Off the Washington coast boating.

[magster65]

I'm window shopping and looking at logistics... how bad is the water off the coast of Washington... not in the Sound but on the outside. Anyone been out there during a bit of wind? How big are the rollers out there in... say a 15 knot wind and then a 40?
I was looking at Portland to Vancouver island... 250ish miles of open ocean travel. It looks like there's a few places to duck into if the weather goes bad or whatever... is there really though? I know it might be easier to have it hauled up to the Sound... maybe even less expensive too... but I'm just wondering about the water conditions because I've never been there.
I've been halibut fishing at the Swiftsure banks a few times... that gets nasty over 15k.

 

[Go Aweigh2452]

I drag my boat up to Neah Bay and head out to fish for salmon out there, not butts. I can Butt fish off Port Angeles or Port Townsend. I go off 15 miles or more past LaPush and no problem. Waters are a bit rough sometimes because the shelf south of the straits does not drop off as fast as one would normally think. The rollers are fine with big periods between. I really don't notice them until I see another boat disappear behind a wave. North of the straits are not bad either. Last summer I fished with a friend in his 24' and we went off about 25-30 miles and had no issues with the waves. The waters are deep out that far too. All the waters are monitored listening to the WX channel that monitors the ocean buoys out that way. When they get high, we go in. 15-20 miles out is at most a 30-40 min run and can be faster if needed.

I have seen rental boats out of Neah Bay about 10 miles off shore and the are essentially row boats with 25-30 hp OB....

 

[expressboy]

MAGSTER.....

Like just about anywhere it depends on when you go....I did the trip down last summer in my trawler and never saw more that 3' of swell and not more than 5 kts. of wind.... but it can blow 35+ and have over 35' seas too. Early summer through October can have great conditions.. just start to watch the weather patterns develop and you can get the mental picture of what it does out there. Look at the buoy reports for the entire area down to the Columbia River. With a fast boat like yours you can easily make a day jump in summer... and you have two great places to stop if you have to.

Go to Neah bay and make your jump to the river from there.... Neah bay is a dump but it is a great place to leave from. Regarding cost.... there are a few haulers that specialize in hauling between Olympia and Portland, It used to be about $850 each way for a 40' sea ray ( this info was from the P.O. of our new boat .. he did it a few times) We made the trip down and did the Columbia and Snake rivers for a different and guaranteed " hot" summer.
I have sailed across the Pacific... and the last place I would ever want to be is off the Washington coast in 40kts. of wind........that would be UGLY.. and might cure my boat affliction for good

EXPRESSBOY

here is a link to noaa weather buoys offshore..

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46041

 

[Gofirstclass]

expressboy nailed it. You need to really watch the weather charts. Once you leave Neah Bay it's around 175 miles to the mouth of the Columbia, then another 110 miles to Portland. The only place to pull in between Neah Bay and the Columbia is at Westport, and that's a 120 mile run from Neah Bay.

Magster, I put together a mileage chart in excel that gives the mileages between ports in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the San Juans, the coast of WA and up the Columbia.

If you want a copy, PM me with an email address and I'll attach it and send it to you.

Or if anyone else wants a copy, just PM me with your email address.

expressboy, thanks for the link to the weather buoys. Very nice to have that.

GFC

 

[AKBASSKING]

I would also say you need to watch the mouth of the Columbia too. Incoming tide against the wind.....

 

[magster65]

Well that was an easy decision!
Considering I'd be in a boat that I'm not 100% familiar with I'd have it transported to Olympia. I like the adventures but with the 120 mile open run between safe havens I'd feel better in all the protected areas in Puget Sound. There's a lot more to look at in there and I could plan stops along the way to have a little fun. It wouldn't be a lot less expensive to do the big run all the way around vs. straight up the Sound... including the hauling costs (depending on what I do for my fun stops of course). I haven't been up through the Sound and would be really like to do that actually...
So ok... that's great information!
Thanks guys.

 

[expressboy]

expressboy nailed it. You need to really watch the weather charts. Once you leave Neah Bay it's around 175 miles to the mouth of the Columbia, then another 110 miles to Portland. The only place to pull in between Neah Bay and the Columbia is at Westport, and that's a 120 mile run from Neah Bay.

Magster, I put together a mileage chart in excel that gives the mileages between ports in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the San Juans, the coast of WA and up the Columbia.

If you want a copy, PM me with an email address and I'll attach it and send it to you.

Or if anyone else wants a copy, just PM me with your email address.

expressboy, thanks for the link to the weather buoys. Very nice to have that.

GFC

GFC,
If you don't have this web site you will really like this one, you can scroll up and down the river and get forecasts, current data, for both wind and wave
EXPRESSBOY

I ran the boat on the river for a couple hours this weekend... it wasn't too bad on the lower C.... must be is coming!.. right??


https://www.sailflow.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=219&regionProductID=29

http://www.sailflow.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=218&siteID=241&Isection=Forecast+Graphs

 

[magster65]

expressboy nailed it. You need to really watch the weather charts. Once you leave Neah Bay it's around 175 miles to the mouth of the Columbia, then another 110 miles to Portland. The only place to pull in between Neah Bay and the Columbia is at Westport, and that's a 120 mile run from Neah Bay.

Magster, I put together a mileage chart in excel that gives the mileages between ports in the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the San Juans, the coast of WA and up the Columbia.

If you want a copy, PM me with an email address and I'll attach it and send it to you.

Or if anyone else wants a copy, just PM me with your email address.

expressboy, thanks for the link to the weather buoys. Very nice to have that.

GFC

Sent.
Thanks again :smt001

 

[Gofirstclass]

For those of you who boat up in the San Juans, here's a link to a U of Washington site that has current wind/weather/tide/current information.

It's not the most intuitive site I've ever seen, but it has a lot of information. We used the site when we were in the San Juans to find out current flow. That helped us decide if we wanted to leave a bit earlier or later for the next leg of our trip. It's always nice to have a current pushing you rather than pushing against you.


http://bis_portal.apl.washington.edu/bis_portal_app.php

expressboy, thanks for those links. I used to get that data off a windsurfer website but I think they shut down or something.