"Matt Lang" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the info 
What is the actual danger one is faced with?
Current sucking you in the ocen? Wind sending you where you dont want
to be ? Size of waves to sink you? If waves are the danger will it
just eb uncomfortable or do they get big enough to sink a small
vessel?
Matt
(Gould 0738) wrote in message
...
3. Literature which would tell someone where one can go in a small (19
ft boat) and where you better dont go because of tidal, currant or
other dangers. Also descriptions with how and under which conditions
to cross the georgia straight and cruise the sunshine coast.
Your shortest crossing from the English Bay area is about 15.7 miles
from the
buoy off the mouth of the north arm of the Fraser River to the buoy off
the
Gabriola Reefs (near Silva Bay and Gabriola passage to Pylades Channel).
Run
214 degrees (m), from 49.16.6, 123.19.2 to
49.07.7, 123.39.3
19 foot boat? Good rule of thumb would be to try for an early morning
passage,
before the air gets hot and the thermals kick in.
Calm seas, and a high steady or better yet a high and rising barometer.
Never
feel like you "have to" cross the strait regardless of weather. Acquire
a VHF
radio and do not start across the strait, even under conditions that
seem OK,
without listening to the weather report and forecast. By listening to
the wind
speeds reported at various stations, you can get a fair idea of how
conditions
are on the other side of the Strait. We often cross to Garden Bay from
Nanaimo,
and I listen for reports from Merry Island and some other stations
before
making the final decision to go or no. If you are crossing where there
are
somestacks visible on the opposite shore, see if the smoke is rising
vertically
or blowing off horizontally as soon as it exits the stack- that's an
easy trick
for figuring out what the winds are doing on the other side of the
channel.
Remember that when you hear "small craft warnings" that you aren't
really a
small craft. You're a tiny craft. Boaters with 40-50 footers aren't too
proud
to wait until conditions are favorable for a crossing, and most do. With
a
19-footer, you almost have no choice except to pick your weather window
very
carefully.
The current floods "up channel" to the NW and ebbs to the SE, so know
what the
tide is doing. If the current is flooding against even a moderate
northerly,
(typical summer wind),
expect to encounter some choppier conditions. Conversely, much of an ebb
against a southerly creates the same effect.
If you're setting out without a lot of local knowledge, you might pick
up a
volume of the Coastal Pilot, or Sailing Directions, (whatever they call
it in
BC).
Wind causes waves. Nasty short period waves. They can either or both fill
the boat with water, or flip the boat. Neither is a good thing to have
happen. Especially in cold water.