Today's Boating Weather Forecast

C

Catman

New member
Terrible! Not that I was inclined to leave work and boat today anyway, but winds around Puget Sound hit 50 MPH on Whidbey Island. Boiling blue-green water topped with menacing whitecaps were fueled by steady 30 to 40 MPH southwest winds. Street lights swayed forward and back on heavy black lines that undulated like a teenager's emotions. Fallen leaves raced down streets like a flock of starlings and refuse, garbage lids, branches and more swirled around on this surreal afternoon, hitting cars and creating a menacing unrest. Nope, not a good day to boat anywhere near Seattle today.
:rose2
 
The Bremerton Fast Ferry to Seattle announced twice it was suspending operations because of high wind, first late in the morning, and second late in the afternoon. I was a little puzzled as the better forecasts warned winds would peak 4-7pm.

The big ferries simply shrug it off, sometimes taking a couple tries getting into the slip if wind and currents make it really hard. I was on a ferry landing in Seattle last year at the peak of winds, and was impressed how they did it.

We went down to our slip and ensured lines were snug. I was volunteering at DAV so actually it was wife, and she said several people were about and assisting anyone who needed help. We of course are on inlets to the central Puget Sound, and have a fetch of only a little more than a mile or two.
 
Wow, Mark, that must have been an extremely sad, awful accident site. A young mother and a little girl just two years old. Plus the injuries to a third.

Front page news today claimed 83 MPH winds in Haro Strait. Actually, it read "the" Haro Strait, meaning the reporter isn't from here. Not unlike news newbies serving up bits about the I-5, the 405, the Puget Sound, Pike's Market, Boeings and more. We must be grammatically vigilant, after all.
 
The left coast is finally catching up. We've been dealing with storms one after the other for the past 3 months. Harvey....Irma.......Jose........Maria........

Hope you guys are okay over there. Looks bad.
 
Wow, Mark, that must have been an extremely sad, awful accident site.
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It was horrible, Brock. I've been "on the job" for over 20 yrs. I've seen crap, garbage, death, misery, horror, sadness, blood, guts...

Last night will forever remain with me. The victim was not perfect. She had a felony record. But she was now a mother. A loved one. A sister. A daughter. On and on. I can tell you it left the same mark on every firefighter, deputy, medic and citizen there...even our chaplain. She was treated with the utmost dignity and respect...even when we had to cut the car apart to get her out. It makes one ponder God. Ten seconds sooner...ten seconds later...it would have been merely scary. To deal with the total misery of her fiance was draining. The only grace is her daughter was unharmed and hopefully, will remember none of it.

Like I said; KISS your love ones.
 
It's not really as spooky as it looks. The Keystone Ferry Terminal on Whidbey Island has an inlet such that photos can be taken like this one where the ferry looks dangerous near shore since the ferry must be driven onto the shore.....well, not really, but it looks that way since the ferry must drive into a kind of narrow estuary to reach the dock, and would hit the shore if the opening were not there.
 
Today's forecast? Smashing, indeed! In fact, the entire Puget Sound has been bathing in Hawaiian-like sunshine for a whole week. And the weather mavens tell us another week of the bright stuff awaits us. Not much wind, either.

Therefore, I'm practically obligated to putter about the San Juans for the next three days, beginning tomorrow morning. After all, MikeR can't have the whole playpen to himself every weekend.
:hot
 
Catman":1moq52w7 said:
Therefore, I'm practically obligated to putter about the San Juans for the next three days, beginning tomorrow morning. After all, MikeR can't have the whole playpen to himself every weekend.
:hot
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Hey now mister, I'm not too keen on the idea of sharing the winter playpen. But, since the weather will be so nice again this weekend, I guess we'll just have to share. How about you take Stuart Island, and I'll take Sucia. Sound like a plan?

-Mike
 
Enjoy Catman! We got 4-5 inches of snow where I live (Birmingham, AL) today. I'm heading to the boat Thursday for a ten days of exploring.
 
Mike, it's a deal. Now that's the kind of island population distribution I can get jiggy with.
Ken, I like to think I have some sense of geography, but I guess not. Four to five inches of snow in Birmingham? I'm not sure I knew that happened in your region. Oh, pardon me. You mean Birmingham England.
 
Greetings from Key West!
Week 1 of 5 here ends with daily highs of 80-82 degrees and every day with blue skies and sunshine. Friday boated 25 miles west to Boca Grande key, rare 18 hours of 5-10 knots from the south, seas 1-2 feet, and NO, we were NOT tempted to keep going to Dry Tortugas.
Today a nasty vicious cold front is passing with lows tonight to 61 degrees...BRRRRRR! Luckily we brought the West Marine heater for just this sort of cold weather emergency!
Key West is well on the recovery from Ike. There are some roadside debris piles being removed even on Saturdays. A few hotels have gut job damage but the vast majority are open and begging for tourists.
Stock Island Marina is $43/nite for us including $10 for power. We're plugged in to a 50amp/250v pedestal with our adapter (thanks for the research, Bob!). Wide, clean, bird-free floating concrete docks with 40 foot finger piers, clean showers with AC, hourly courtesy van transport into town should you wish to imbibe, dual axle- trailer storage $10/day at City Marina (best ramp for a TomCat, but you have to boat circle Key West, Cow Channel too tricky).
I-75, I-95 and the Turnpike are all white-knuckle trailering experiences the first few times. What works best for us is an absolute top speed of 60MPH in the far right lane (of 6-12 lanes) with Eileen's full time job of calling out merging traffic...but going this slow it's easier for them to pull ahead on seeing how slow we're going.
The water is clear and 78 degrees, nature is healing herself quickly and ya'll should come down and spend your tourist boat units helping these conchers recover!
Keys Strong!
John
 
The ocean is flat around Redondo Beach with calm winds. We went out yesterday and plan to go north in the Santa Monica Bay tomorrow. All we have to do is get used to the smell of smoke that is permeating everything right now.
Vets_zpsw3z4yfmi.jpg
 
gulfcoast john":292tital said:
We're plugged in to a 50amp/250v pedestal with our adapter (thanks for the research, Bob!).
John
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Ok, we need to talk. My second 50amp to 30amp adapter does not fit/work. The 50amp side does not connect! I thought I had it figured out this time. What am I doing wrong?

I hope you are enjoying the Keys!!! I should be down there but work (sucks) and I can only take 10 days off this December.
 
Hi Ken!
Marinas (excluding RV parks and campgrounds) may have 50 amp 125v or 50 amp/250v pedestals. A Conntek mod 17513, 1.5 ft 50amp 125/250v (EITHER) to 30 amp female adapter will handle either. NOT model 17511, which is 50amp/125v ONLY at the same price.

The 50amp side is NEMA ss2-50p, the std 30amp female is NEMA l5-30-R.
$93.03 Amazon Prime or Home Depot free delivery to store.

Boatersplus.com HighTide HT-7731 at $72.99 appears to have SS2-50P and L5 30-r specs, but I have had good luck with Conntek, seems as well made as Marinco at half the price.

Even for Brats with 30 amp shorepower on a budget, the ability to use ANY pedestal (OK, 100 amps for mega-yachts) in the Big Boy section for $93 broadens your flexibility.

This does not translate to RV camping/RV generators/RV adapters.

Thanks to Bob Austin for the advice and contacting his big boat buds re the best option ie 50amp 125/250v option.

At this cheap price, I'm not comfortable 'rolling my own', but Bob did it all the time overseas where every country has a different connector scheme.

John
 
Thank you John and I hope you are having a wonderful time in the Keys. Wish I was there!!

I'll be on my boat later this week and see where I went wrong. I'll post pics and what I have. I thought I researched it and I spent a while talking to the guy at West Marine but when I tried it a couple of weeks ago it would not connect to the 50amp power at two marinas.
 
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