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We had our first day of 70°F yesterday so that’s a start. Now at least until Tuesday we’ll have highs in the mid to upper 60°F range with very little precip to worry about. Although it may not be too early to start worrying about what this summer might be like especially when we look at the upper air chart for next week.

Today’s surface analysis shows our normal springtime mix of highs, lows and stalled fronts. Today won’t be as warm as yesterday as a weak low pressure system will move over us tonight and into tomorrow morning. You can already see the leading edge creep over us as we have gone from a beautiful clear morning to an afternoon of high clouds. This also shows up very clearly on the satellite image. While we’ll have our usual pattern of a light breeze in the morning building to a nice 10-15-knot northerly late this afternoon, this will all change tomorrow with the possibility of some light rain around the area. It will also bring a southerly flow to the area may be as much as 15-knots in the center Sound. This will decrease in the late afternoon as an onshore flow develops in the Strait of JdF.

By Sunday morning the breeze will be light but as the onshore flow comes down Admiralty Inlet we can expect another northerly in the Sound by late afternoon.

The other chart of interest today is the 48hr surface forecast chart (19 Apr) which shows a nice round 976mb low-pressure system in the central Pacific aimed right at the Pacific Northwest. This will weaken as it runs into our 1019mb high that will be in place, protecting the Salish Sea until about late Tuesday or early Wednesday when the remnants of the attached frontal system will drag over us possibly bringing some light rain.  

Another chart of interest is todays 500mb which shows a zonal jet stream until about the longitude of Hawaii where it does a 90° turn to the north leaving a cutoff upper air low-pressure system in mid-Pacific, very unusual. Gradually that big bend in the jet stream will disappear and the flow will return to more zonal but well to the south of us which will slow the heating in the upper atmosphere and keep our area in a cooler, more unstable weather pattern. This will keep soil temperatures a little low and slow growth which is probably a good thing however we may have a bit more moisture than normal. Also a good thing, especially if you live in California.

Regardless of the weather, I do know I’d really like to get back out on the water! So let’s keep our fingers crossed that maybe Wednesday night racing can finally get started!

Be safe and stay healthy!

Bruce Hedrick

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)

Matt and Charley explained what happened Saturday…..

CYC Race Committee Statement
On Abandonment of
2020 Blakely Rocks Race

As all participants are aware, the 2020 Blakely Rocks Race was abandoned by the RC. As the first boats reached the north mark (mark N) scheduled to be located 1 NM East of VTS lane marker SF, the RC was informed that the mark was drifting. The RC immediately dispatched a whaler to check on the mark, but before the whaler arrived on station, subsequent communication from the fleet indicated that the mark was, indeed, in the shipping lanes.

As the whaler was dispatched, approximately 4 miles south of the mark, a Matson container ship was northbound, moving at roughly 20 knots. As Principal Race Officer, I made the decision to abandon the race for safety and USCG permit compliance reasons.

As conditions were ( clearly ) ideal for racing, our initial thinking was to stage an abbreviated race with a course like SWNF or SWQF. Unfortunately, the Sailing Instructions precluded any starts after 1400 hours. This situation was unanticipated in the SI’s.

Both CYC and I are always learning from conditions and situations that arise to ensure better race experiences for the community. We are aware that the N mark has posed challenges in the past, and have been able to address them. Saturday it did not work out in our favor. The sound is very deep in that area, more than 700 feet in many locations, and that combined with scope means that there is 1,000 or more feed of line between the mark and the bottom weight (a 30lb lead ball). That much line itself creates a lot of drag in the current, and kelp or other things also get caught on it, breaking the anchor free and causing unpredictable movement. We are discussing moving the location of this mark further east into shallower water.

We will explore maintaining a whaler in the area to observe the mark. There are significant challenges with this that we will need to work through. The whalers are exposed, and 2 or 3 hours minding the mark in this location can be conditionally challenging. Out of prudence, approximately 1 hour before the abandonment, the RC dispatched a whaler to confirm the status of N, which was confirmed. In the interim, the mark must have moved.
Action items from lessons learned include:

Altering SI for this event to allow for restarts post-1400 hours.
Utilizing alternative locations to the North in more manageable locations.
Altering anchor configurations for deep water deployment.
Maintain whalers on station at said marks to ensure SI and safety compliance.

You have my personal apologies, and on behalf of CYC, for the outcome of Saturday’s race. We look forward to seeing all of you on March 21 for the Scatchet Head race.

Sincerely,
Charley Rathkopf CYC Senior Principal Race Officer
Matthew Wood CYC Race Fleet Captain

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.

This recent sea lion escapade amused countless people online, though none of us here in the PNW can be very surprised. Here’s a nice little piece with the owner, who, shall we say, is seeing the humor in the situation.

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.

As Sailish readers who were following the Hamachi Hawaii exploits this year, this PNW nailed it in the 50th Transpac, winning overall. (BTW, thanks to Jason Andrews and the gang for giving reports). They’re going to be speaking at Corithian YC/Seattle about their adventures. Here’s the flyer.

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.

As the rains settle in here in the northwest, it’s worth checking in with PNW cruisers “out there.” This little photo by Cathy Sherwood is of Neiafu Harbor, Tonga. She and Kent Powley are on the big cruise. If you have a cruising shot from out there you’d like to share with PNW sailors, send it.

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.