In the teeth of a gale.....................

[longjohnsilver]

It's been forecast to be blowing old boots overnight, anything up to a F11, looking at xcweather it's currently 6mph at Exeter airport! And the leaves on the trees in the front garden aren't moving at all.

Overkill?

 

[Gerry]

Better that way. We had a forecast here a few days ago of 25k winds lasting around 36 hours. Four days later there are three badly damaged container ships, one holed and two aground. One sunk yacht in The Flats, the anchorage at Colon.One yacht aground. 55k winds blowing for the first night 14 out of 16 yachts dragged! One sailor lost overboard from a tanker. The sight of a huge container ship surfing through the breakwater to the panama canal was awesome!
Three days later winds have finally dropped to under 20k. Considering we usually get at most 10k here its been a pretty stressful time!

 

[EdWingfield]

Yes Silver, although F9 was mentioned its barely moving the leaves here. It's not just the odd met office forecast that seems to be over-cautious, it seems to happen regularly.

I wonder if it is possible to plot the previous 6 months predicted wind speed against the actual - as measured by the weather stations?

xcweather appears to be the more realistic these days.

You know, the trouble will come when a severe gale arrives and skippers get caught out in it - because they had no faith in the forecast wind speed being accurate. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[DickB]

It is belting it here in Surrey. At 4:00 am this morning the wind was howling but I did not get out of my very warm bed to sus out the details... Anf now!!! at 7:30 it is truly fowl. Windy (30kn+) and raining... I am going nowhere today /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[ColinHuggins]

[ QUOTE ]
At 7.30 it is truly fowl!

[/ QUOTE ]

Keep yer fevvers on Squire!!

We battened down the hatches after dire warnings of 70mph winds in the early hours - yet Chimet records that nothing over 45 knots actually happened. I join others (threaded as "Another duff forecast") who begin to doubt the veracity of 'official' predictions which seem determined to frighten us into hiding under the covers instead of putting to sea.

 

[DeeGee]

We usually get a diluted dose of depressions coming to you about 12hrs before, and it is blowing here. I am inland (going up to the shore later if rain dies down a bit) at the moment, and visibility with rain coming in stairrods not exactly parallel to the ground but... the wind speed is probably 35k bracket, and that means 45+ or more offshore with the slowing down of surface wind.

 

[Guest]

1023 Bideford N. Devon.

Wind 0-1
Visibility Good
Grey overcast
Dry.

 

[Twister_Ken]

London, sunshine'n'showers, some leaves still on (deciduous) trees so nothing too armageddonish so far.

 

[kcrane]

Drove 100miles+ yesterday to Haslar to check the boat, add a couple of fenders, re-tie the lines only to find Armaggedon didn't happen. It was around 20knts while I was there, and looking at the records, it seems to have peaked in the high 20's.

 

[trouville]

Forcasts like the news are sensasionalisum gone mad!
I feel far less stress after dropping the radio i used for the BBC news overboard!Now ive given up with the RTTY hamburg forcasts,and get sail more and stress free!(i dident drop the decoader overboard cos it was expensive!)

Perhaps the weather forcasters are trying beta software???

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Anyone of you guys ever met a weatherman out there where it matters? I haven't and I am a firm believer that the man on the spot (in a spot?) knows best what the conditions are.

Given the area of a forecast - eg. Basso Ionio 150nm x 100nm = 15thousand square miles I am more interested in the single square mile that I am sailing on and the weather signs that I can see.

Use all the information that you can get to, of course, but draw your own conclusions. Remember that, at best, forecasts are only educated guesses. I don't think that it's any use trying to remonstrate with the wind that it's not supposed to be gusting 45 just because Mr weatherman said it mustn't: the wind couldn't give a damn!

But you all know that already. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[kengill]

Look at the readings for Sandettie You may well consider 53 knots beneath your notice. methinks staying in port was a good idea

 

[BlueChip]

Spent Saturday night on board at Haslar expecting horrendous conditions, yet we only had a F5 last night in the marina with gusts this morning and afternoon of 30+knots. I though the forecast had been overly pessimistic but listening to the VHF ships and pilots on Southampton VTS it does seem that conditions just offshore were as awful as forecast. Loads of ships were using St Helens anchorage for shelter and the pilots were having trouble getting on board some ships. We heard a guy on one ship at anchor saying that she had been heeling 30 degrees in the wind. Leaving Haslar late afternoon and driving along Stokes Bay we saw several yachts sailing in the Solent

 

[srp]

It might not have been as bad as some expected, but here in Sussex it was enough to blow my telly aerial round through 90 deg on its' pole (must have happened about 4am, sat). And is it just me, or do we seem to be having more 'tropical' style downpours lately - several today, complete with lightning and very gusty squalls.

 

[graham]

[ QUOTE ]
Drove 100miles+ yesterday to Haslar to check the boat,

[/ QUOTE ]

Especially this time of year I leave my boat with the idea that their will be a force 10 before I return. Only takes an extra few minutes and lets me sleep better when the tiles are rattling on the roof.