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Old 03-10-2024, 15:37   #1
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Location: Vancouver Island BC Canada
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PNW

Hi.
Seeking 1st hand experience from folks who have made the passage from S. F to Port Angeles in late October beginning of Nov. Air temp. frequency of wind southerly / northers ? My thoughts are to do a costal trip.
50ft sail Yanmar 62 hp avg. 6 kts, good Auto pilot.
Tkz
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Old 03-10-2024, 18:45   #2
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Re: PNW

Fall has a lot of nice, mostly flat days, but you need to watch the weather forecast. I use windy.com mostly because I want to know the wind condition that determines the sea state. You need to know what ports you can safely get into if the weather turns bad. There aren't many good anchorages on the way. Most of those are close to SF like Drakes and Bodega. Usually you can get into Fort Bragg and Crescent City. North of that, all harbors have bars to cross. The bars are fine in calm weather and fisherman cross them almost every day. But I don't recommend them to yachtsmen unless they're experienced.
La Push can be entered when the weather is coming from the NW but the bar is closed when it gets heavy from the SW. There are islands that block the NW going in. Neah Bay is easy and you're home free.
I run 25 miles off the coast in deep water, usually 1000 fathoms. Swells get bigger as they approach shallower water. It's safer. You have time to call the CG or make repairs before you wash up on shore.
My usual trip is Astoria north and I make Neah Bay in one jump. Sometimes all the way to Port Angeles where I fuel before going into Canada.
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Old 03-10-2024, 19:53   #3
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Re: PNW

Can it be done? Probably. A good plan? Absolutely not. Wait till spring or put it on a truck.
October November one system after another expect strong winds and big seas.
Not many places to stop or wait if weather turns to crap. Which it will.
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Old 03-10-2024, 20:49   #4
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Re: PNW

You can do it, but you must be totally open-ended on your time frame.
Get a good 2>3-day forecast, you haul a** to the next port.
All the while knowing that whatever port you stop in that you might sit there for a week or more.
We'll soon be starting to get into the time frame when the good weather windows are shorter and further apart.
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Old 05-10-2024, 06:02   #5
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Re: PNW

Not a lot of response.
Not a lot of people have done this trip in Late Oct or November for good reason.
San Francisco to Cape Flattery is give or take a bit 1000 Nautical Miles.
At 6 knots that going to take a while.
Against the current. Not a strong current 0.5 to a 1 knot maybe a bit more bugger all to a fast boat but you got a slow boat. It will make a difference.
Next its more or less 1000 miles North.
So it might be nice in SF the Chances of it being nice getting less and less the further N you go.
Prevailing wind is SW but that's not the issue. And its not an advantage.
Temp yes it drops as you go north it probably won't be cold. Anywhere from average 10 or 15. or 50 to 60 ish

October ish traditionally the supposed experts with computers and such, start suggesting, I cross the Pacific North of the Aleutians to avoid bad weather. They do tend to be full of BS but the idea is the North pacific weather systems have moved and are moving further south. Well south by November.
Hence good weather theoretically N of the Aleutians.
Which also means the Bad weather is down of the west coast of Canada and the PNW.

My sailboat insurance, When i took my own boat up the coast (In June).
No problem I was insured from 200 miles offshore Columbia to 60 North. So long as i was not in an area with named storms.
There wont be any named storms. they are pretty much done by late oct and are very unlikely to cross into the pacific anywho.
Named storms are relatively small and easily avoided. If you can go bit faster than 6 knots.
North Pacific Storms can be well over a thousand miles across and way to big to go.
round. They tend to have big long frontal systems extending out.
Wind and seas can be big.
Some of these storms began life with an micronesian butterfly or whatever turned into a Tropical something before getting to the china sea recurving and heading east.
so some of the worst storms of the year. October November.

Oh well you might just time it right. look at windy. Windy for tomorrow probably quite good.
Between now and tomorrow you might get 100 miles.
A couple of days out, its a good educated guess.
That guess is less educated every day.
You need 10 days.

You can stop somewhere,

Stops a few and far between. most have some slight restrictions. Such as avoid the bar in bad weather.
Bad weather being precisely when you start think maybe we should pull in someplace and wait.

What are the warning signs of bad weather. SE wind going S and SE so the favourable prevailing wind is your first warning the weather is going to turn to crap. soon.
There is almost always a swell.
By itself not a big deal. might turn you or your crew a bit green but otherwise just annoying.
There is rarely only one swell.
The wind waves are the ones to worry about.
Hey maybe you will be lucky it wont exceed gale force.
An offshore gale will beat the heck out of your boat gear and crew.

Have you sailed a boat off a lee shore into the gale force wind?
Are you and your crew ready to do so.
The whole coast is a lee shore.

Its ok the wind will be from the North some of the time. which will slow you down just like the current. But at least the wind will be easing and the weather improving.
20 25 miles of the west coast.
typically. When the wind dies.
Fog.
well at least it aint windy.

You can probably pick a few nice days when you leave. and its probably not to bad down near SF.
But you are going up to Oregon and Washington and that 500 miles away and you will still have 500 to go. At 6 knots 5 being more realistic.

November is not a good plan.

Admit I spend my time a bit further N.

The Inside Passage, Puget Sound. November no worries I can hang out in sheltered waiting for a weather window.

Your plan is to be out in the open ocean at the wrong time of year hoping you don't get caught out. Off a Lee shore where a significant no of the ports you might seek shelter in have bars specifically advising against entry in bad weather.
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