I have a whaler tiller and I would cross the straight, but I wouldn't know if I would commit until I was out past sandheads or point grey by a mile or two. Then I would decide if the forecast was matching what I was seeing and feeling. In other words, I would never be able to commit to any plans because everything would be weather and sea state dependent. I must say I have had a little whaler for years and this one for 2.5 and I am still learning about how the boat handles in various conditions. I don't think it is realistic for anyone to jump in a new to him or her boat, go for a test drive, then start to make sketchy trips without accumulating a good number of shake down hours. NW is often high pressure steady wind; SE can be stormy and nasty and is no good either for a small boat BTW. Both would mean running in the trough, which requires your full attention and would make for a stressful trip in anything over 15 or so knot winds. Beach launch from tsawwassen ferry to active pass is probably the shortest passage to "safer" water. Not sure who would take care of your car.
i understand that - would not be scheduling any commitments to victoria before the trip - ive turned back from pitt before etc. i dont plan to use it as transportation either. expense is minimal - $3 worth of gas, $10 launch fee is not much. would toodle back to deep cove if the weather at the mouth of the fraser looked bad.
do you look at environment canada forecasts at all ? When they say 5-15 knots do you find the wind to be higher ? 20 knots seems too high to cross to me. also do you look at the mid strait buoy data for swell height or just guesstimate it ? wondering if a 0.6m swell would be considered too much vs 0.3m which is ok ?
Well said Jeffy. I agree with you and think Zurk is playing it smart by asking all the right questions, but I still think he is trying to steer in a direction he shouldn't be. The rule for engine power is the same rule for boat size. " There is no replacement dor displacement"Doesn't take much for the whitecaps to show up in the straight, I agree,in a 17' boston whaler montak I wound consider it, I have been in the straight when the ferry couldn't even dock and smashed sideways into the pilings at Tawassen. it is the unforeseen that will get you in trouble, I was out prawning yesterday and overheard a distress call from a boater near Victoria who had lost power. if you lost power in that 17' tinny and it was blowin 15-20 knots probably wouldn't take long before started taking water over the transom. Lots of bigger safer boats that you could look at in that price range.. Goodluck don't become a statistic..
what spacing do you look for ? for example it says wave period 3s height 0.5m right now - is that good or bad ?
if i saw whitecaps i would head home - those are scarey.
My general rule of thumb for ocean swells/waves is that I want the period in S to be at least 3-4 more than the height in feet. So for me, 1M (~3ft) swell @6 s is fine but 1M@3s is unpleasant. Similarly 2m @ 10s is OK, 2m@13s is beauty but 2m@7-8s is nasty. However, the main thing with the straits is tide against wind and the predictions of the waves created and the measurement of such is very dependent on where you're at. Tidal current with the wind flattens out the waves, against the wind it steepens them up. IMHO, the best thing one can do is to pay close attention to winds and tides the buoys over a period of time and see what the water actually looks like in the locations of interest under different sets of numbers. Eventually, you learn to correlate those numbers with what you see on the water for a given location. Whitecaps in and of themselves are not that scary, it's the steep waves and washtub motion that occurs at river bars, entrances to straits and in tide rips that can get scary.