Plenty going on this weekend, just not a lot in the weather department unless you’re tracking the tropics off of the Yucatan or off of southern Mexico in the Pacific. Hurricane season seems to be cranking up a little early this year and the water in those areas is plenty warm enough to maybe get something started.
Not so much in the Pacific Northwest. As you can see from both the surface charts and the 500MB charts there won’t be much going on except in the central and eastern end of the Straits. That’s because with a weak lobe of high-pressure offshore and a weak low-pressure system inland to the east of the Cascades we will get some afternoon and evening onshore flow down the Straits. This will create Small Craft warnings in those areas, fairly typical for this time of the year.
So for the Round Saltspring Race, there are always two questions: 1) Which way will the RC send us this year? (My guess, clockwise) and 2) Will the breeze in the Straits wrap around the Saanich Peninsula and make it up to Saltspring? (My guess, no.) The whole thing about Saltspring is that the event is a total hoot and you are guaranteed to have a great time. Just don’t go expecting a killer sailing event. That will be next weekend, Swiftsure. Saltspring is just in the wrong place for wind, the right place for some epic tidal currents and always attracts sailors with exactly the right, not too serious, attitude. Remember, fun is and always should be, the priority.
As we have discussed many times before on these pages, the onshore flow, when it’s coming straight onshore creates a problem of wind in the Sound because while it may be cranking down the Straits, it will also be weakly flowing through the Chehalis Gap and those flows will meet over the central Sound. For the POD regatta, with afternoon clearing, eventually a northerly will fill down the Sound. This could mean some nice sailing in the mid to late afternoon on Saturday. Expect the same for Sunday just probably filling later and with not as much wind.
For Swiftsure racers, I’ll have a delivery update for you on Wednesday and then a race update on Friday. I’ll also be providing the weather for the skippers meeting on Friday afternoon. If you’re up there, say hello!
Have a great weekend.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography and learned meteorology “to keep from getting kicked around on the race course.” Bruce spent nearly two decades as Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)