Weather forecast and the JdF

[forbin]

Based on the current forecast, NDBC - National Weather Service Marine Forecast FZUS56 KSEW, would anyone see any issue crossing the strait Friday morning? I've been tracking it on Wind Finder, Wind Alert, the NWS forecast, and the history at Smith Island buoy and it's still pretty consistent, light in the morning, picking up late in the day. There are a couple outliers (yesterday) of course, but it's relatively consistent. I ask because we need to pick a side tomorrow during the day when we get to the south end of Whidbey heading north. I'm leaning toward going to the west up to Port Ludlow (where we have a reservation and hoping there's no fog in the morning) or to Port Townsend rather than going east of Whidbey and going through Deception Pass or the Swinomish on Friday or Saturday. The next few forecast updates may also change things.

Thoughts?

 

[mermike]

We're heading south from Sucia tomorrow and plan to ride the flood into Admiralty inlet early to mid afternoon on Friday. The winds are forecast to be moderate from the northwest.

Check both the tide and winds carefully, you do not want to be in the middle of the fracas when they're going opposite directions off Point Patridge. .

 

[forbin]

Check both the tide and winds carefully, you do not want to be in the middle of the fracas when they're going opposite directions off Point Patridge. .

Yep. The plan is to leave close to slack in ideally not much wind. I guess we'll see what happens.

Since you're from Port Ludlow, what are your thoughts on fog in Port Ludlow vs other places this time of summer? Are we likely to get fog?

 

[jssailem]

Good morning Forbin

Looking at the Friday 14 August forecast for the Juan DFuca from Port Townsend Bay through Admiralty Inlet up the West side of Whidbey European Weather Model on Windy.com looks favorable.

Winds 5-7 out of the West, swell out of the West 0.3m 4-6sec visibility 30+km

After rounding Partridge Point it looks to be a glorious time to fly that dusty Asymmetrical on the Starboard tack and ride her all the way up thru Rosario Strait.

Here is a Windy screenshot for Friday 07:00

 

[forbin]

Windy! Thanks for the reminder, I love that app.

After rounding Partridge Point it looks to be a glorious time to fly that dusty Asymmetrical on the Starboard tack and ride her all the way up thru Rosario Strait.

Unfortunately all I have is an even dustier symmetrical, so dusty that it sits in the garage these days. Radar, then a simpler spinnaker setup are on my list...

 

[jssailem]

Both are great resources to have on your boat. Hope the info was helpful.

Where about are your heading? Waggoner's has been doing a good job of updating reports about what is open and what is busy or too busy.

We anchored in Port Ludlow about 2 weeks ago. Spent a great evening swing gently on the west end of the bay just beyond the cables. Our morning was greeted with forizzle, a moist ground layer of cloud. It gradually cleared enough for us to see out the bay and we headed out to round Whidbey using Deception Pass. Unfortunately we were not blessed with the promised breezes that had drawn us to that area to sail. We had great sun and visibility once the sun burnt through the low lying mist. ( I was admonished my my crew that I could not use the Fogust word).

May you be more fortunate.

 

[mermike]

I would not presume to forecast the fog in PL. It can be pretty localized. Good luck on your trip. We'll look for you as we head south.

Yep. The plan is to leave close to slack in ideally not much wind. I guess we'll see what happens.

Since you're from Port Ludlow, what are your thoughts on fog in Port Ludlow vs other places this time of summer? Are we likely to get fog?

 

[forbin]

Where about are your heading? Waggoner's has been doing a good job of updating reports about what is open and what is busy or too busy.

I've been checking Waggoner. We have a reservation in Port Ludlow tonight but will try to stay at Boat Haven (I can't get a hold of Point Hudson and they aren't responding to anything apparently) instead so we have less risk of fog and/or more time for it to burn off. I'd anchor in Port Townsend if we'd get there during daylight but having not done it before I don't want to risk it. Hopefully Boat Haven will have a spot...

After that we are staying in Friday Harbor a couple of nights but nothing else is planned. Heading back the weekend of the 23rd most likely, but that isn't set in stone either.

 

[forbin]

I would not presume to forecast the fog in PL. It can be pretty localized. Good luck on your trip. We'll look for you as we head south.

Sounds good!

 

[jssailem]

With the ferry's PT can get a bit lumpy at anchor. There is a bit of a cove behind Pt Wilson, or the waters of Mystery Bay can be calm and sheltered. The folks of PT have identified the shallow waters west of the Ferry dock as an eelgrass restoration project area.

I have heard the that Port Hudson is a bit difficult to reach. Some boaters have contacted them on VHF and been successful. Even with a reservation, I have gone in there and found a boater had pulled into my slip which can be frustrating after sailing for 10 hours coming back from Canada. It is just one of the local experiences. Port Hudson is one of my favorite places on my ports of call list.

 

[forbin]

With the ferry's PT can get a bit lumpy at anchor. There is a bit of a cove behind Pt Wilson, or the waters of Mystery Bay can be calm and sheltered. The folks of PT have identified the shallow waters west of the Ferry dock as an eelgrass restoration project area.

Is the eelgrass area easily identifiable? If we did end up needing to anchor there, what depth should we be looking for? This would be absolute last resort, I'd more likely tie up somewhere at Boat Haven and leave before they open...

...a boater had pulled into my slip which can be frustrating after sailing for 10 hours coming back from Canada. It is just one of the local experiences. Port Hudson is one of my favorite places on my ports of call list.

Definitely one of the best spots, except the time we had the otters chase us down the dock!

 

[jssailem]

I have been greeted by seals on the slip, and heron fishing form the dock, but not otters. They can be pretty demanding. I saw the eelgrass area identified on a placard, looked like an area from the Northwest Maritime building along the beach to the mooring buoys before Boat Haven. There may be something about it on the web. I think it is all about the water depth. The eelgrass and the herring, it is supposed to be a haven for, like the shallow water. I suspect it is in front of the beach area from the clock tower north. The Clock tower is about the area where the shallows start to fall off. I know the pier between the ferry and NW Maritime was extended to "deep water" to allow the shallow beach front water to be planted. If you are in 3 fathoms I think you would be good (beyond the area of planted eelgrass)

 

[forbin]

Realized I never responded to this thread...

Thursday afternoon (back on 8/13), Point Hudson called me and said they had a spot available, so we took it and canceled Port Ludlow. We left around 4pm and got to Point Hudson around 10:30pm. I haven't arrived there in the dark before, and damn it was hard to see. We were literally 50 feet or less in front of the entrance before I could see the walls and closer before i could tell where the actual water in between them was. The yellow light identifying one of them didn't help much.

We left at 7:30 the next morning and crossed the strait, no problem at all, and we actually got to sail an hour or so as we got close to Lopez Island. We got a buoy in Watmough Bay, which was great, we met a friend who was up there and he gave us a more than generous amount of crab for dinner. We went to Deer Harbor the next day and ended up anchoring way out in 65 feet because of the number of boats.

At zero tide the outside of the dock by the Orcas Ferry terminal is a hair deeper than 6.5 feet, we read zero as we drifted the last foot or two to the dock...would have been my first time grounding...maybe next time.

We stopped in a few of the usual places and stayed at West Sound Marina for the last night (Friday) because of some weather that never really materialized in the islands...the strait was nasty (33 at Smith Island) but barely a gust of more than 7 where we were. West Sound, across the strait in zero wind, to Edmonds on Saturday, with probably the best sail of the trip, wing on wing between the north end of Marrowstone almost to the south end of Whidbey, and then home Sunday. There's also a great back-eddy at the north end of Whidbey inside Admiralty Inlet as you approach Fort Casey; we were able to make up ground going 8 kts for a while until we reached the point.

Fun trip as usual, but as crowded as it was, and with a mostly line for anchor rode, it was frustrating finding space and we stayed at the dock more than I wanted to. Working on fixing that problem now too ;-)