harbor.
Club & Harbor News
Marina dredging waits for 2027: Dredging at the Oak Harbor Marina has been pushed back again. Federal permits have been slow to come, and city staff now expect the work to begin in 2027. The city is also weighing higher moorage and dredge fees to help pay for the dredging and a new breakwater.
New laundry and restrooms at Cap Sante: Boaters at the Port of Anacortes's Cap Sante Marina have new laundry and restrooms in the North Basin this year, replacing facilities from 1982.
Send us your club news: Regatta results, a new commodore, an open house, or a member's big trip: send your club's news to The Telltale at thetelltale.ca/submit, and we'll share it with the whole waterfront.
Deer Lake's boating rules on hold: Island County commissioners have paused proposed changes to the boating rules on Deer Lake, on South Whidbey. The Youth Sailing Association, which runs summer sailing camps there with South Whidbey Parks and Recreation, warned that new hours for high-speed boating could end its camps. The commissioners want everyone to agree on the wording first.
Spot the Burgee
Win Lunch! Our burgee hides in one of this month's ads. Tell us which by Nov 30.
Prize from The Telltale.
Spot the Burgee
Navigator's Quiz
- Facing forward, which side of a boat is port?
- Returning from open water, which side do you keep the red buoys?
- A knot is a speed of one nautical mile per hour. About how many land miles is that?
- What were the small steamers that once crowded Puget Sound called?
- What is the U.S. Coast Guard's motto?
Show the quiz answers
- The left
- The right: "red, right, returning"
- 1.15
- The Mosquito Fleet
- Semper Paratus ("Always Ready")
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Did You Know?
Steer board: Starboard comes from the Old English for "steer board": early ships were steered with an oar on the right-hand side.
Mayday: The distress call comes from the French m'aider, "help me".
Red sky at night: There's some truth to the old rhyme: weather here usually moves west to east, so a clear western sky at sunset often means fair weather on the way.
From the Galley
One-Pot Maritime Chili
In a single deep pot, brown ground beef or turkey with diced onions and chopped garlic. Stir in a can of diced tomatoes, a can of black beans, a small can of tomato paste, and your favorite chili powder blend. Let it simmer on your single galley burner for 15 min.
Aboard: Hearty and deeply comforting after a cold watch. Serve it straight out of deep insulated mugs with spoons to help prevent messes when the boat rolls over unexpected cross-seas.
Words to Sail By
“Only two sailors, in my experience, never ran aground. One never left port and the other was an atrocious liar.”
“Do not tell fish stories where the people know you. Particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.”
Bilge Humor
Sorry for what I said when I was docking the boat.
What did the lake say to the sailboat? Nothing. It just waved.
My biggest worry is that when I'm dead and gone, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it. (Koos Brandt)
Old Salt's Weather Lore
“When your joints all start to ache, rainy weather is at stake.”
Word Search
Theme: On the water
| M | O | O | R | I | N | G | L | E | E | K | R |
| H | Y | N | L | I | O | M | S | O | E | R | I |
| A | Y | S | T | A | R | B | O | A | R | D | U |
| T | F | A | H | E | N | I | L | W | O | B | W |
| I | W | H | A | L | Y | A | R | D | W | R | Y |
| L | Y | U | R | G | J | O | Y | I | E | E | A |
| L | B | L | B | U | W | F | K | G | L | H | N |
| E | U | B | O | J | W | O | A | L | M | M | C |
| R | O | I | R | W | G | T | A | D | O | K | H |
| R | Y | K | G | C | T | G | S | U | G | S | O |
| I | S | Y | E | A | A | A | H | P | R | M | R |
| F | A | U | V | E | L | A | T | L | L | E | T |
ANCHOR · BOWLINE · BUOY · GALLEY · HALYARD · HARBOR · KEEL · MOORING · REGATTA · STARBOARD · TELLTALE · TILLER
Boater's Almanac
| Nov | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 | 6:56 | 4:51 |
| Sun 8 | 7:07 | 4:41 |
| Sun 15 | 7:18 | 4:32 |
| Sun 22 | 7:28 | 4:24 |
| Sun 29 | 7:38 | 4:19 |
Last quarter 1 New moon 8 First quarter 17 Full moon 24 Last quarter 30
Whidbey Island
Safe Boating Tip
Heaters aboard: A boat that stays in the water all winter often has a heater running to keep the damp away, and BoatUS says electric heaters are a major source of shore-power fires aboard. Use a heater with automatic tip-over and overheat shutoff, keep it clear of bedding and curtains, and plug it straight into a proper outlet, not a household extension cord. Check your shore power cord and plugs for heat damage or corrosion. If anything aboard burns fuel, fit a carbon monoxide alarm.
Stay safe out there
A safety theme every month, with tips for boating, paddling, fishing, camping, and more.
Run your club, simply!
Slips, members, boats, events, regattas, and billing, plus more! All in one place for your yacht club.
Sailing the 7 Languages
- Sail
- The fabric assembly hoisted to catch the wind and propel the vessel forward. French: La voile · Spanish: La vela · Italian: La vela · German: Das Segel · Hawaiian: Ka peʻa · Japanese: 帆 (ho) · Portuguese: A vela
Knot of the Month
The Bowline
The classic fixed loop: quick to tie, it won't slip or jam, and it unties easily after a load.
Make a small loop, with the part toward the end crossing on top of the standing part. Lead the end down and back up to make the eye, as big as you need. Bring the end up through the small loop from underneath. Take it around behind the standing part. Bring it back down through the small loop, beside its own rising part. Hold the end against the eye and pull the standing part to tighten.
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