I have heard that too and on the web there is a story about a guy who went out and then got caught in a south storm. While I was there I found out that I could receive the NOAA marine forcast station on my VHF handheld. We could not get cell phone service, however, but we could at Neah Bay. The nice thing about cell phone service is that you can call the "dial a bouy" number and see what is going on down south. If seas to the south are building (per the Columbia mouth bouy report), it is time to head in.