El Niño /La Nina

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by monte

Biggest El Niño killer, La Niña coming - Business Insider
Hi. I'm just wondering how this will effect a 2016 pacific crossing E-W leaving Panama in February. Any thoughts from the weather gurus and pacific sailors appreciated. How did the El Niño effect the weather there this year?

el niño (El Niño, when name of a weather phenomenon)

la niña (La Niña, etc.)

Perhaps an admin may correct the title. (?)

NOT el Nina, because el goes with he-words and la with she-words. Only in German a girl is "it".

Cheers,
b.

[Paul L]

If nothing else, you should have good grammar on your SP crossing.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Paul L

If nothing else, you should have good grammar on your SP crossing.

If so, then take the French one. I think something like le garçon et la fille (?)

One of our biggest pains was not speaking French while there. But we are catching up!

;-)

bissous,
b.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

If so, then take the French one. I think something like le garçon et la fille (?)

One of our biggest pains was not speaking French while there. But we are catching up!

;-)

bissous,
b.

That part is easy. All you need to know "deux baguettes"

[Pelagic]

So much for an intelligent and informed discussion about this weather phenomena and its impact on cruisers..

[monte]

Ok ok, thread title fixed...back to regular programming..
So..thoughts? Someone mentioned just to go for it and deal with the weather that comes, but as in any case there's options like delaying the crossing till a better forecast...ie, stay in the Caribbean another season. Slower passage times are ok but who wants to deal with little wind, adverse currents and increased swell...🐢
At least the water should be warmer for swimming... More surf too 🏄

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

el niño (El Niño, when name of a weather phenomenon)

la niña (La Niña, etc.)

Perhaps an admin may correct the title. (?)

NOT el Nina, because el goes with he-words and la with she-words. Only in German a girl is "it".

Cheers,
b.

Which may explain why Germans are not considered great lovers.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by monte

Ok ok, thread title fixed...back to regular programming...

Not quite. Shouldn't it read La Niña (/w 'squiggly' - tilde/virguilla)?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by monte

Ok ok, thread title fixed...back to regular programming..
So..thoughts? Someone mentioned just to go for it and deal with the weather that comes, but as in any case there's options like delaying the crossing till a better forecast...ie, stay in the Caribbean another season. Slower passage times are ok but who wants to deal with little wind, adverse currents and increased swell...🐢
At least the water should be warmer for swimming... More surf too 🏄

Is it really practical to delay a crossing by a year because of an El Nino forecast? What happens the next year when the forecast stays the same? Not many are willing to add years to a passage based on a very shaky prediction that has pretty much unknown consequences on any specific crossing. If you have other reasons to delay - then you can use El Nino as an additional reason.
We crossed the Pacific this year - in an El Nino. Got good weather the first half and lots of overcast the second half. So what.

[donradcliffe]

El Nino year has bigger chance of cyclones out of season and further east than normal. We crossed in 97 and there were a couple of cyclones which affected the normal cruising season, but no major damage. There is also a bigger chance of winds from other quadrants, which can make some of the normal tradewinds anchorages untenable. We had a great passage to the Marquesas in 97. Our route in 92 was down to Easter/Pitcairn/Gambiers/Marquesas, and the weather on that trip was quite a bit sportier due to being much further south.

NOAA predictions on El Nino are about as accurate as their global warming predictions. The only thing they are halfway good at is reporting on the actual conditions. The good thing about their predictions is that the anchorages won't be as crowded next season.

[barnakiel]

We crossed in 2004 and I would not cross in such a year again. The problem is that one was our only crossing so I do not have a benchmark. Hard to say if wx is better or perhaps even worse in a non event year.

Anyways, 2004 (an event year by Wiki) was very light E of the Societies and very wet W of the Societies. Activity of the zone W of Bora was about average - some got bashed others (lucky us) sailed thru without a hitch.

Next time we sail I will ask for a non event year if only to be able to come back and report on any / if / differences.

Cheers,
b.