Last year I took three trips up to Sekiu and on each trip I ran into bad water. I don't mind the swells it is the wind waves that keep me off the water.

I expect to make several trips up to Sekiu and Neah Bay this summer but would like to know how to increase my odds of getting up there and enjoying relatively calm water.

Before making the four-five hour drive, what weather information do you guys look at?

For example.... suppose I wanted to fish in Neah Bay tomorrow and Tuesday... I'm reading that Monday should be okay, but that the wind will build on Tuesday. Would you go tomorrow or would you put the trip off for better weather?

http://www.nwboating.com/wx/coastal_marine_forecast.tpl

I would head out there. even if you cant get out in the ocean, theres fish in tight too. Plan on being off the water by 3pm as the wind builds late all through the strait.

Great information on that website. Now... at what level do you say... "Don't go. Wait for better weather."

Wind waves of 1 or 2 feet aren't bad, but I think a 3 foot wind wave can be very uncomfortable depending on steepness of course. I notice they call for 3-5' wind waves in Central Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is Sekiu, right?

And how does the offshore swell impact Sekiu and Neah Bay? Is it the same? If you notice, a 6 or 7 ft swell at 9 seconds is in the forcast. Isn't that in addition to the wind wave?

Does this mean that on Tuesday we are looking at potentially a 7' swell with 5' wind waves? Yikes...

I'm just trying to understand this information. All guidance is welcome.

ET - I'm not an expert but I think your understanding is right.....5 foot wind waves on top of a 7 foot swell. The other piece is swell timing. A big swell with long times between waves isn't necessarily bad.

Hopefully other people can comment, but I've heard anything big (10+ foot swells) with less than ten second timing is getting rough. There are lots of shades of gray though and experience helps.

Regarding forecasts I usually check the NOAA marine forecasts (using the NOAA site) and may check data from any weather buoys near where I am boating.

A site I like is this one - http://152.80.49.204/CGI/ww3_all.cgi?color=b&type=prod&area=npac&prod=sig_wav_ht You can see what wave action is developing in the whole North Pacific. Then you have your Bouy site http://seaboard.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Northwest.shtml which gives you realtime information. Then there's always the NOAA site http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/seattle/ where you just click on your area of interest. They all work about the same.

Thanks!! That FNMOC site is awesome!