Weather One Doesn't Want to Encounter at Sea

[avb3]

The pictures speak for themselves:

[skipmac]

Just looking at those photos makes me want to immediatley drop all the sails and clear the decks, and I'm sitting in an easy chair in my living room.

[zeehag]

goooood pix!!!!! i hope i can avoid that stuff....

[sailorboy1]

is that top picture from some scfi alien invasion type of movie?

[Ocean Girl]

I saved those pics to my album- fantastic! I love weather like that, scares the bajesus out of me but so beautiful, terrifyingly beautiful.

I've been in a field of water spouts, surrounded by them. At times there were 7 to 10, spinning and forming, up up goes the water, spinning in a tight circle, then the spout looses power and all that water comes falling to the sea. I watched for over an hour, to amazed by the wonder of it all to be properly terrified.

Erika

[zeehag]

ocean girl you are braver than am i-- we managed to avoid those when i was out in gulf--scary stuff....thought we saw one forming, and were enthralled--it went away!!!
here the weather makes a circle over my head--weird feeling....insecure...i listen for the thunder to know i am still alive..with my head under covers like my cat, but still ready to do something for boat...
that first pic defines weather seeking land masses--- awesome

[witzgall]

I have seen waterspouts, but never three in a row like that. The top photo, well, it looks photoshopped. Do you know the origins of that photo?

[avb3]

Originally Posted by witzgall

I have seen waterspouts, but never three in a row like that. The top photo, well, it looks photoshopped. Do you know the origins of that photo?

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.

[Mark1977]

Originally Posted by witzgall

I have seen waterspouts, but never three in a row like that. The top photo, well, it looks photoshopped. Do you know the origins of that photo?

+1 on that...

[Cheechako]

I've seen two in the gulfstream.... but only on radar! I steer clear of them

[teneicm]

The waterspouts are fake:
Photo of Hurricane Lili Waterspouts - Netlore Archive

Can't find the proof- but the other photo looks like a fake as well. The scale of the storm is wrong compared to the island.....

[S/V Alchemy]

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

[barnakiel]

We were in similar drama conditions a couple of times.

South of Madagascar we had a frontal cloud that scared the (beep) out of me - we lowered everything, secured everything, noted our GPS fix on the chart then ... nothing happened.

In the ITCZ we had those BLACK clouds coming over and again - nothing happened. Then I got used to them and sure thing one was different than the others ... both the main and the genoa ripped ... ;-(((

Fantastic pictures! THX for sharing!
b.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

We were in similar drama conditions a couple of times.

South of Madagascar we had a frontal cloud that scared the (beep) out of me - we lowered everything, secured everything, noted our GPS fix on the chart then ... nothing happened.

In the ITCZ we had those BLACK clouds coming over and again - nothing happened. Then I got used to them and sure thing one was different than the others ... both the main and the genoa ripped ... ;-(((

Fantastic pictures! THX for sharing!
b.

Have had similar experiences and still don't know how to tell if a black cloud is going bring a giant blast of wind or nothing. Had one off the coast of FL that looked really nasty so dropped all sail and battened down the hatches. It came right over us, nothing. Seemed like it was about to pass on by so hoisted the sails and about 5 mins later almost put the spreaders in the water. 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?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by teneicm

The waterspouts are fake:
Photo of Hurricane Lili Waterspouts - Netlore Archive

Can't find the proof- but the other photo looks like a fake as well. The scale of the storm is wrong compared to the island.....

Yeah, and you'd think a storm like that would set up a few white caps at the very least.