Chuck asked: *What is the water temperature in Gonzales Bay?* If it was above 50 degrees Fahrenheit I'd be surprised. More typically, 47 to 49 is the norm for any of the waters around the Strait of Juan de Fuca. My last reading from Haro Strait (15 miles away), three weeks ago was 48 degrees F at the surface. The PNW's version of the Gulfstream goes from bottom to top, not south to north. As the inland waters of the State of Washington and the Province of British Columbia are immediately adjacent to the North Pacific we are assured of continuous flow of cold ocean water. The depths in the inland waters are hundreds and even thousands of feet deep, and the Pacific itself drops precipitously to many thousands just off the coastline a few miles. Upwelling occurs in the spring and summer months. That is where cold, plankton rich bottom water billows to the top, thus maintaining the brisk surface temps. That's why the whales feed in northern waters. Immersion apparell always. The area around Gonzalez Bay, Point, etc., ranges from 7-36 fathoms deep, with depths at the head of Juan de Fuca in the 60-100 fathoms range. I quote the following from my San Juan current guide: *severe tide rips form off Trial Island, especially on the flood, which attains a velocity of 3-6 knots during large tides* The new moon was Friday 4-12-02. The following tides would have qualified as large. The winds in the inland waters were severe. Anyway, Trial Island is more the scene of BCU 4 and 5 star training, not rec boat surfing. Not that these guys would have consulted the current charts, but had they, they would have seen Tide Rip, Heavy Tide Rips, Races and Overfalls plastered all over the chart. I'm looking at it now and scarcely an inch of space goes by without some kind of dire warning. A fun place to paddle-if you are prepared. Rob Gibbert *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Apr 15 2002 - 15:19:55 PDT
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