Crossing Georgia Strait

Alex_c

Well-Known Member
I'm sure this has been asked a bunch, and maybe I am stupid for even considering it, but I was thinking about crossing the strait in my boat to maybe hunt for some Lings. I have a 16' Lifetimer CC with a 50 HP Yamaha, so it's pretty heavy and seaworthy for its size. Obviously being on top of the weather is important, but not sure if it's worth it in a small boat. Anyone make the crossing in a smaller boat on calm days?
 
i do it in 40 min on a good day. last
sunday was real close to the limit
with north westerly winds gusting
over 20 k and swells over 6 ft......

almost dead calm by the afternoon
made coming back much more enjoyable

make sure your safety risk management
is up to grade. and when all plans in
place tell some one and check in when
possible if u dont have a radio
 
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When I first started out I would run across in a 17 ft lifetimer and a 50 tiller...with a Honda kicker from Tsawwassen to Active or Polier pass either on the back side up...or flat days on the outside.... pick your days .....
 
When I first started out I would run across in a 17 ft lifetimer and a 50 tiller...with a Honda kicker from Tsawwassen to Active or Polier pass either on the back side up...or flat days on the outside.... pick your days .....

Hey, great to know. Used to run a riveted 14' aluminum so I am very aware of picking my days. Had a few wet rides home from T10 after it picked up on an incoming tide, heading up the north arm.
 
I have never run into anything really bad out in the strait, although driving head on into waves can make for a really slow, long crossing. I've seen some scary water at the mouth of the Fraser, so I would avoid that in a small boat.

I cross a lot and in all kinds of weather; in April one of the crossings was on day 3 of 25kt winds and it was rough. Nearly four hours to cross in a 20' double eagle. I would not have wanted to do it in anything smaller.

But if you pick your days it can be near glass out there. Those days are actually pretty predictable, too. I use a basic calendar app for tracking it but it goes like this:

Tuesday to Thursday most weeks dead calm
Mondays and Fridays are usually calm unless it's a long weekend
Saturdays and Sundays and any day you book off work it's blowing 20-30 knots

In fact the best weather for crossing seems to be early fall. September to mid-October I've seen days that you could cross in a canoe.

Unless, of course, you've planned a trip, in which case you will get an early winter storm.
 
Oh god, too much truth there. I usually don't even bother to ask people to come fish until the night before, since making plans seems to be directly correlated with winds over 20.
 
we use to hide behind a BC ferry Victoria boat on the rough days..just had to watch out for the odd log popping up .. there was a couple other tricks but best not to say on the forum... :)
 
In a 16 footer, depending on tides, anything over 11 or 12 knots will be annoying. Anything over 15 knots, I would not bother crossing. Once things get over 2.5/3 feet most boats won't even bother crossing to fish. The ebb tide comes from the North and the flood comes from the South. If you keep this in mind, you can save yourself quite a bit of pounding.
 
It's workable but you really have to do your home work before heading out. I normally launch out of steveston where the crossing is the shortest and you don't have to worry about tide level. I might also add that the distance between the dock and the light house is relatively protected. The night before heading out, I would check two websites for a forecast of wind: big wave dave and environment canada. Do it again in the morning before leaving your house. If the forecast is favorable then its a go. At the dock, before launching, check SailFlow, another app that gives very accurate current conditions. This way you won't be surprised when you hit the open water at sand head. Anything over 10k I would not recommend going, especially for a boat that size. Good luck and safe boating!
 
It's workable but you really have to do your home work before heading out. I normally launch out of steveston where the crossing is the shortest and you don't have to worry about tide level. I might also add that the distance between the dock and the light house is relatively protected. The night before heading out, I would check two websites for a forecast of wind: big wave dave and environment canada. Do it again in the morning before leaving your house. If the forecast is favorable then its a go. At the dock, before launching, check SailFlow, another app that gives very accurate current conditions. This way you won't be surprised when you hit the open water at sand head. Anything over 10k I would not recommend going, especially for a boat that size. Good luck and safe boating!

Awesome, I have been looking for some alternatives to enviro canada, both those sites seem pretty useful.
 
crossed several of times in my 17 Calais 15o suzuki , 9,9 merc kicker ( loved that boat )
, the late 80's 90's with the sewells fleet mostly when i worked there , buddy boat as much as possible ,
, just pick your days , wknds carefully,
good friend followed me in his 14 footer with a 15 hp a few times,
camped out for a night or 2 over there ,had 2 stay an extra night once or twice due to weather lol
the good ol days !! didnt give a **** , FISH HARD !!


fd
 
Where do you camp? Would love to incoporate that into my trips this summer. Have boat camped a ton on the Fraser but never on the ocean. Not sure how to keep the boat from getting messed up by tide and waves aside from anchoring in a sheltered bay.
 
An easy trip for a boat that size!

Any boat can make it to the sacred grounds so long as the weather and water is decent...

Used to fish off renfrew in a 12' tinner and have had our 16' out in swiftsure and Ukee.

You are good to go!
 
Where do you camp? Would love to incoporate that into my trips this summer. Have boat camped a ton on the Fraser but never on the ocean. Not sure how to keep the boat from getting messed up by tide and waves aside from anchoring in a sheltered bay.

dionisio bay galiano has some nice camping. No dock and is exposed to a NW wind. We had a family cabin at the north end of galiano and used to run the zodiac through the pass and spend the day at the beach there and occasionally camp as well.
 
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