As they say, you should have been here yesterday. It looks like the run of great sailing weather we’ve had will finally end this weekend which is unfortunate because it’s the first of the longer distance races in the Sound, the SYC Protection Island Race. As you can see from the surface forecast charts, the front which brought rain and wind to the area will have blown on through leaving us with no gradient over the Pacific Northwest and when you look at the MM5 charts you see a lot of variable winds for both Saturday and Sunday. There will be some breeze in the Straits late Saturday and early Sunday but that’s about it.
The good news is that you’ll be starting at about the time of the start of the big ebb of the day. If you’re at Protection Island or Double Bluff by 1800 hrs you can then ride the big flood of the day back to the finish at Shilshole. The bad news is that if you’re on the foredeck crew this is going to be a race with a lot of shifting of gears as you go back and forth between the L#1 and the kite.
Admiralty Inlet (off Bush Point) currents on Saturday
Currents in Admiralty Inlet for Sunday
Sorry for the bad news and the short report however I’m working in area with limited internet and limited access to a reliable connection. The good news is that the beer is cold and the margaritas are excellent!
For those of you on the Long course, if you have internet access on the boat and if you want the real time wind speed at Diamond Point which looks directly at Protection Island you can go to: https://rainwise.net/weather/bruce98136
This page also gives you barometric pressure and a weather radar shot so you can have some warning of when the westerly will be filling down the Straits.
Have a good weekend.
Ed. Note: Yeah, thanks a lot, Bruce, for not sending us more wind while you’re wastin’ away in Margaritaville.
