Hi Shawn,
I'm having trouble judging wind direction and speed. My local
weather man swore on his mother-in-laws' life that I would have a 10
knot breeze out of the south west Monday morning at 10am. "Woo-Hoo"
thought I. I have the day off, I'm goin' sailin'. Not so fast...read
on.
This reminds me of an old Ziggy cartoon where Ziggy complains, "Why do they
always give the weather report for the airport when I really need one for
the bus stop".
WELL, St. Peter must be knocking at the old lady's door because
come 10 am Monday morning I was tacking my way out of the marina on
Rend Lake ( one of southern Illinois' windiest lakes ) only to find
that when I finally got out of the breakwater, there was nary a
breeze to be found. I would get an occasional puff but it seemed to
be coming from random directions.
I have sworn that the wind sometimes only goes up and down.
I sculled around for an hour or so and finally headed back to shore.
BOOORING!!!!
There will be days like this...... Slap on the suntan lotion, plug in the
Walkman and kick back.
I'm not even going to attempt to explain the weather. No one so far has ever
been successful at it.
The best way to judge conditions is to stand on the dock and point a wetted
finger in the air.
But in case you really want a guide, here are a couple:
1. What would be a minimum, maximum and optimum wind speed forecast
that might hint at a good day for sailing.
Oh, I'd say 8 to 16 mph. It is always easy to sail when the wind is at an
optimum speed. Even if your sail trim isn't the best and you don't sail a
steady course you still can go somewhere. Light breezes force you to become
a better sailor because boat balance and sail trim make the difference
between moving some and not moving at all.
2. This one is probably silly but I'll ask anyway. Is any one
prevailing wind direction better than another?
Well, that depends on which way you want to go.... 8^)
Leaving a dock or beach straight into the wind has it's challenges as does
docking with the wind at your back. Having to tack in a narrow channel
sucks, but other than that, once you are out on the main body of water it
doesn't really matter.
3.A mast head fly will help me determine wind direction but not
speed, right?
Right. With this exception - if you use streamers and are sailing in light
air, you can tell when the wind is strong enough to move you by how the
streamer is lifted and begins to flutter.
There are hand-held wind speed instruments. Radio Shack sells one for around
$25 that will go up to, I believe, 15 mph. Davis Instruments has a better
one that goes up to gale speeds for around $80.
Here's something else to consider.....
stand_appwind.html
4. I have some "tell tales". Will they help me determine wind speed
or are they just for sail efficiency? How do I use them?
Hmmmmm...., subject for a whole master's thesis. Here's a start:
5. Can anyone recommend a brand or type of mast head fly? or other
equipment that will help me? I have seen a few in a local shop for
around $25 is that a good price?
This one is my favorite:
Word of caution.... some people swear by using strips of old cassette tape
as wind indicators. They work great - IMHO, too well. Cassette tape will
respond to breezes too light to move the boat. That make for a frustrating
experience - sitting dead in the water watching your wind indicator ripple
in the breeze.
Instead, I use synthetic yarn. One 99 cent ball will supply enough material
for a lifetime. I separate the strands down to just the right weight so when
my indicators lift and move I know the wind is enough to sail in.
Wayne
