Just to qualify this a bit, I have pretty extensive experience using Environment Canada Forecasts over the last 20 years.
The farther you go into the future, the less accurate the forecast becomes. I'm not too sure what EC was forecasting, but with the big blow and rain we had at the end of the week, and with an area of High Pressure approaching. One should expect NW'ly winds to start. Once that are of High Pressure is upon us, the NW'ly flow will ease.
Forecasts are never downgraded. If they are calling for NW15, and it does not develop, do not expect it to change until the next forecast is issued. If winds were stronger than forecast, a revised forecast would be issued.
A Forecast is only part of the picture. You should also be trying to obtain actual conditions in you area, either on land or from the Light Stations, Buoys, and Automatic stations in the area. Georgia Strait is a big area, the wind itself will not blow the same in a protected area as it will in the open. So in my part of the world, if I wanted to go fish GreenSea, and could stand the pounding up Johnstone Strait, I could guess the water will be relatively flat during a NW'ly, because of the Geography of the area. The ride up will be miserable as hell though.
The forecast is not issued with your fishing trip in mind, it is issued to save your butt. So more often than not you will find yourself frustrated that it never turned out as bad as forecast. A change from 5 knots to 15 knots is not that significant in the bigger picture. The guy in the 16 footer will disagree.
Enviroment Canada came up with a real good guide for Mariner's a while back. It is cheap and I'd recommend getting it. It is called Marine Weather Hazards Manual: West Coast, and you should be able to pick it up in any nautical book section of a store. You should also explore their website and try to get a better understanding of what their forecasts are all about.
http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/weather/marine/pacific_e.html.
Too many people rely on "the weather channel", "the radio", or other internet sites. My biggest gripe with EC's site is they do not have the Automatics, Lights, or Buoys, available to the public. I too, get frustrated with their forecasts at times, but a better understanding helps in making better decisions.
