Waldron travel conditions

Wind and seas come from NOAA's hourly marine forecasts (hourly forecast, about 7 days out), then the NWS regional forecast for the San Juan Islands where those run out. Currents and tides are NOAA predictions, available for any date through December 30, 2028. For trips today, wind and seas on some legs are also corrected with live observations from Cherry Point pier (NOAA), Saturna Island East Point (Environment and Climate Change Canada), the Southern Georgia Strait buoy (NOAA 46303) and the Sandy Point cabin station. Canadian data courtesy of Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Times are Pacific. Daylight saving time is applied by date, so a trip, forecast, tide or current after a time change uses the right offset.

Seas are modeled significant wave height, accurate to about ±30–50%. The sea bands start from height: calm under 0.2 ft, light to 0.5, moderate to 1.5, choppy to 2.5, rough above. Seas of 1 ft or more that are steep or breaking move up one band, and moderate or bigger seas that are long and gentle move down one. A leg marked steep got its color from a steeper stretch than the tallest seas shown. The model leaves out tide rips off points and reefs, and any swell from Juan de Fuca.

Current and time underway. Current is along your track: + pushes you, − holds you back. On the Waldron row it is the current in the channel off it. Underway time runs marina to Waldron or Waldron to marina. On the way out it includes the minutes from your berth out to the route: 8 at Cap Sante, 5 at Friday Harbor, Sandy Point Marina and Skyline, 3 at Deer Harbor and Orcas Landing. On the way back it includes the first 5 minutes at 6 kt while the engine warms up (marked warm-up), plus the minutes from the route back to your berth. At a cruise speed under 6 kt there is no warm-up. A leg marked slow assumes you throttle back in big seas: head seas over 2 ft, beam over 3 ft, following over 4 ft.

Marina, dinghy and dock ratings use sustained wind and gusts (G). The dinghy scale, also used for Waldron Dock, runs to 18 kt for Challenging and also counts the wind chop there. Wind from the sheltered side counts at half strength: NW through NE at the Sandy Point buoy, N through E at the dock, W through N at Mail Bay. The Orcas Landing float is open to the south and east: wind from ENE through SSW counts at 1.3 times its strength there.

Tides. The Waldron tide shows red at 1 ft or below at the buoy and Mail Bay. At the dock it shows only when below −1 ft, where the float gets shallow. At Sandy Point Marina the inlet tide shows red under 5 ft, since the entrance has shoaled to about 2 ft at the lowest tides.

Same-day corrections. On the day of travel, legs near a live station are shifted by the difference between what the station measures and what was forecast for its spot:

• Cherry Point: the Lummi Bay legs and Sandy Point Marina
• Saturna: the northern legs from Matia to north President Channel, and Mail Bay
• the cabin station: the Sandy Point buoy and Waldron Dock. Saturna stands in when the wind is from NW through NE, where the hedge shelters the cabin station.

The shift is full strength for legs starting now and fades out by 6 hours ahead. Within 2 hours, the measured wind direction is used. When the Strait buoy shows NW seas running, exposed northern legs can be marked rougher than the wind-only model shows. If a station isn't reporting, the leg uses the plain forecast.

n/a means the wind isn't forecast that far out yet.

Your choices are remembered in cookies kept in your browser for a year: the marina and Waldron landing you last picked, your last cruise speed, and whether fuel prices show diesel or gas. They only set the page's starting values, and the site doesn't use them for anything else.

Visits and trip checks are counted anonymously. Your browser keeps a random ID with no name attached, and the site records the days you visit and which routes you check, to see how the site is used. It doesn't collect names, email addresses or IP addresses. There are no ads or outside tracking services.

To reset: clear this site's data in your browser settings. That removes the saved choices and starts a new anonymous ID.

October 6, 2026

• Miscellaneous bug fixes.

October 5, 2026

• Four more places to leave from: Deer Harbor, Friday Harbor and Skyline marinas, and the Orcas Landing float, each with its own route.
• Live corrections for trips today: for today's trips, wind and seas near Cherry Point, Saturna Island, the Strait buoy and the Sandy Point cabin station are adjusted using what those stations are actually measuring right now.
• New top line: Waldron tide (with ↑/↓ for rising/falling, in red when it's low for your landing) and Waldron conditions (Easy to Hard) now sit next to departure, arrival and time underway.
• Currents: the currents note now says how many minutes the current adds or saves overall.
• Fuel dock: shows on trips leaving Cap Sante as well as returning. Switch between diesel and gas prices, and the site remembers your choice. A note shows if the prices are more than 12 hours old.
• Closing time and sunset: noted when you're within an hour, in red within 30 minutes.
• Clear trips button next to Check conditions.
• Cruise speed is remembered and can go as low as 1 kt.
• Data sources, Calculation methodology and Privacy are now at the bottom of the page, with anything that didn't load marked in red.

October 4, 2026

• More places: pick your marina and Waldron landing in the line under the title. Sandy Point Marina, Waldron Dock and Mail Bay join Cap Sante and the Sandy Point buoy, and the page remembers your choice.
• Fog warnings: a red bullet when the forecast calls for fog during your trip, including Waldron's own forecast. For trips today it also flags fog reported at the Eastsound and Friday Harbor airports.
• Sandy Point cabin weather: the line under the title shows the cabin's station live: wind and gusts, temperature, rain and light.
• Tides: the Waldron tide at the buoy or Mail Bay, and a warning when Waldron Dock's tide drops below −1 ft.
• Seas: colored by both height and steepness. A rough day now says why, and suggests a calmer day with a "Check this trip" button. Every suggested time or day has one.
• Trips already underway: you can now check a departure from earlier today.
• New name and icon: Waldron travel conditions, with a Waldron Island icon for your phone's home screen. No password needed.