Weather One Doesn't Want to Encounter at Sea

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Short of doppler radar anyone have any suggestions on how to read these?

No. Same deal for me, esp. on the Great Lakes in summer. I recall recently that a big, nasty bugger came overhead with every warning sign you could want: big black belly, towering thunderhead, swirling, rotating, torn-up wisps of cloud in front and down in back, slightly greenish in places, with loads of lightning and thunder out one side. The wind was about five knots...I took down all sail, readied the storm jib, tied down all loose deck stuff, started the engine, locked the hatches, clipped on, turned on the handheld, located the flares...and waited.

The wind went to 10 knots, and I thought "here we go!". The clouds swirled some more. I felt three distinctly warm drops of rain.

Then the wind shifted 90 degrees, dropped back to five knots and the whole assemblage of doom moved off like a fleet of aircraft carriers from Hell on a Sunday afternoon sailpast!

I did not resent the chance to drill my storm prep.

[dinosaur]

my feeling on the top picture is that it's fake as well. it looks as if there are a group of people on the left part of the island. i would think these people would not be out there hanging out with a storm like this bearing down on them. can't say for sure, but they'd probably be in a storm shelter or basement or SOMETHING more secure...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I like sailing NEAR weather like that...my understanding is that wind makes the boat go.

Oh...you'Re highly confused, sailing is about motoring between calms and wind shifts to charge the batteries!

[cmac]

David Burch has a section in one of his books on understanding squalls and waterspouts - Modern Marine Weather. Things like which way the wind pushes out in front of a squall and how violent it can get before losing energy.

I've learned a lot from the book as David seems to have a knack of putting weather into plain English. I'm relatively new to cruising and trying to learn as much as I can before I have to face the really nasty weather. I'm hoping good preparation and a little knowledge can help prevent situations from getting worse than they should.

[impi]

Saw the gust coming across the water but did not have time to get the sails down before it hit. Fortunately no rips but I came away with a number of bruises from the hailstones pelting me while I was dropping sail.

Short of doppler radar anyone have any suggestions on how to read these?[/QUOTE]

Straying a little from the topic, but does anyone have experience if hailstones doing damage to solar panels - or are they strong enough?

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Oh...you'Re highly confused, sailing is about motoring between calms and wind shifts to charge the batteries!

You're damn right I'm confused. I don't even carry chilled white wine and a selection of chevres.

[zeehag]

i was taught to read the sea and sky.
look on your horizon to see what is there. in darkness the stars will hide behind what looks like haze that wipes out the starry night and makes you wonder and the wind gets all flukey and cant keep the sails full. is flustrasting --thenye look into the sky and see it. haze in a circle around you. stars overhead.
sometimes is from one direction and you can see the dark line in the sky and the grey clouds and sea merging into one color and you get hit by hard rain and winds....
you can see lightning long way off.
you can see the seas building.
you can see the skies darken.
lot of the local stuff is not predicted. you have to know your sailing area and the skies and seas. you must be able to read what you see in the sea and sky
what is so difficult about that. is easy to learn and know.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by avb3

No, I don't (rerigin). It was emailed to me. Shopped? Maybe. I've seen clouds like that over land, just before they become tornadoes.

I was about to say that if you saw that cloud in Kansas you'd be heading for the root cellar!

[barnakiel]

Exactly, thus, I hope someone is already working on a wind-radar - a small lcd screen ... just to show us when a squall is coming ...

I know there is a similar toy used by AC boats and them likes, but the price ...

b.

[pauliebear]

worst I have been in is 6 mtr swells in cyclone Bola 1986 , too busy holding on and pumped with adrenalin to be scared

[markpierce]

I haven't used photoshop or its likes.

[GordMay]

Here's the original, pre-photoshop, picture.

[tropicalescape]

I go hang gliding in stuff like this all the time ..its like an elevator to heaven..no big deal!!LOL! DVC

[avb3]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Here's the original, pre-photoshop, picture.

Hey, GordMay, it looked much more exciting the way I posted it

The wonders of photoshop... nevertheless, it has brought some interesting discussion.

[zeehag]

irene from space..