Good thread. We don't have bar issues like the PNW, but there are a few entrances that get a bit dicey. I have seen 10 ft. plus foot curlers across the entrance of Mission Bay (San Diego) in the Winter (not on the boat, just watching from the entrance in my kayak).
I'm sure the East Coast folks read threads like these (including "Graveyard" monikers for Columbia River) and think it's just awful out on the Pacific Coast.
After a lot of years delivering along the Pacific Coast, much of the reason these stories are perpetuated is fear. Yes, ocean conditions require more skill, prep, and judgement than protected waters. And yes, certain areas are more prone to severe conditions than other places. But that doesn't mean those places are always awful - just means they will be worse than the surrounding area. On the West Coast, recreational boaters have many options to avoid Pt Conception, Columbia River, and going outside the Golden Gate Bridge (collectively, Rubicons of fear that keep many boaters inside the protected confines of their home waters). Except for fishermen, there's often little reason to venture out anyway. For example, SF Bay has great sailing, why bother heading outside the GG Bridge?
I know many will disagree, but in my opinion, bar crossings need to be understood, not feared. Threads like this describe very brief periods during any given day when they can be safely crossed. Except for days of above average conditions (king tides or storms for example), the truth is the reverse: the times when crossing should be avoided are fairly brief.
Crossing a bar (or, for you folks on the East Coast, an Inlet), is not a one size fits all affair. For example, on another thread, someone was sharing their planned trip from Neah Bay to the Columbia River. Conventional wisdom says "Never enter on an ebb." That's because the prevailing winds are from the NW, so the waves would stack-up. But the weather conditions forecast were for winds from the east. Conventional wisdom would be wrong, or at least should be considered (the easterlies were not strong, and I'd take the push from the flood current anyway).
Threads like this highlight important parts of seamanship skills - making safe decisions based on the environment, the boat, the captain, and the passengers. It's often a balance. Crossing a bar on a weak ebb in fair conditions may be much, much safer than taking heroic measures to time an entrance high/slack current (which may be at peak afternoon winds). Point being that you have to balance what's in front of you. There are some bars I wouldn't cross under perfect conditions (Depoe Bay OR). There are other bars I wouldn't hesitate to cross except under worse-than-average conditions (SF Bay, though ebb current can reach 6-kts so speed would be a consideration).
For those on the West Coast who, like I used to think, believe East Coast has it easy, take a look at the following YouTube. I guess Haulover Inlet is near Miami, and is super popular. Except for places like the Chesapeake, boating in many areas of the East Coast often mean heading through an inlet unless you want a linear AICW trip. Granted, a 35-foot Contender with quad 350's is designed for this type of work, but they do encounter similar conditions as West Coast folks do when crossing a bar/inlet.
