Thursday, June 20, 2013

Staying at the dock

We’re closing in on a visit with friends from Florida.  Mike & Diane left Skip & Maria’s place in Helena yesterday morning heading west and we expect them to arrive in Port Angeles sometime over the weekend.  We have been on the dock at SNSYC for two nights now and intended to leave early this morning for Port Angeles.  That plan however was subject to confirmation at 5:00 AM today.

The number one cause of vessel sinkings is stupid skippers.  I’m not claiming to be a particularly wise skipper but sometimes the smartest move a captain can make is to stay put.  Agendas and boats don’t go well together.  Which is why when I woke at 5:00 AM I immediately checked a variety of weather reports.  Gotta love a smartphone that lets you do all that without getting out from under the covers. 

WindWarning

Red is bad and when I clicked the section for Haro Strait I got even more red:

HaroStraitWarning

So I rolled over and went back to sleep.  When I got up a couple of hours later it didn’t seem that bad out but I checked the Trial Island lighthouse report and it was still showing 4 foot waves in Juan de Fuca (they were 5 feet at 5:00).  Over the course of the morning the wind here has got steadily stronger.  I expect that the wind was stronger in the Strait early this morning and that whatever system is driving it has now moved up to where we are.  The forecast for tomorrow is excellent but as always our departure will be weather dependant. 

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