Winds continue to blow strong all day today. Aine and I went down to Pebbly beach to see about a report of a boat sinking there. We saw it moored offshore a little ways - pictures to follow. It looked like its bilge pump must have failed and it just took on water. The wind and waves didn't help.

We had the chimney sweeps over this morning as well. Quite a sight to see them up on the roof in the gale.

The pressure slope has been souteasterly at 7 millibars/60nm this afternoon. That's high conditions for the kinds of winds we have been getting. Ninety km gusts, big swells travelling along the long fetch of the Strait and slamming into Dorman Point and Miller's Landing. The Channel in front of our house has been chaos all day, and as the very high tide receeded, some big water piled up out there. I rode through it this evening in the ferry coming over to the mainland and we shook around coming across the westernmost reach of the fetch. Once the boat gets behind Point Atkinson, about halfway across the Channel, things flatten out considerably, although the wind is still strong.

And, to my delight this afternoon I glanced out the window at the water and saw three waterspouts heading south out of the Sound, the result of some kind of strange wind shear no doubt.

Forescast offshore continues to be harsh, with another system building huuricane force wionds ahead of another warm front. The seas out at La Perouse Bank, about 100 miles of Vancouver Island are running 8 meters tonight. Here is the forecast from that buoy:

Forecast:
Storm warning upgraded to hurricane force wind warning.
Winds west to southwest storm force 60 knots with gusts to hurricane force 80 easing to southwest 20 to 30 early this evening then to easterly 15 late this evening. Winds rising to southwest 20 to 30 overnight then to southeast gales 40 to storm force 50 Tuesday afternoon. Periods of rain. Morning fog patches. Seas near 8 metres subsiding to 5 this evening.
Outlook. Winds gale to storm force southeast veering to southwest gales.

Eighty knots is almost 150 km/h. That's a strong wind. It will ease by the time it hits us but we'll have more wind warnings I expect later in the week as well. As for me, I'm staying in Vancouver tonight, finishing an evening meeting here and preferring not to have to travel back by water taxi.

Nice to have the storms back.