Re: [Paddlewise] Weather or not

Reinforcement:

Once when I was young and foolish (around 34 or so) I just had to put my 12
ft sailboat (100 sq ft sail, sloop rigged) on a lake in Feb in Ohio. It was
a warm day and the ice had melted.  The local weather forcast said 15-20
knot winds.  I said, I can handle that and set forth on a small lake.  I was
wearing PFD and sweat shirt and levis.  First time I ever saw a rooster tail
from a sail boat.  I was in broad reach and crossed a 1/2 mile lake in no
time it seemed.

Now to turn, tried a tack and picked up about 100 gal of water which made
the boat very unstable and I was in the lake.  Swam back (water seemed very
cold) and though I was in good shape from daily running, I was exhausted by
the time I reached shore.  No one else on the lake.  Turned out the real
wind was 25 knots with gusts to 40.  I have been very cautious ever since.
I think I was in more trouble than I knew.
=^..^=
--Mel--
Mel Lammers
mslammers_at_earthlink.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Whitesavage & Lyle <nickjean_at_speakeasy.org>
To: paddlewise <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 1999 3:52 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Weather or not


> "we have had a few marine "bombs" drop on us, where hurricane force
> winds rapidly developed from a small craft warning. I've been caught in
> a
> few of those situations over the year's (the more time you spend on the
> water, the greater the chance of "ship happening"), and it is worse than
>
> being a victim of over-predicting, where you sat on the beach
> unnecessarily."  said Doug
>
> Once I was on Puget sound on a summer day when the morning marine
> forecast had been for 10-15 knots.  In the late afternoon the north wind
> died away to a flat calm.  Then a little south breeze came up.  In less
> than an hour it was blowing a solid 40 knots (as measured downwind in
> Everett WA).  This very strong wind blew for hours, until long after
> dark.  The wind was against the tide and very steep waves built up much
> faster than they do on the fetch/wind speed graphs that you find in
> books.
>
> Ever since then I always carry more in the way of safety gear (and
> especially warm clothes) than I previously thought necessary in
> summertime.  Even if you only go out when the weather report is nice you
> will eventually be surprised.  Even if you can avoid rolling in 4 to 6
> foot breaking seas, you will be soaked through in no time in 40 knot
> winds.
>
> I think that the fact that predicted wind speeds often seem high is
> partly due to the ability of recording anemometers to record the highest
> gusts.  On a given day it may only blow 20 knots in ocaisional gusts.
> These gusts might be too brief to influence the sea state, but they will
> be recorded as the high end for the days wind range.
>
> Nick Lyle
>
>
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