This points out a major problem for paddlers (and many others) in weather forecasts. The weather you get on the TV or by NOAA is macro weather, that is, large scale over a wide area. The weather that is most important to the paddler is micro weather, the weather that is happening right where the paddler is, or will be in the next minutes or hours. I matters little to me if the wind is 5 knots or 50 knots, 5 miles away. It matters a lot to me what the wind is on top of me and within a mile or so. The big scale system drives the weather but the little twists and turns around local features are of major importance to kayakers. These are the things that require local knowlege and direct observation. Sometimes you will find that moving 100 yards closer to shore (or away) will result in much more comfortable conditions. It is very hard to predict which as seeming small things like the steepness and height of a coastal cliff can make a large difference. Not to mention things like valleys and river cuts. There are some general rules that help a little when you are in doubt. Sailors tend to want to move away from shore when in doubt, the hard stuff at the edge is more likely to hurt them than the water. Kayakers tend to hug the shore as conditions worsen, they can operate safely closer to shore and this gives them the option to land if the need and oportunity arise. I sometimes get torn, the sailor in me wants to stand out to sea and the kayaker wants to run to shore. I better remember what boat I am in. :-)) >From my days flying hang gliders, the difference between flying to one side of a valley vs flying down the middle could be the difference between flying safely out and crashing into the mountain. Where you wanted to be would change with the hour and sun position as well as the major wind direction. I think one of the books was "Micrometeorology for Pilots" or something like that, it has been a few years. michael rkorn_at_europa.com wrote: > > I've been sailing on the Pacific Coast for 54 years now, and I'll still > get caught by micro-squalls, > But Dave is absolutely right on with the notion of visualizing the "big > picture" circulation model and fitting the local current reality into > it. It gives me at least the illusion of understanding what's happening, > so I have something to take guidance from. And it's usually right. It's > just that the exceptions tend to stick in the memory. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:54 PDT