Let's talk cruising in British Columbia

[ChrisPuget]

Cruising is BC is fantastic. The weather seasons throughout the year are complicated and require focus/study to interpret the reports (stations,buoys, etc) and compare with the reality outside and how it applies to your situation. The weather is not controllable (obviously). What is controllable and will help secure an enjoyable cruise is a good anchor system, a good anchorage to sit out gales, and plenty of time. There are typically good bail out anchorages on most passages. Knowledgeable good use of currents makes them more of an asset than a hinderance, here again it helps to have the time to pick a desirable current.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Unless you want to go out on the wild, featureless, dangerous, open Pacific west coast of Washington state, it's a tiny area compared to BC and 'WAY too crowded! (Why do you think they all come up here when they can?).

Ok, I take back featureless. Let's say RELATIVELY featureless (and you can't get close most places).

Yup, coastal sailing in WA isn't really a thing unless you are just passing through. But the Sound is pretty interesting and really big and long. Like about 200 miles long. Close to 95% of the population lives on the Seattle side so the west side (and north and south) are not very crowded. There are some restaurants with free docks for customers which is a lot of fun and state parks on deserted islands only accessible by boat. Some state parks also have mooring buoys for a daily fee.
It ain't BC but WA has some of the best cruising in the US.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Yup, coastal sailing in WA isn't really a thing unless you are just passing through. But the Sound is pretty interesting and really big and long. Like about 200 miles long. Close to 95% of the population lives on the Seattle side so the west side (and north and south) are not very crowded. There are some restaurants with free docks for customers which is a lot of fun and state parks on deserted islands only accessible by boat. Some state parks also have mooring buoys for a daily fee.
It ain't BC but WA has some of the best cruising in the US.

It's all relative. It's still too crowded for me - but then I like anchorages where there is no one else for miles and miles.

[sv_pelagia]

BRITISH COLUMBIA (and all of Canada) WEATHER
Here's a "secret" (EC doesn't advertise it, but it is open to all) way to get very high-resolution (2.5 km resolution) forecasts for British Columbia:

VIZAWEB
https://weather.gc.ca/vizaweb/index_e.html

Strongly recommend you read introduction
https://weather.gc.ca/vizaweb/vizaweb_intro_e.html

Login:
User: vizaweb
Password: Bewaziv16!

See example in attached picture.

Select:
HRDPS ("HR" stands for high resolution...)
LAM_LOWER_MAINLAND ("LAM" stands for Limited Area...)
Category WIND
Images= Sfc wind or Marine etc
Fcst = All (or whatever time frame)

This will give forecast wind strength in knots by the hour. NOTE: time is UTC, so subtract 8 hrs for PST.

Apparently, land effects (capes, etc) are acounted for in the HRDPS-LAM models.

Play with it. It provides a lot more than the above!

PS Works well using cell phone data, files not large.
PPS There is a way to download these as grib2 files, but so far I haven't had success reading them.

[NedX]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

BRITISH COLUMBIA (and all of Canada) WEATHER
Here's a "secret" (EC doesn't advertise it, but it is open to all) way to get very high-resolution (2.5 km resolution) forecasts for British Columbia:

VIZAWEB
https://weather.gc.ca/vizaweb/index_e.html

Strongly recommend you read introduction
https://weather.gc.ca/vizaweb/vizaweb_intro_e.html

Login:
User: vizaweb
Password: Bewaziv16!

See example in attached picture.

Select:
HRDPS ("HR" stands for high resolution...)
LAM_LOWER_MAINLAND ("LAM" stands for Limited Area...)
Category WIND
Images= Sfc wind or Marine etc
Fcst = All (or whatever time frame)

This will give forecast wind strength in knots by the hour. NOTE: time is UTC, so subtract 8 hrs for PST.

Apparently, land effects (capes, etc) are acounted for in the HRDPS-LAM models.

Play with it. It provides a lot more than the above!

PS Works well using cell phone data, files not large.
PPS There is a way to download these as grib2 files, but so far I haven't had success reading them. Attachment 229471

Thanks for sharing this!

[Lodesman]

How does NOAA's viewer compare?: https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?obs=true&wfo=sew


Some other resources: https://a.atmos.washington.edu/marka/pnw.html

[paralog]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

Yes, it rains a lot (all the time in the winter) and winds are "fickle" (not so "fickle" late Fall thru Spring!).

Great anchoring, but... many anchorages get VERY crowded in July/August (especially if/when the border reopens).

We love it here (returned from west coast cruising Mexico earlier than planned because we prefer BC cruising).

But don't expect warm water, sunny days AND empty anchorages. Quiet anchorages being our goal, we go North....

Anchorages are empty north of Desolation sound which is best avoided during the summer as all the renters arrive and have not clue how to anchor and party all night. Port hardy to the Alaskan border you can be night after night the only boat in many anchorages.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

How does NOAA's viewer compare?: https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?obs=true&wfo=sew


Some other resources: https://a.atmos.washington.edu/marka/pnw.html

Well, I'm not familiar with what's available for USA (beyond NOAA marine forecasts) but

A quick look at the two links above: they do not seem to provide high-resolution forecasts. Not the 2.5km resolution of the HRDPS-LAM in VIZAWEB.

(However, I would be surprised if such high-resolution forecasts for USA were not available somewhere.)

But we're talking about British Columbia in this thread.

(The VIZAWEB also provides HRDPS-LAM forecasts for the Great Lakes, Atlantic Canada, and the Arctic.)

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by paralog

Port hardy to the Alaskan border you can be night after night the only boat in many anchorages.

That's my kind of cruising. I'm used to places where, seeing another cruising boat is a rare event that is cause for celebration. Most of the anchorages we visit are empty.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

But we're talking about British Columbia in this thread.

Oops. Your post in the Puget sound thread came back to this - meant to post it there.