Swiftsure Tides & Currents 2022

Tidal Current Maps for May 28 - 30, 2022

Dr. Richard Dewey

University of Victoria

These tidal current summaries for the Swiftsure Yacht Race, May 28-30, 2022 have been prepared for the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. Below are a series of 2022 tide tables and current maps covering the period of the race intended for the general information of the skippers and crew sailing in the 2022 RVYC Swiftsure Yacht Race.

Official Canadian Hydrographic Service Tide Tables. Times in the tide tables are reported in Pacific Standard Time (PST), not Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).

Tidal current charts covering hourly intervals from 08:00 May 28, 2022 through to, at most, 18:00 May 30, 2022, based on the Vancouver Island regional tidal model of Mike Foreman (Foreman et al., 2004). Each PDF file below contains multiple current chart pages. These files cover different geographic regions for the various races, and have slightly different time ranges. They can easily be downloaded & saved, or emailed to your smart phone or tablet for display during the race. The graphs must not be used for navigational purposes. In the case of any discrepancy, the CHS tide tables above will take precedence.


Time series inserts in the upper left corners of the charts are for the nearest associated CHS tidal current stations; Race Passage, Juan de Fuca East, and Juan de Fuca West, respectively. The displayed current vectors represent depth averaged tidal velocities, so surface current strengths and directions may depart slightly from those plotted. Current vectors immediately at the shoreline may be less accurate due to model boundary conditions or small-scale flows around/over shallow rocks/reefs, not resolved by the model. One final note, the CHS tide tables include a small (50-10cm/s) seasonal seaward surface enhancement due to estuarine river discharge, which peaks in late May through June. For reference, a current speed of 50 cm/s is roughly one knot, 150 cm/s (scale vector) is roughly 3 knots. These tidal current charts are not to be used for navigational purposes. Save a tree, please do not print out every page.

The time series plots (below) of the tidal heights and currents at selected sites will be presented at the Skipper's Meeting, Friday May 27, 2022. Tidal Heights (PDF file) are for Port Renfrew and Victoria, in metres. Tidal Currents (PDF file) are in m/s for Race Passage, Juan de Fuca East (E) and Juan de Fuca West (W). Flood currents (+) flow into the Salish Sea, ebb currents (-) towards the Pacific. Times are in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).

Any questions about the current charts should be address to Richard Dewey

who will present a brief summary on these tidal currents at the skippers meeting

Friday Afternoon, May 27, 2022.

After May 27, the presentation will available here.

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