This is a pre-passage source and decision desk, not a current forecast or clearance to depart. The map is centred approximately on the area, not on your route or a forecast-zone boundary.
Find each named coastal, offshore, bay or lake zone along the route. For inlets, bars and tidal narrows add current local notices and observations; an offshore wave forecast does not describe the entrance.
1. Primary sources
Open current bulletins and warnings for every sea area on the route. These links are starting points, not a promise that each covers the whole location; if unsure, identify the issuer through WMO–IMO.
2. Route and local effects
Check each Canadian marine district and tidal passage rather than a broad coast icon.
The Inside Passage alternates protected channels with open reaches and tidal narrows along British Columbia.
Match every leg to its Environment Canada marine district; use current tide/current tables and local notices for narrows rather than an offshore wind map.
How to use this source set
Start with the warning, then the marine text for the exact named area. If the route crosses a zone boundary, obtain both bulletins. Note issue and valid times, wind units and the meaning of wave height. Where a link opens an agency portal, navigate to its current marine product; a homepage is not itself a forecast.
Compare with an exposed station or buoy if available. Check its position and observation time: a sheltered station does not overturn a warning for an open channel. If a bulletin is missing or stale, identify the issuing service via WMO–IMO and defer the decision until current information is available.
Before-passage check
- Mark departure, exposed legs, arrival and feasible diversions; find the responsible named marine areas for each.
- Check warnings, issue and valid times; assess conditions when you expect to reach each leg, not only at departure.
- Compare wind and gusts, waves and swell, visibility, thunderstorms and local effects; do not infer a strait from a sheltered harbour.
- Compare recent observations where available, noting their time and exposure; a mismatch calls for another check.
- Set the next bulletin check, a reassessment trigger, an alternative and a backup communication channel.
Model map — optional
Windy is a third-party model display, not the issuer of official warnings. Choose a layer and check its valid hour and model run. Nothing loads until you click.
Without JavaScript, open the map separately.
If connectivity fails
Before departure, save the current official text bulletin and warning with issue time. Arrange another way to receive updates, such as an appropriate coastal broadcast, NAVTEX or satellite channel. A saved map cannot replace new warnings.
How to choose weather tools · All sailing areas
Scope: Source list assembled 25 September 2026; check its freshness and coverage before use. This public area guide is not a current personalised forecast, navigational notice service or safety verdict. Personalised forecasts with AI and experts are in closed testing; public booking is not open. The skipper makes the decision.
Inside Passage protection is interrupted by open reaches
Use Environment Canada's Pacific districts to separate protected-channel legs from open reaches and northern or southern coastal continuations. Georgia Basin is one district, not the entire Inside Passage. Put every exposure change and tidal constriction on the timetable before comparing departure windows. A wind report from an enclosed inlet must be interpreted in its own setting rather than applied to the next open-water crossing.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada marine — Canadian marine districts including Pacific and Great Lakes.
Use hydrographic current tables with their publication context
Canadian current predictions provide passage-specific slack and maximum-current information where stations exist. The hydrographic service notes that annual official publications take precedence if online tables differ. Confirm the chosen reference and edition, and do not extrapolate an unlisted narrows from a nearby tide-height station. Where the required local relationship is not documented, keep it as a planning gap rather than an AI-derived correction.
- Canadian Hydrographic Service current predictions — Station-specific slack and maximum-current predictions; annual publications prevail on discrepancy.
A diversion can add another constriction
For a northbound day, test a delay before the next tidal passage and the open reach beyond it. Evaluate whether the alternative avoids the problem or merely replaces it with a different unverified channel. Check arrival light, weather validity and accessible waiting arrangements together. If the next local bulletin or current information is unavailable, do not present a protected-looking chart route as a verified low-risk option.
Editorial review of this material: 27 September 2026. This date concerns the page content; check current forecast issue times and validity at the original sources.