Ahoy!
Our mild pleasant weather will continue this weekend as there are no weather systems heading our way. The air temperature will continue with daytime highs in the low 70s on the water, and the lows in the high 50s. Yet, the inland air temperatures will be about 10 degrees warmer in the daytime as the unseasonably cold Pacific Ocean cools the coastal areas..
The morning fog and marine layer should burn off by the afternoons, but it looks like the clouds might build throughout the weekend. Winds will be light from the west and blowing around 10 knots, for those wanting to sail the harbor. If you will be sailing in the harbor then you will feel tidal currents this weekend with a 3-foot difference between the low and high tides.
Our flat seas will build a little to maybe as high as 5-foot swells from the west with a slight southern kicker. The 1- to 2-foot wind waves will remain from the light breeze. The ocean temperatures have dipped again, and the Dana Point buoy is reading 62 degrees at the surface. But it is 86 degrees at a Western Caribbean buoy, which might get your mind to wander.
While we are looking at the sea buoys in the Caribbean, there are three active tropical cyclones with one passing over southern Mexico and two coming across the Atlantic that might affect the Caribbean Islands. Tropical Storm Karl will be moving up the mainland of Mexico and should be almost in the center by Sunday. While in the Atlantic, Hurricanes Igor and Julia should head up the Eastern Seaboard and not enter the Gulf. Both might remain far enough offshore to cause no damage, but that is anyone’s guess.
Many of you are curious as to who picks the names for tropical cyclones. Well, in a dark, secret room at the World Meteorological Organization, which is an agency of the United Nations, members probably wearing dark robs will gather to assemble the list of names. OK, not really. Actually, there are six annual name lists that repeat after the sixth year. The names are alphabetical beginning with a name that starts with “A,” then “B” – you get the drift. Names are retired if a storm by that name is deadly or causes heavy damage, like Camille. Now you know.
As always, with an eye to the north, boaters off Point Conception will see a northwest swell up to 8 feet with a 4-foot south that will make rounding the point a challenge for small craft. The northwest winds will blow between 15 to 20 knots, creating 2- to 3-foot wind waves..
I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful cool weekend and if the seas are calm then go whale watching.
Safe Voyages,
Mike Whitehead, Capt.
