T&T: Go/No-Go Conditions for Cruise Up Washington Coast

[Gary Bell]

Ahoy Alan,

Alan began: 
This question is for list members who have experience
cruising up the Washington coast from the Columbia
River to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Gary replies:
I've been up an down that coast a few times on my PDQ 34; made a few 
runs on friends' sailboats (similar speeds to yours) and I have 
navigated a couple of Navy destroyers to and fro.  I am no kind of 
expert, but I am always glad to share my opinions -- ask anyone on the 
list.  The first and most important thing to know is that there is no 
specific formula for a guaranteed safe passage.   In fact there is no 
guaranteed safe passage, anywhere.  The only thing I would guarantee 
here is that there will be a couple of surprises.   I hope your 
surprises are pods of broaching humpback whales rather than unforcast 
twenty foot swells. 


Alan continued:
We have a full-displacement slow (i.e., 6.5 kts
cruising speed) trawler-style boat, a Nordhavn 46.  

Gary:
Lots of folks make the trip in sailboats, almost entirely under power, so about the same speed as
you.  Particularly the uphill run (Northbound).  Your Nordhavn will take way
more punishment than either you or I will tolerate, let alone enjoy.  Given
skillful management and a modicum of ordinary luck it could make
passages that neither of us would contemplate in a sober moment.  

Alan asked:
What combination of wind speed, wind direction, wind
waves, and swell heights and frequency would you want
to see before heading on up the coast?   

Gary replies with a question:  

What conditions would you tolerate?  I have heard of nice flat water
passages but never actually seen one, and I have learned about twenty
foot swells out there too.  I advise studying the NOAA weather websites
for as long as you can prior to your trip, paying particular attention
to the winds and waves around Tatoosh Island (the upper left corner of
Washington) and of course the synopsis.  Keep notes, and pretty soon
you will catch on to the big picture, and sort out The north half of
the coast will have the highest seas and winds, and no useful havens
between Westport and Neah Bay.  Never go into La Push in anything but
balmy weather!  The fuel dock/marina available to us civilians closes in mid
September, and I don't know exactly when it opens in the spring, but I
have seen it up and running Memorial Day.  Somtimes you can sweet talk
the folks at the Native American fish packing dock into selling some
fuel, and I heard that a fuel truck can be brought to the dock off
season.  I have also heard of folks being unable to get fuel there off season.  I
would Google or 411 the marina and stick with their schedule.  



I suggest that you hang out in Astoria or Ilwaco while you time your
weather window, then make your first day's run a bar crossing and up to
Westport.  If needed, you can hang out there too, with fuel, some
supplies and a couple of nice restaurants close by.  Your big day will
be the run to Neah Bay.  I like to take the extra time to stay waaaaay
offshore for the whole Oregon and Washington coasts, away from the
minefields of crab floats.  Don't expect the tow boat lanes marked on
the chart to be free of crab traps, you just have to get into deep
enough water to dodge most of them. 

Your Nordhavn must have generous fuel capacity and the attendant great range, but even if you don't plan to refuel anywhere, I would still suggest ducking into Westport and Neah Bay.   

Alan:
The Columbia
Bar is a separate matter altogether, and I am not
seeking input on that here and now.  

Gary:
OK, but of course a bar crossing is the beginning of any such trip.  You can easilly time a nice slack water bar crossing in any weather that meets your criterion for the offshore trip.  

Alan:
What sort of forecast (in terms of the location and
direction of fronts and pressure systems) would you
look for?   

Gary:
No big storms heading my way.  In fact, no storms of any size scheduled.  Sounds trite, but that's it.  

Alan:
Typically, what's the earliest in the year that
reasonable conditions tend to prevail long enough to
make the passage safely?  

Gary:
Professional mariners, tug drivers, commercial fishers of all sorts, and such run offshore Washington and Oregon much of the year.  Yachties like us generally do this particular run in the summer.  Big yachts (a pal's 70 footer) find acceptable weather windows as late as November and as early as say February.  
 
Even with your long range (I assume), the crab pot situation suggests that you not run at night, so with daytime jaunts at your speeds you will need a short day to Westport, and a looong one to Neah Bay.  The run down the Straits is another longish day in following seas, at your speeds.  So, any three days of acceptable weather will do the job, and keep contingency plans to hunker down in Westport or Neah Bay waiting out some unpleasantness.  

The professional might do a straight through run by clearing the bar pre-dawn and following the big shipping (clear lanes, pretty much) out to maybe the hundred fathom line, then pressing hard following that line north all day until Tatoosh is abeam; turn right and set a course to give the reef north of Tatoosh a goodly clearance, then slip down the Straits close to the Washington shore to minimize the following seas and keep well clear of the controlled traffic lanes.  That should require at least two sharp eyed watchstanders who can get some quality sleep on a rolly boat.  They would still take much of two days, given the slowing on the northbound portion from wind, current, and bumpy water all on your nose -- and dodging the exciting things you find even out there (logs, lost fishing gear, tankers, etc).

Alan:
Of course, we'd all like to see winds below 20 kts
coming from a direction other than the north, no wind
waves, and swells under a meter for the duration of
the passage, but that probably doesn't happen often.

Gary:
Right.  If those were someone's hard and fast specific criteria, they would probably not get out much.  And by then it would be late summer.  

Understand that the wind and rain are local and have an immediate cause, today's weather.  The seas are the result of winds in the general region over the last several days, and the swells come from major storms all over the North Pacific, over the last couple of weeks (it seems to me).  

Alan: 
Thus my question - at what point do you head out, and
when do you stay in waiting for a better weather
window?

Gary:
Pure judgement call, based on your specific needs, wants and preferences.  From your questions, I presume that you have not made this run before, and have heard plenty of stories about it.  I think you need to bring one or more experienced folks along, professional delivery skippers or civilians, and that you should have the boat in Astoria or Ilwaco in mid to late May, watching for your window.  

Email me off the list for more input or swap phone numbers for a longwinded chat.  I might be able to go along.  



Thanks,

Alan Coogan
Portland, OR