Other than the usual madness, not much is going on this weekend which makes it the perfect time to go for a short cruise. The anchorages aren’t crowded, the wind will be light and there won’t be much rain.
We have a nice ridge of high pressure just inland from the coast as well as a 1040MB high in the Gulf of Alaska. Both of these features as well as the jet stream will serve to keep us fairly dry.
This is currently a weak offshore flow that will continue through the day however by tomorrow a weak onshore flow will develop as the high in the Gulf of Alaska becomes a more dominant feature.
As the offshore high weakens and the inland high strengthens to 1052MB this will bring a strong Fraser River outflow to the Salish Sea along with a chance of snow on Sunday as that flow interacts with the moisture coming in from the Pacific.
Next week we will announce the Sailish.Com Boat of the Year recognizing excellence in sailing. The Committee is hard at work deciphering hundreds of race results and applying those to a fairly complicated formula. Thank goodness it’s the Holiday Season and there is plenty of eggnog available.
Enjoy the weekend and if you go out on the water, be safe.
Ed. Note: In addition to Boat of the Year (oh yeah Bruce we’ll have to do those difficult quantifications over a beer or three) we will announce various TA (Totally Arbitrary, what did you think) awards to sailors, luminaries, industry folk, do-gooders etc. Nominations welcome.
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)